Owners Tournament

Arrived at the owners tournament right before game one was starting. Good crowd again today, standing room only again.

Game recap
Game 1 - McConnell vs. Pizzuti
Sanford in goal for McConnell, Dekanich for Pizzuti. The first period was all team Pizzuti. Lukas Sedlak started off the scoring off a nice pass from Nash. Dalton Smith made it 2-0 with a roofer from in close. Mayorov got a deflection from a Kris Russell shot from the right circle to make it 3-0. Most of the time was spent in the McConnell end, as they could get nothing going offensively. The second period started with a little more offensive game shown from team Mac. Kubalik fed Carter with a nice pass to the front of the net where he was all alone, and he finished with a backhander past Dexshow to make it 3-1. Lots of end to end action in this period. Boll made a couple of real nice moves and fed Dalton Smith for a wide open shot to make it 4-1 for Team Pizzuti. Dekanich made a beautiful toe save and stopped the follow up shot as well to keep the score the same. Game to Team Pizzuti.

Game 2 - Wolfe vs. Crane
Didn't make my way over to this game until about 2/3 of the way through the first period. Score was already 2-1 for Team Wolfe. Steven Delisle put a hard shot through from the point to make it 3-1. It very well could have deflected off of someone else, couldn't tell from where we were sitting. Nothing else special from this game, a couple of good chances on a power play for Team Crane but no goals. Vermette put in an EN goal on a feed from Calvert, and the game goes to Team Wolfe 4-1.

Championship game - Pizzuti vs. Wolfe
This was a chippy game from the start, everybody seemed to be going hard and wanted to win. Nash rang a shot of of both posts about a minute in, but Mase was able to cover the puck up. Russell did his signature skate the length of the ice to create an opportunity, however this time he made something happen. Dish off to Brass in the middle, and a nice return from Brass has Russell opening up the scoring for Pizzuti. Boll is taking the body on everyone! Mason lets a rebound out off a Russell shot and Mayorov puts it in to make it 2-0. Wolfe gets on the board shortly after on a Chaput goal off a nice centering pass from Vermette. They even it up with a nasty point shot  from Austin Madaisky deflects right to Aaron Bogosian who puts it into the wide open net. The second period saw some great back and forth action, and some nifty work by both goaltenders. Team Wolfe go the advantage when Michael Chaput scored on a breakaway, beating Dex on the blocker side. With time running out a Dekanich on the bench, Derrick Dorsett scored the empty netter to seal the victory for Team Wolfe. And just for the icing on the cake, Boone Jenner scored another EN goal as time expired to make the final score 5-2 for Team Wolfe, your 2011 Owners Tournament champions.

Observations

• I was impressed by how smooth and sound Dekanich was in goal. Seemed very fundamentally sound and not panicked at all. I can see why Howson liked him. Just solid.
• Boll was a wrecking ball out there, hitting anything in sight. He also showed some offensive prowess.
• Mayorov was impressive. Nice all around game from him, couple of goals, hard board play.
• Russell must be hearing the criticism, because he made himself very visible (in a good way). Goal and 3 or 4 assists, solid defensive play that I could see. Hope he keeps it up.
• I was really impressed with Steven Delisle. Big guy at 6'-6", but he skated well and seemed very mobile for someone his size. He had 2 excellent defensive plays on a two different breakaways in the championship game. Showed a decent shot from the point as well.
• Mason didn't look bad. He gave up the one rebound that I thought he should have had that resulted in Mayorov's goal, but other than that he made a few nice saves, even a high glove side save for the naysayers out there.
• Nothing special out of Carter, Wiz, Martinik, Prospal.
• Matty Calvert had several good attempts. As usual his motor was in overdrive the entire time.
• Didn't notice much from Atkinson.
• Boone Jenner is going to be a player in this league at some point. Solid all around game. The crowd couldn't wait to holler "Boooooone"!

This tournament was a lot of fun for the fans, and the players seemed to be into it as well. Team Wolfe went to center ice after the victory and were all smiles for the crowd. Wiz especially seemed to be wearing a big grin, raising his stick to the fans several times. Kudos to the Bluejackets for making this tournament a fun time for all the fans and the players as well.