Best game of the year all season at home. Komets really played great defensively, and both teams struggled to get through the neutral zone. It was so funny listening to some of the Komets fans on the officiating. If they call everything, some yell let them play. If they let them play, they scream about stuff they didn't call. Which is it?
There were a million little plays in this game that meant all the difference, but Sean O'Connor's steal in the Port Huron zone to get it to Varone for Dupuis's goal to give the Komets a 2-0 lead might have been the biggest.
Larry, Larry, Larry played great or the Komets might have won by five. Seems like everybody's been doing that in Fort Wayne lately, doesn't it?
Comments
Went down and talked (ok, harrassed) Larry right in front of their bench before warmups. Yelled at him from about 5 feet away and asked him if he was going to play tonight or wuss out. Also asked him if was 1st, 2nd or 3rd goalie for PH. His response was... "I'm the best goalie in the league... what do you think!" My response was... we'll see tonight buddy!! It was a lot of fun!! And thanks to the Komets for backing me up and thanks to KometsPA for playing R&R II. Love that goal celebration!!
On the attendance, A great example of why AHL hockey would not be supported in this city. If anyone wanted to see the best game of the year tonight was it and we didn't sell out. So are we hockey fans or komet entertainment fans? Shows you how great a marketing program the K's have getting all those people out every year, probably only 1/3 of our total attendance are die hard hockey fans.
IHL M V P NICK BOUCHER goaltender of the week again!!!!! Langdon called way too many penalties tonight for him, he must not have stayed at a holiday inn last night.
Great game, I love watching these two teams play. I have to admit after last night I was a bit concerned about how well they would do tonight. Shouldn't have been.
Larry is a great goalie, if we didn't have Nick I'd be very happy to have him.
Great game tonight! I was disappointed that the crowd was not larger....however, Friday night was a season ticket exchange night. There were also a lot of sold, yet empty seats in my section Friday.
Tonight's game at times looked like it could have gotten nasty, but our players kept their composure and avoided the really dumb penalties. I was impressed with the effort.
Yeah, it is funny. When every ref that comes through is an "idiot", you know something is up. :D But you really haven't lived until you've had a little old lady screaming, "Ref, you're an idiot!" all night right behind your seat.
Oh and... The Port Huron fans started that "Laaaaaaaaaaary" business. If you recall, after the Ice Hawks took game 1 from the Komets... scratch that... humiliated the Komets in game 1 of the finals last year, the Port Huron fans who had made the trip down started chanting Larry's name. It was like rubbing salt in a wound. When Komets fans turned the tables on them after game 3, chanting the name derisively, words can't describe how good it felt. And a lot of people have been doing it ever since.
I think I'm related to that little old lady. She is my type of hockey fan.
Do you really, REALLY, want me to reply to that last comment. It's just too easy, laying it out there for me to swing at.
Wendy, I don't thinkit was the PH fans that started the Larry chant since we have been doing that all last year. We always try to get on the goalie but yelling something at him. Years ago, we took on Cooper from PH durning our run to the cup. I had PH fans yell at me that they were going to kill me if I didn't stop yelling, "BOBBLE-HEAD!"
Hoss,
Wendy is right, the PH fans actually were chanting "Larry" last season even prior to the finals at the games I was at. I first heard it back in Dec. 07 and then again in the finals at Port Huron.
I'm not saying they didn't chant his name first, I'm just saying we were doing it before the final of last year. Maybe the small group of us doing it were not heard as well as game seven when everyone joined in together, but we didn't start because of the PH fans.
I'll admit that I only saw one game of the regular season vs. Port Huron last season, and Larry did play after the starting goaltender was yanked. I didn't hear a stadium-wide chant at that time, though I'm sure there were those who taunted him, just as fans taunt all the opposing players. I was there for all 7 games of the playoffs, though. It was my observation that during the horrible loss in Game 1 -- the one in which the Komets were treating the puck like a communicable disease (according to Ben Smith) -- there was no organized chanting of Larry's name until the end. That's when the arm-flapping goofs from Port Huron started doing it. That they would do that in OUR BARN just felt like sticking the dagger in and twisting it. Then we dropped game 2, as well, so when the scene shifted back to the Fort, everyone was eager for some payback. That's the first time I noticed the chant, and it was even mentioned in the news articles at the time. That was my observation, at least.
Er... All 7 home games, that is. Just to clarify.