Darn banners (with added Pirates) - Five things I learnt w/e 23 October

Looking at my Program fixtures page it seems we’re about a quarter of the way through this season’s games already, and we’re still not 100% sure how to categorise this team. So here’s another five things I learnt this week to see if they help us figure that out.

1. Tom Darnell - He’s not afraid to make the tough calls is he? Giving multiple, and stacked five on three PPs, and non-interference calls when there’s a goal front melee takes bottle. The easy way out is to give the team under pressure the benefit of the doubt, but Tom stuck to his guns all night. As I remarked to Eric, I’ve always liked him, and never hear a bad word said against him.
2. Powerplays - Despite Tom’s best efforts in the home game, our PP fired blanks again this weekend, going 0-10 despite having at least three opportunities with the double man advantage. Special teams win games, and we still remember how bad we were last year. We’re getting quality shots, but not enough of them for my liking, and a couple more scrappy PP goals would suit me fine.
3. Banner raising - I love that another banner went up into the rafters, but on day 216 after the league victory, it was a little stale. The delay to allow Moyer to join in too, was fine, but if we were going to delay this long, then I’d rather have found a slot where legends such as Hewey and others could have come home too.
4. Breakaways - Much as we didn’t like the result of the Brooks breakaway, you’ve got to applaud the floated pass from Moyer and the finish from Brooks. They gambled and won, and it set us back on our heels for the next 20 minutes. Although it wasn’t as pretty, I also loved that Desi buried his chance too when he got our fourth, it’s good to see him smiling as he brings a different element to our attack, and we need his power.
5. Panthers in Europe - The EIHL argued that we were too good for the second round against the champions of Spain, Turkey and Latvia, and fortunately the Panthers proved the case with a straight sweep and an overall score of 28:4. This also means they go missing from league action 18-20 November, when they play Angers Ducs (FRA), Odense Bulldogs (DEN), and HC Donbass (UKR). Best of luck, and how long before they start doubling up league games too?

So I leave this piece without mentioning DOPS, with four more points, and with my pint surprisingly more than half full - which after the way the home game started on Saturday I wasn’t too sure would be the case - and also one final thought about Hewey and Hull. After venturing to the versatile arena for the first time in a couple of years, it was great to see Hewey smiling and bantering with a few familiar faces, it was also great to see him acting as their power forward and potting two close-in goals which he’d single handedly created from nothing. I think he’s found a level at which even the opposition appreciate what he can do.

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