I am here to tell you, hockey is alive and well in America. Sure, the reports from the NHL are a little bleak right now, especially in places that have other sporting events going on (Boston and Colorado with the MLB playoffs, for instance), or teams that just can’t seem to run a business (like Nashville). But for a junior team in the USHL, in the middle of the country, hockey is healthy. Very healthy. It was possibly one of the loudest games I have ever been to.

Lets go to the photos (click on anything to enlarge):

Not the most high tech place, but what do you expect? The angle of the seating level was a bit too slight, and it made me sit up and strain to see around the people sitting in front of me. Good for my posture, bad for seeing the play along the near boards. The guy sitting to my right was having about as hard a time, and was getting a little too friendly at times. Arena designers take note. Steeper is better.

Notice anything missing on this end?

That’s right, there’s no netting above the boards on this end. Oddly enough, no pucks left the ice on this end. A few on the sides, but none on this end. Go figure.

Look out!!! Bear!!!!

That was after I punched him, and game him that black eye. Ah, hockey.

This does not mean what you think it means.

Section K is the rowdy part of the arena, but they did seem pretty tame all night. At least to me. And certainly compared to some of the places I’ve been (Rockford, Ft. Worth). Some of the section K puckheads have jerseys with a K on the front where the captains C goes. Dedicated bunch.

This is from the pre game introductions. The away team is introduced first, and when they announce the player’s names, the crowd turns their backs to the ice. It was pretty funny. You have to have a thick skin to come play hockey against Lincoln. After the introductions, the lights go crazy, the music is pumped up, and the crowd goes nuts, all in an attempt to intimidate the opposing team. I don’t think it worked.

You could see this coming from a mile away.

Remember kids, don’t punch a man when he’s down. Not nice.

Guess which team got the extra 5 minute major?

Action shot.

So, things didn’t work out so well for the Stars tonight. They had some issues they need to solve, like setting up a good breakout, gaining the zone without having to make a lame shot towards the net, and figuring out how to avoid giving up odd man rushes. They had the majority of penalties, but took more shots (even though they weren’t the most challenging). The goaltender for the Stars made some poor choices, and had a few moments that could have turned into goals against when he tried clearing the puck out of his zone on the PK. I don’t know if that means his choices were in question, or his teammate’s puck clearing abilities, but it was sure dangerous.

(shots on goal are in green there)

But hey, at least they salute the crowd. They better, at least the crowd showed up.

I had a pretty good time at the game. It was a pretty hardcore atmosphere, and the crowd knew their hockey. I had a great time.

Boxscore
Gamesheet

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