Last night was the first hockey game I've gotten to this year and it was a blast. The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs of the SPHL were hosting the Macon Mayhem in front of about 2,000 fans and it was game on from the second the first puck dropped.
In the first period both teams got three goals. Each was hotly contested, but it was a wee bit more scoring than you usually see in any period much less the first. In the second period the Rail Yard Dawgs got one goal, but the big story for them was the fact that their goalie imploded. Earlier in the period the goalie left the net to go off to the boards to his left only to have the puck take an unexpected bounce off the boards and end up right in front of the net where a Mayhem skater was waiting to put in the softest, most uncontested goal I've ever seen in hockey. Hockey fans being, well, hockey fans, instantly began to pour out every bit of hate they'd ever had at the goalie. It didn't help when later in the same period the goalie sat frozen on the ice as a Mayhem player shot through the gap between his legs and scored.
Finally, at about the time it looked like the goalie was going to need a police escort to get out of the building alive, the coach decided to switch him out and put Barone in. Barone turned out to be a brick wall and no further goals were scored by the Mayhem. Meanwhile, the Rail Yard Dawgs managed to pull even in the third period and forced the game into sudden death.
In sudden death, the Rail Yard Dawgs controlled the puck the majority of the very short time that the period lasted and pretty quickly blasted in a goal to end it all with a 6-5 victory.
In the first period both teams got three goals. Each was hotly contested, but it was a wee bit more scoring than you usually see in any period much less the first. In the second period the Rail Yard Dawgs got one goal, but the big story for them was the fact that their goalie imploded. Earlier in the period the goalie left the net to go off to the boards to his left only to have the puck take an unexpected bounce off the boards and end up right in front of the net where a Mayhem skater was waiting to put in the softest, most uncontested goal I've ever seen in hockey. Hockey fans being, well, hockey fans, instantly began to pour out every bit of hate they'd ever had at the goalie. It didn't help when later in the same period the goalie sat frozen on the ice as a Mayhem player shot through the gap between his legs and scored.
Finally, at about the time it looked like the goalie was going to need a police escort to get out of the building alive, the coach decided to switch him out and put Barone in. Barone turned out to be a brick wall and no further goals were scored by the Mayhem. Meanwhile, the Rail Yard Dawgs managed to pull even in the third period and forced the game into sudden death.
In sudden death, the Rail Yard Dawgs controlled the puck the majority of the very short time that the period lasted and pretty quickly blasted in a goal to end it all with a 6-5 victory.
1. The arena is nice and a $20 ticket had me on the glass near center ice.
2. Don't buy your $5 parking online because they will charge you a service fee and the parking was only $5 when I got there and there was plenty of it.
3. Both concessions and souvenirs were more than a little overpriced here. Eat supper before you go. Not sure what you can do to get jerseys etc. cheaper.
4. I'm a little upset that the jersey I bought (which is okay) was nowhere near as good as the one the Dawgs wore out onto the ice. They weren't even the same color scheme. Where do I trade in my blue, light blue, white, and yellow one for that cool red one?
5. The SPHL still does its best to keep fights from happening and the refs break up anything that starts immediately. So, if you're looking for a fight go find an ECHL game where they seem to have that one fight minimum per game guarantee.
6. It's time to start watching hockey folks. I'll see you at the ice!
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