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| Trevor Ludwig is down and out but Dell is ready - chlphotos.com |
- Had a chance to attend pregame skates this morning and everyone seemed relaxed and ready to go. A few players were not skating but that is not unusual for this time of year. Todd Griffith who led the Thunder with two goals in game one was not skating and from what I heard is not expected to play tonight.
- Heard from Tommy Daniels that Mike Hieka, the Dallas Morning News hockey beat writer will be at the game tonight. One of the benefits of of the Dallas Stars being eliminated from the playoffs is more attention for the Allen Americans. Let's hope for a great game tonight.
- Just checked the Martinson vs McClelland flex off on YouTube and it has 4382 views and counting. If you haven't seen it complete with music and crying baby sound effects take a look.
- There were some issues raised about the reception the Allen fans received in Wichita along with some who thought people were cheering when Trevor Ludwig was hurt. Having heard from most of the people who went to Wichita I would say the consensus is that the vast majority of Wichita fans were welcoming, friendly and respectful. The following posted by ML2Gooner on the chlforum.com message board captures it best:
Just want to thank all the Wichita folks who were extremely friendly this weekend. Just about everyone asked if we had safe travels on Sat and wished us safe travels on the way back. Also kudos everyone who asked about Trevor Ludwig on Sunday. There was a bit of negative things at the game, BUT it was a small minority(idiot drunks behind me at game 3 who did more blabbing than watching the game and a girl who was cheering when Trevor was down despite everyone else around not doing so when they realized he was hurt). The game day production is top class.
- A few interesting quotes from articles written by Jeffrey Lutz in the Wichita Eagle (kansas.com) the last couple of days. Here is a sample:
"Sometimes he has his off nights, and then there’s sometimes he’s kind of in it," Thunder forward Matt Robinson said of Aaron Dell. "Game 3 (a 5-2 Thunder win), you could tell he was kind of out of there, then tonight he made some big saves, especially near the end there. We peppered him with a lot of shots and a lot of chances, and he came up big there.
"You never know what you’re going to get with him. He’s either on his game or off it. But hopefully we can keep peppering him with some shots and put some goals in when we go to Allen."
"They played an unbelievable road game," Thunder forward RG Flath said. "They kind of lulled us to sleep, and actually both their goals were lucky bounces off guys. They stole one from us.
"We kind of let one slip away, we had a chance to take a big 3-1 series lead here," Thunder forward Matt Robinson said after Sunday’s Game 4. "Now it’s back to square one again. We can’t really get our heads down, it’s a big series and it’s 2-2. We know we can win in their barn, and I think we can do it."
“It’s a grind right now,” Wichita forward RG Flath said. “...We have to be mentally sharp, and I don’t think we were in Game 2 and 4. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes and pick up the little things.”
"There has been games where we haven’t been ready to play, and that’s obviously not something we want to deal with," Allen captain Jason Deitsch said. "We have to forget about it and come back and play. We felt like we had a good effort (Saturday) night, and we battled back and had a better effort (Sunday). "It’s not something we want to be OK with. We don’t want to be OK with having those off nights in the playoffs. We knew this was going to be a long series. They’ve got a very good team, and it’s going to be a battle."
- Ran into more people today with all kinds of superstitions to make sure we win tonight. I heard everything from the order I put on my skates, the number of times I tap my stick on the way out of the dressing room to what I eat. The outfit some of the ladies wear has to be from a winning game and the staff avoids certain restaurants to avoid a loss. I talked to one front office staff member who had even figured out where the team needs to eat the team meal to insure a victory. The bottom line is with an Allen victory will come many claims of credit for helping the team win.
Torrie Jung of the Thunder may be superstitious about superstitions as this is what he had to say in an article by Bob Lutz of the Wichita Eagle, “I try not to get myself into a specific routine just because I don’t like to be superstitious in any way,’’ said the 24-year-old Jung, in his first season with the Thunder. “I don’t like superstitions and I’ve never been superstitious in any way. I don’t have any superstitions whatsoever.’
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