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The Soviets faltered in their season opener tonight, losing 8-5 to Trailside. There were several chances for the Comrades to capitalize, but a penchant for hitting iron coupled with stellar goaltending did the Red Army in, and perhaps more importantly, proved that Silver South is the right division for Mother Russia.

A brief recap and some stats before the work week begins:

• Mike D'Ignazio shone in his first game wearing Neal Hendricks' a Red Army sweater. The forward had two goals, created chances all game long, and drew a penalty. Oh wait, no, no, he took a penalty. He's also left handed. Cut him.
• Perhaps the strongest player for the Red Army on this night was none other than Pat King. The offenseman turned defenseman for the evening was a shut down machine. He single-handedly broke up three quality scoring chances in front, and chipped in on the offensive as well, setting Mark Hendricks up with the easiest goal #18 will ever score.
• Speaking of #18, he netted three goals and an assist tonight. He also drew a penalty. But he also had a few costly turnovers in dangerous parts of the rink and was lacking in the backchecking department.
• Jamie Simek had an up and down game of his own, which is to be expected for a goalie playing in his first game in several months. He let in a few he would like to have back, but also made a few key saves to keep the Comrades in the game.
• The Captain was doing all the dirty work tonight, but the bullet he earns is about his wheels. Why? Because he put the two biggest wheels in the middle two slots of his skates, and that's just terrible. What do we always say kids? Never drink and do skatenance.
• Tony Horton was sick. I don't mean that in the sense that he dangled around nine guys then put a backhander to the roof. I mean that he was physically sick, but he played through it valiantly and had a solid game considering he was battling something (symptoms indicate Syphilis).
• Ryan Odell made up for a wide open one timer miss in the first with a gorgeous set up feed to Hendricks on a shorthanded two-on-one rush. He also slashed Celenski back after Celenski gave him a whack, and I've never seen that before. To the history books you go, Odell!
• Five goals on the night. One on the power play, one shorthanded, and three even strength. That's interesting, don't you think? Just me?
• Something that doesn't get enough attention is faceoffs, and I would like to give a shout out to Hand, who probably won about two thirds of the draws he took tonight. Lost a few in the defensive zone a bit too cleanly, but for the most part, when the Captain was in the dot, possession was Mother Russia's.
• D'Ignazio and Hendricks went a combined 1 for 24 on breakaways. Here's hoping the Comrades can avoid the shootout.

Stats:

Goals:
First goal: PPG D'Ignazio (Odell, Hendricks)
Second goal: SHG Hendricks (Odell)
Third goal: Hendricks (King)
Fourth goal: Hendricks (Odell, Hand)
Fifth goal: D'Ignazio (unassisted)

Penalties:
D'Ignazio (high sticking) two minutes
Odell (slashing) two minutes



(Every couple games or so, I'll put a stat sheet up on the blog with goals/assists/points/PIMS. I will try to update the blog a lot more this season. I'm trying to continue the trend of each year having more posts than the previous. The year 2007 had 9, 2008 had 37, 2009 had 83, and 2010 had 115. So far 2011 only has 6, so expect a heavy dosage of reading material as I try to play a little catch up.)