This ECHL hockey season nears its end
Hockey may be gasping it's last breath of air this season. The Gwinnett Gladiators are down 3 games to none to the Alaska Aces. I went to the game last night and while I have seen more poorly officiated games, this one wasn't stellar. The Glads had a number of opportunities to score some goals on powerplays but they just couldn't seem to get it together.
Alaska's passing is impressive. They are able to move the puck much more than the Gladiators. One goal they scored was possible because they passed it across their offensive zone cleanly 3 times. It was impressive. The aces backstop played well considering the number of shots he faced, but he behaved like a petulant child when play was stopped. He was constantly whining to the ref that people are taking runs at him. He even threw a temper tantrum and flailed the puck down the ice when the ref wouldn't call a penalty on the Glads after they whacked at the puck that was barely covered by the goalie. The ref didn't give him a penalty either and that was pretty messed up. It was deinitely an unsportsman-like penalty and I believe it should have been called. It would have meant 6 on 4 for the last minute and a half.
The gladiators can throw it all on the line on Wednesday to try to stay alive, but there barely seems to be a pulse. The glads need to definitely improve their passing. They were awful last night.
And to the fans at the arena, go ahead and boo the refs if you like. But booing the gladiators does nothing to help them rally and get a victory. You could really sense the change in the arena when most of the crowd started booing the gladiators when their powerplay units couldn't move the puck. The gladiators lost their energy after that and couldn't seem to get it together.
Alaska's passing is impressive. They are able to move the puck much more than the Gladiators. One goal they scored was possible because they passed it across their offensive zone cleanly 3 times. It was impressive. The aces backstop played well considering the number of shots he faced, but he behaved like a petulant child when play was stopped. He was constantly whining to the ref that people are taking runs at him. He even threw a temper tantrum and flailed the puck down the ice when the ref wouldn't call a penalty on the Glads after they whacked at the puck that was barely covered by the goalie. The ref didn't give him a penalty either and that was pretty messed up. It was deinitely an unsportsman-like penalty and I believe it should have been called. It would have meant 6 on 4 for the last minute and a half.
The gladiators can throw it all on the line on Wednesday to try to stay alive, but there barely seems to be a pulse. The glads need to definitely improve their passing. They were awful last night.
And to the fans at the arena, go ahead and boo the refs if you like. But booing the gladiators does nothing to help them rally and get a victory. You could really sense the change in the arena when most of the crowd started booing the gladiators when their powerplay units couldn't move the puck. The gladiators lost their energy after that and couldn't seem to get it together.