nccanes
12-16-2004, 07:08 AM
For one night at least, there was hockey
An announced crowd of 13,424 shows up at the St. Pete Times Forum to watch AHL Philadelphia defeat Springfield 4-3.
By TOM JONES, Times Staff Writer
Published December 16, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAMPA - It all seemed familiar.
The clank of the puck hitting the glass. The organ pounding out, If You're Happy and You Know It. Public address announcer Paul Porter bellowing out the healthy scratches.
The fans "oohed" and "aahed," booed the referee, and, just minutes into the game, echoed out the "Let's Go Lightning" chant, just for old time's sake.
A band played outside on the plaza, popcorn vendors roamed the stands and the Zamboni, the staple of every hockey game, hummed through each intermission.
Heck, even the weather made it feel like hockey season.
Yes, it all seemed familiar.
"It's hockey," said Brian Bias from Lakeland, sitting Wednesday night in section 112 at the St. Pete Times Forum. "This is a pacifier."
A pacifier, but not a cure for the area's hockey-starved fans. There was hockey at the Times Forum on Wednesday, but not the hockey everyone in these parts wanted to see.
Instead of cheering on the defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning, fans had to settle for a minor-league game as Springfield Falcons, the Lightning's American Hockey League affiliate, took on the Philadelphia Phantoms.
An announced crowd of 13,424 showed up to watch Philadelphia defeat Springfield 4-3 and, for a few hours anyway, they watched power plays and slap shots instead of thinking about salary caps and luxury taxes. While the NHL remains stagnant because of an owners' lockout, fans pine away.
"Oh man, I'm going crazy without it," said 34-year-old Janice Judge from Lakeland. She has three Lightning jerseys, but chose her No. 47 John Graham sweater for Wednesday.
Lightning jerseys filled the crowd. A No. 4 Lecavalier here, a No. 19 Richards there, and No. 35 Khabibulins everywhere.
"How much do I love hockey?" Judge continued. "I'm here, aren't I? This is good, but it's just not the same.
"I want to see the (championship) banner go up. I wanted to see the Cup on the ice."
The Cup was in the building Wednesday night. So was Lightning coach John Tortorella, general manager Jay Feaster and some of other usual sights at a Lightning home game. Rick Peckham and Bobby "Chief" Taylor called the game for television. Dave Mishkin and Phil Esposito did the game for the radio.
Other than that, there really was no connection between the Lightning and Wednesday night.
"It's sad, really, because this is just a taste of hockey without the real thing," Dan Ferry of Tampa said. "This lockout, it's like two little kids arguing, "My parents are better than yours.' It's silly."
Ferry stood alongside girlfriend Cheryl Morris of Tampa. Hockey brought them together. She's from Toronto and met Ferry at a Christmas party last year because someone told her Ferry liked hockey.
"Hockey will be big in Canada no matter what," Morris said. "But if the NHL is out for a whole year, it might not come back like it was before in a lot of places, maybe even here."
For example, retired couple Art and Elizabeth Phalen have, in Elizabeth's words, "discovered football."
The two spent last season making a two-hour drive from Deland for Lightning home games.
Sitting side-by-side Wednesday with Elizabeth wearing the Lightning's white away jersey and Art wearing the blue home sweater, they only shook their heads at the lockout.
"They're like two stubborn bull heads," Elizabeth said. "We miss hockey so bad.
"This is nice that we have a game to go to. It's not the same level, but at least it's hockey."
It wasn't NHL hockey. The play wasn't as fast, the checks weren't as hard, the passes weren't as crisp.
But, yes, it was hockey inside the Times Forum.
Perhaps for the only time this season.
Sunshine, but no win for Falcons
Thursday, December 16, 2004
By FRAN SYPEK
fsypek@repub.com
Phantoms 4 Falcons 3
TAMPA, Fla. - As they walked to the baggage claim area of Tampa International Airport, the minor league hockey team from Massachusetts was greeted in a big league way.
A "Welcome Springfield Falcons" banner was posted on a stairway in the terminal. It was a warm welcome not just for a team of young hockey players, but for a group that this region hopes will someday form the core of another Stanley Cup championship Tampa Bay Lightning squad.
"That was so neat," said right wing Darren Reid, one of eight first-year professionals on the Falcons. "We couldn't believe all the cameras and microphones, and hopefully in the next few years everyone gets a chance to be here."
Before any dreams of Lord Stanley's trophy dance through their heads, these young Falcons must endure the growing pains that are not uncommon for teams featuring young players. That was again evident last night when the Falcons dropped their sixth straight game, a 4-3 American Hockey League setback to the Philadelphia Phantoms.
The largest crowd ever to see the Falcons play at "home" - 13,424 - watched the Falcons come close against a far more experienced opponent at the St. Pete Times Forum. Five of the current Phantoms skated here for the Philadelphia Flyers against the Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals series last spring.
After captain Shane Willis, who with Ryan Craig have combined to score 26 of the Falcons' 57 goals, opened the scoring with a power-play goal 2 minutes, 24 seconds into the game, the Phantoms pulled even when Patrick Sharp earned the first of his four assists by setting up Mark Murphy at 6:29.
Just as the crowd began to chant, "Let's go Falcons," the Phantoms broke open a close game with three unanswered second period goals - one short-handed, one even strength and one a power-play goal - to take a 4-1 lead. Former Falcon Boyd Kane, Dennis Seidenberg and John Slaney scored off Jamie Storr - all off assists from Sharp.
After Craig scored a power-play goal with 5:17 remaining in the third period, the Falcons made it 4-3 after they pulled Storr in favor of an extra attacker and Willis scored his second goal of the game, but the Falcons ran out of time. Excluding empty-net goals, this was the Falcons' 12th straight game decided by one goal or a shootout.
"We would have liked to have won this game, but for the guys, this should make them work that much harder because ultimately, this is where they want to play," Willis said.
A number of hockey fans from Western Massachusetts made the trip. The opportunity to see their favorite AHL team play in the building where the Stanley Cup was won last June was too tempting to pass up.
Among them were Everett and Teddy Miller of Ludlow, who have attended most Falcons road games over the years.
"We weren't going to come, but our granddaughter works at DisneyWorld, and she said we had to come," Everett Miller said.
The Lightning was so appreciative of the fans who made the trip they grouped them together in special club seats.
The weather (the thermometer may have dipped to a New England-like 34 degrees the night preceding the game) may not have been quite what those fans expected to experience in Florida, but no one complained.
For the hockey-starved fans of the Lightning, they got to see a game for the first time since Dave Andreychuck raised the Cup over his head here last June. It didn't matter that it wasn't the NHL, it was hockey, and even the sting of the lockout that has prevented their team from defending its title couldn't take that away from them.
"We're loyal Lightning season ticket holders and we want to see hockey," said Scott Rodgers of St. Petersburg, Fla.
His friend and fellow season ticket holder, Rob Brosan, also of St. Petersburg, said the game filled a void. "There's been a lack of hockey here, and we miss it," Brosan said.
Bobby Eagle, who drove 90 minutes from his home in Gainesville, Fla., to watch the game, wore a Dimitry Afanasenkov game-worn Falcons jersey. Afanasenkov played for the Falcons two years ago and was part of the Lightning's championship team.
"He's my favorite player," Eagle said. "It's great to see the Lightning's prospects play here."
The last time they watched a game here, those fans saw a championship team. What they saw in the Falcons is not a team that will likely play for the Calder Cup, but one who like the Lightning hopes to build toward that goal.
"It was such an honor to play in the same place where the Stanley Cup was won," Reid said. "The atmosphere was so intense, and it's too bad things didn't turn out the way we wanted."
An announced crowd of 13,424 shows up at the St. Pete Times Forum to watch AHL Philadelphia defeat Springfield 4-3.
By TOM JONES, Times Staff Writer
Published December 16, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAMPA - It all seemed familiar.
The clank of the puck hitting the glass. The organ pounding out, If You're Happy and You Know It. Public address announcer Paul Porter bellowing out the healthy scratches.
The fans "oohed" and "aahed," booed the referee, and, just minutes into the game, echoed out the "Let's Go Lightning" chant, just for old time's sake.
A band played outside on the plaza, popcorn vendors roamed the stands and the Zamboni, the staple of every hockey game, hummed through each intermission.
Heck, even the weather made it feel like hockey season.
Yes, it all seemed familiar.
"It's hockey," said Brian Bias from Lakeland, sitting Wednesday night in section 112 at the St. Pete Times Forum. "This is a pacifier."
A pacifier, but not a cure for the area's hockey-starved fans. There was hockey at the Times Forum on Wednesday, but not the hockey everyone in these parts wanted to see.
Instead of cheering on the defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning, fans had to settle for a minor-league game as Springfield Falcons, the Lightning's American Hockey League affiliate, took on the Philadelphia Phantoms.
An announced crowd of 13,424 showed up to watch Philadelphia defeat Springfield 4-3 and, for a few hours anyway, they watched power plays and slap shots instead of thinking about salary caps and luxury taxes. While the NHL remains stagnant because of an owners' lockout, fans pine away.
"Oh man, I'm going crazy without it," said 34-year-old Janice Judge from Lakeland. She has three Lightning jerseys, but chose her No. 47 John Graham sweater for Wednesday.
Lightning jerseys filled the crowd. A No. 4 Lecavalier here, a No. 19 Richards there, and No. 35 Khabibulins everywhere.
"How much do I love hockey?" Judge continued. "I'm here, aren't I? This is good, but it's just not the same.
"I want to see the (championship) banner go up. I wanted to see the Cup on the ice."
The Cup was in the building Wednesday night. So was Lightning coach John Tortorella, general manager Jay Feaster and some of other usual sights at a Lightning home game. Rick Peckham and Bobby "Chief" Taylor called the game for television. Dave Mishkin and Phil Esposito did the game for the radio.
Other than that, there really was no connection between the Lightning and Wednesday night.
"It's sad, really, because this is just a taste of hockey without the real thing," Dan Ferry of Tampa said. "This lockout, it's like two little kids arguing, "My parents are better than yours.' It's silly."
Ferry stood alongside girlfriend Cheryl Morris of Tampa. Hockey brought them together. She's from Toronto and met Ferry at a Christmas party last year because someone told her Ferry liked hockey.
"Hockey will be big in Canada no matter what," Morris said. "But if the NHL is out for a whole year, it might not come back like it was before in a lot of places, maybe even here."
For example, retired couple Art and Elizabeth Phalen have, in Elizabeth's words, "discovered football."
The two spent last season making a two-hour drive from Deland for Lightning home games.
Sitting side-by-side Wednesday with Elizabeth wearing the Lightning's white away jersey and Art wearing the blue home sweater, they only shook their heads at the lockout.
"They're like two stubborn bull heads," Elizabeth said. "We miss hockey so bad.
"This is nice that we have a game to go to. It's not the same level, but at least it's hockey."
It wasn't NHL hockey. The play wasn't as fast, the checks weren't as hard, the passes weren't as crisp.
But, yes, it was hockey inside the Times Forum.
Perhaps for the only time this season.
Sunshine, but no win for Falcons
Thursday, December 16, 2004
By FRAN SYPEK
fsypek@repub.com
Phantoms 4 Falcons 3
TAMPA, Fla. - As they walked to the baggage claim area of Tampa International Airport, the minor league hockey team from Massachusetts was greeted in a big league way.
A "Welcome Springfield Falcons" banner was posted on a stairway in the terminal. It was a warm welcome not just for a team of young hockey players, but for a group that this region hopes will someday form the core of another Stanley Cup championship Tampa Bay Lightning squad.
"That was so neat," said right wing Darren Reid, one of eight first-year professionals on the Falcons. "We couldn't believe all the cameras and microphones, and hopefully in the next few years everyone gets a chance to be here."
Before any dreams of Lord Stanley's trophy dance through their heads, these young Falcons must endure the growing pains that are not uncommon for teams featuring young players. That was again evident last night when the Falcons dropped their sixth straight game, a 4-3 American Hockey League setback to the Philadelphia Phantoms.
The largest crowd ever to see the Falcons play at "home" - 13,424 - watched the Falcons come close against a far more experienced opponent at the St. Pete Times Forum. Five of the current Phantoms skated here for the Philadelphia Flyers against the Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals series last spring.
After captain Shane Willis, who with Ryan Craig have combined to score 26 of the Falcons' 57 goals, opened the scoring with a power-play goal 2 minutes, 24 seconds into the game, the Phantoms pulled even when Patrick Sharp earned the first of his four assists by setting up Mark Murphy at 6:29.
Just as the crowd began to chant, "Let's go Falcons," the Phantoms broke open a close game with three unanswered second period goals - one short-handed, one even strength and one a power-play goal - to take a 4-1 lead. Former Falcon Boyd Kane, Dennis Seidenberg and John Slaney scored off Jamie Storr - all off assists from Sharp.
After Craig scored a power-play goal with 5:17 remaining in the third period, the Falcons made it 4-3 after they pulled Storr in favor of an extra attacker and Willis scored his second goal of the game, but the Falcons ran out of time. Excluding empty-net goals, this was the Falcons' 12th straight game decided by one goal or a shootout.
"We would have liked to have won this game, but for the guys, this should make them work that much harder because ultimately, this is where they want to play," Willis said.
A number of hockey fans from Western Massachusetts made the trip. The opportunity to see their favorite AHL team play in the building where the Stanley Cup was won last June was too tempting to pass up.
Among them were Everett and Teddy Miller of Ludlow, who have attended most Falcons road games over the years.
"We weren't going to come, but our granddaughter works at DisneyWorld, and she said we had to come," Everett Miller said.
The Lightning was so appreciative of the fans who made the trip they grouped them together in special club seats.
The weather (the thermometer may have dipped to a New England-like 34 degrees the night preceding the game) may not have been quite what those fans expected to experience in Florida, but no one complained.
For the hockey-starved fans of the Lightning, they got to see a game for the first time since Dave Andreychuck raised the Cup over his head here last June. It didn't matter that it wasn't the NHL, it was hockey, and even the sting of the lockout that has prevented their team from defending its title couldn't take that away from them.
"We're loyal Lightning season ticket holders and we want to see hockey," said Scott Rodgers of St. Petersburg, Fla.
His friend and fellow season ticket holder, Rob Brosan, also of St. Petersburg, said the game filled a void. "There's been a lack of hockey here, and we miss it," Brosan said.
Bobby Eagle, who drove 90 minutes from his home in Gainesville, Fla., to watch the game, wore a Dimitry Afanasenkov game-worn Falcons jersey. Afanasenkov played for the Falcons two years ago and was part of the Lightning's championship team.
"He's my favorite player," Eagle said. "It's great to see the Lightning's prospects play here."
The last time they watched a game here, those fans saw a championship team. What they saw in the Falcons is not a team that will likely play for the Calder Cup, but one who like the Lightning hopes to build toward that goal.
"It was such an honor to play in the same place where the Stanley Cup was won," Reid said. "The atmosphere was so intense, and it's too bad things didn't turn out the way we wanted."