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Weekend Road Trip

One only has to endure a weekend road trip through upstate New York and into Toronto to be reminded how good we have it here in Springfield with regards to travel. You can sure get spoiled with so many day trips for road games.

The first leg of the trip found us in Syracuse, NY. The only good news was that we were able to get in and out of town before it snowed. The Crunch came at the young Falcons early and often and took charge of the game in the first twenty minutes and never looked back, winning going away 5-0. Not a good game for anyone. It didn't help that Corso was out with the flu, but nonetheless, Syracuse was the better team. Newly acquired Kyle Wanvig and Stephen Baby (pronounced Bobby) make their Falcon debut.

Next stop was Toronto and the Marlies in a Saturday afternoon matinee in the newly renovated Ricoh Coliseum. What a great venue for an AHL game. The storied past of the Toronto Marlboro organization and the Maple Leaf of the parent club couldn't help but pump you up for this game. The Falcons respond with a very good effort and are in it until the end, before falling 3-1. Again, our inability to score is our nemesis. we have the chances but just don't have the finish to our game. Boutin plays well in goal to give his team a chance. With Corso still out of the lineup with the flu and Jones still up with the big club, we mix and match at center. Baby steps up with regards to progress as we play a pretty decent game from start to finish.

Back on the bus and off to Binghamton, NY...a snow storm through Buffalo made out trip slow and treacherous but we made it safely by midnight. Super Bowl Sunday and a 3:00 game versus the Senators was our next challenge. This was our best game in a while. We have a ton of scoring chances but are only able to score twice. The effort was there and we overcome a two goal deficit in the third to force OT before losing in the shootout. Another baby step forward with regards to making progress as a team. Karri Ramo is the star of the game with 43 saves in a brilliant effort.

Newcomer Kyle Wanvig is a talented winger that should be able to add some much needed offense to our game. We'll need to find him the right linemates to give him and us the best chance to move forward.

Big week coming up with games against arch rival Hartford!

Until next week, Coach Stirling