A big win for us in Amiens last night came from a huge defensive effort by our club. Aside from going down 1-0 midway through the first period, we were able to respond with 4 unanswered goals to win the game 4-1. My defense partner Peter Slovak, who is one of the best defensive defenceman in the league had a huge offensive night with 2 goals and 1 assist. This is coming from a guy who has scored only 1 goal since his 2002-2003 season in the Slovak Extraliga in HK Nitra. Peter was named player of the game and takes home a nice box of chocolates.
Another highlight in this game was seeing Anthony Pernot score his first goal in the Ligue Magnus. It was in the 2nd period and off of a rebound he put it top corner. I was so happy to see him score this goal to put us up 3-1 that I jumped over the boards to go retrieve the puck that was still in the net. As I was picking up the puck in the net, one of the Amiens defenceman was not too pleased by this and gave me a little hook with his stick to show his displeasure. It was well worth it, as Anthony Pernot will remember that goal for the rest of his life, his first pro hockey goal and he will have the puck to prove it!
Yet again with a depleted line up, missing Chassard, Simko, Quessandier and Simon, we went with 3 lines and 5 defence. We suffered another blow when our Finnish Flash Ilpo Salmivirta left the game after taking a high stick and suffering 5 stitches. No anaesthesia. This left us shorthanded for the game and lots of ice time for some players. There were a few instances where I played 4 minutes and 30 seconds straight. We had taken a penalty and my coach wanted me out there for the whole time to kill it off, then right at the end of it, we went on the power play. Missing some of our power play guys, I had to play on both the #1 and #2 power play units. I'm not complaining! In total I think I played about 46 minutes in the game and finished +2.
Near the end of the 2nd period, we took a penalty, and as the French referees are at the caliber of Windsor Minor House League Tier II, it was a bad call. Our coach responded on the bench saying "C'est n'importe quoi!!!" Earning us another penalty and putting us down 5 on 3. This was the turning point in the game. Myself, Peter Slovak and Petrak were sent out to kill this off. We were doing a great job and were able to send the puck down a few times to kill time off of these unwarranted penalties, and with only a few seconds remaining in the period I went out to block a shot at the point. I took the puck square in the knee cap, shattering my shin pad. It was pretty painful but it soon subsided and I was able to play the rest of the game. As I type away on this blog right now, a day later, my knee has swollen up to the size of a softball and I hope to be able to practice tomorrow and be ready for our game against Grenoble on Saturday. Aside from that, as a team we shut down their top scorers and responded offensively when we had our chances. Huge WIN!!!
After the game we walked over to the restaurant where we were blessed with two of my favorites! To start off we had Tartiflette, which I have spoken about in a previous blog, man I love this stuff, so much that I ate the leftovers from 2 other players. Then for dessert we had Creme Brulée, my all time favorite! It was a great day all around, we played a great team game, we won, it was great to see my defense partner score a few goal, and best of all, we ate well!!!
Getting ready to dig into my Tartiflette. On the left is Erwan Agostini and to the right is Tarik Chipaux. Two French players who are helping me refine my French!
Just dominating my second Creme Brulée. Tastes so much better when you win!
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