ECHOES IN STEELERS DRESSING ROOM

There was plenty of empty coat hangers in the dressing room as only 7 Steeler skaters put on the black and gold and took on 14 ex-Blues who came into the game in 2nd place in the division. The depleted line up adopted a defensive dump and don't chase strategy for most of the contest, however if it weren't for some very impressing net minding by MA Pouliot in the first period that strategy may have had to be changed very quickly. Pouliot stopped 20+ point blank shots in the opening frame only allowing one goal. In fact the first two goals were the result of some very long stints of time where the Steelers were trapped in there end and unable to clear the puck - this resulted in shots turning into rebounds, botched giveaways and deflections that simply found their way into the net.

Mike Didulka (although the sheet doesn't show it yet) gave the Steelers some hope to start the 3rd with an early period goal burying a wrist shot past a surprised (barely awake maybe) ex-Stars goalie. Unfortunately and understandably with only 7 skaters the Steelers could not muster much pressure at all on the night against a fully stacked (and quite capable) opponent. The ex-Blues added a late one to ice it, but overall, not a bad effort considering it was a one-goal game for most of the night.

Scoring Summary:

Didulka G 1 (2) A 0
Romaniuk G 0 A 1 (7)

Absent from the game were:

McCartney (Montreal - business trip), Rubin (gig), Serdan (back), Lam (new Lam), Garner (sniffles), Lindsay (out of town), Warkentin (teacher asked him to stay after school), Beausejour (no freakin' clue - nowhere to be found)

Next game is on Tuesday Jan 29th at 9:15pm vs the Strangers

Known scratches for next game:

Lam (baby Lam), Garner (hot sun - getting rid of the sniffles), Nichols (function)

Let me know if you will not be able to make it.

Cheers

STEELERS PASS ONE AWAY TO THE REXDALIANS

The Steelers coming off a strong effort last Tuesday were looking forward to ending their losing streak against the Rexdalians who had won the previous two contests the teams played this year. The team was without Anthony Lam and Marc Beausejour for the contest. It was a close match from the get go with both teams feeling each other out, not wanting to make the first mistake. It stayed that way until mid-way through the 2nd period the first mistake was made and it was a doozy. This reporter never likes to call out a player when something goes wrong so we won't. It appeared that #13 failed to control a simple pass to the point and panicked when he felt the pressure of a Rexdalian player coming towards him. As he went to blindly pass the puck behind his back to his defense partner, the Rexdalian forward intercepted the pass and went down beating Pouliot after he made a terrific first save.

The Rexdalians scored another in the third period to lift their lead to 2 - a lead that most Leaf fans would admit is far from safe even in the third period, but the Steelers weren't playing the Leafs on this night. Despite a spirited effort which included a K-Man goal and some good opportunities with Pouliot pulled, the Steelers couldn't snap the losing streak they have against the Rexdalians.

Scoring summary:

Neild G 1 (6) A 0
Nichols G 0 A 1 (2)

Next game is against the ex-Blues. - Tuesday Jan 22 at 8:30pm.

Please Bring Money for the Beer Fund.

#16 - Justin $ 48.00

#1 - Jeff $ 38.00

#5 - Craig $ 14.00

#10 - Larry $ 4.00

#4 - Marc B $ - 7.00

#44 - Kevin N $ 18.00

#33 - Mark A $ 34.00

#29 - Mario $ 14.00

#2 - Gualter $ 6.00

#9 - Anthony $ 16.00

#22 - Don $ 8.00

#8 - Kevin N $ 24.00

#3 - Chayim $ 16.00

#25 - Marco $ 16.00

#2 - Mark S $ 20.00

Mario,

Emma and I have a new addition to the household. Elisha Claire joined us on Wednesday at 9:24am weighing in at 7lbs 7ozs. Mom and baby just came home late Saturday as mom had a c-section. I will miss the next two games. My hands are needed on deck at home as mom recovers and baby settles into the new home environment.

Take care,

Anthony R. Lam

A Big congrats to Anthony & Emma from the Steelers!

STEELERS OVERCOME FLU BUG WITH SUPPORT FROM FARM

It appeared like the flu bug and other ailments picked up over the holidays hit the Steelers hard as they took to the ice for their first game of 2008. The Toronto Stingers provided the opposition on this night. GM Durigon called up Greg Gilpin and Mike Didulka from the farm and dawned the pillows in absence of injured Marc Andre Pouliot. The Steelers were without Coach Lindsay and Jones - each with the flu bug, Lam - expecting an addition to the Lam household (and it's not a puppy), Nichols - actually showed up to the game but had to run to deal with an emergency (hope all is ok), K-Man - business (did I mention it was guaranteed win night), and Pouliot who violated his performance contract for the second time this year by suffering a knee injury while skiing. Reliable sources say that the Steelers will be offering Andrew Raycroft a walk on try out.

The depleted line up played a well controlled tight checking game against the Stingers. The only goal of the first 2 periods came late in the first as Durigon was caught wandering by the Stingers top scorer (87) who ended up banking a shot from behind the net off of Larry Romanuik who was covering for Durigon who had lost the puck to # 87 in the corner (Durigon only wandered a few more times during the game). The Steelers came back and scored two big goals in the 3rd. The first came from the stick of Mike Didulka who scored on a hard slap shop along the ice and then while short handed Jeff Garner neatly tipped in a nice feed from Justin Warkentin for the game winner. The team still had to earn their win by killing off a 5 on 3 power play before the final buzzer.

Scoring Summary:

Didulka G 1 (1) A 0
Garner G 1 (3) A 0
Warkentin G 0 A 1 (5)

Next Game: Tuesday, Jan 15 at 10:15pm against the Rexdallions

Known Scratches: Beausejour (I think there were a couple of more people that said they couldn't make it, but I can't remember)

Let me know if you can't make it.

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