Rivermen Report: The Week That Was 10/3 to 10/9
Hi there BNZ crew, thanks for stopping by to check in on the Rivermen. This is the first of what I am hoping to be a regular weekly installment that keeps you caught up on the very basics of what is happening here in Peoria.
MONDAY: It was a Monday like any other. The Rivermen community, however, was beginning to get excited about the weekend when the boys would open up the 2011-2012 season with a set of home games. This excitement would be gone by Sunday night, but we will get to that later.
TUESDAY: There was some controversy over the sending of Bishop back to the Rivermen. Not the embroiling the league in a heated debate type of controversy, but Blues and Rivermen fans had backed their horse for who to back up Halak, and a great many had Bishop being that guy. When he was sent down, some were upset. I, however, did not think it was a terrible idea. You can check out my thoughts HERE.
WEDNESDAY: The Rivermen announce they are part of the inaugural Illinois Lottery Cup, to be awarded to the team with the best winning percentage between Rockford, Chicago, and Peoria.
THURSDAY and FRIDAY: These two days pass with little fanfare. The official roster was released. Hooray, I guess.
SATURDAY: OPENING NIGHT! Finally! I get to Carver Arena and the lights dim, the pregame starts with a video announcing to the crowd… that they have changed mascots. Just like that. Boom. Adios to The Captain and hello to Louie’s brother, Barry. There was a terribly sad video of The Captain literally being put out to sea like an elder sent off on an ice floe. While that may not mean much to the Blues fans reading this, let me tell you it was downright morose.
I don’t know that the team recovered from it either. The Rivermen looked good for about 10 minutes. Then, following a successful penalty shot, all of the air went right out of the building and they barely crossed the finish line in a 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville). You can read my thoughts in more detail HERE.
SUNDAY: Didn’t end up much better than Saturday. It seems that right now the Rivermen just aren’t clicking. They lost 5-3 to the Rockford Ice Hogs (Chicago), and it wasn’t pretty. A steady stream of people to the penalty box, and Ben Bishop being caught on walkabout a couple of times contributed to the demise. Also, there was a depressing amount of turnovers and misfired home run passes. It felt like a clash between a team that is built to run-and-gun and the Blues system that is more defensive.
You can read more HERE.
PLUSES and MINUES
Unique to BNZ is going to be this section of Pluses and Minuses. Basically, what went right and what went wrong for the Rivermen in a quick glance format.
+ The offense is starting to find its legs. The 3-goal effort on Sunday could be a harbinger of things to come.
+ Opening night saw a crowd of 7,000+ on an 85 degree early October Saturday. That’s pretty good.
+ Allen looked good despite the defense in front of him looking not so good.
- Did I mention the defense? Both Saturday and Sunday I thought the blue line was a weakest link. That will have to change if they want to win.
- Ben Bishop going on walkabout. Twice he was caught out of net and twice it burned him. During the third period I was starting to look for a length of chain to attach him to the crossbar. I think he’s trying too hard to make his case to Blues management and it is interfering with his game.
- Penalties.
- Turnovers.
- Penalties and turnovers.
- Starting the season 0-2
+ There is a lot of hockey still to be played.
As always you can join me over at The Rivermen Blog for more frequent Rivermen updates, follow me on Twitter, or “like” the blog on Facebook.
Until next time!
LET’S GO RIVS
