New Year, New Venue, New Players

Jan. 11, 2012

The Christmas break was a long three weeks for the AHA this year. It came at the right time allowing the injuries to recover and mental refocusing after eight grueling games.

The game was played at the famed Coliseum sheet located on the historic Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The arena was buzzing with energy as the stands were packed with spectators and the teams were anxious to come back after the long break. This was a new venue from some of the newer players and the team welcomed newly signed Dave Henke to round out the roster. (General Manager job postings have been seen in the local shoppers around town.)

The first period began with the unfamiliar Norseman flying up and down the ice and the Spiders struggling to keep up. The Norseman struck first with a feed from behind the net that landed right on the stick of an attacker and it was buried in the upper corner. It would appear from the first period, the Spiders would be chasing the long beards all night. Late in the first, Butalla earned what would be the first point of many this night when he took a feed from the recovering Maietta and chipped it over the sprawling goaltender.

The second period was a complete turn of events. Captain Schlies was yelling and instructing over the drone of the Zamboni and the Spiders energy responded. However, sub-goalie Bobby Stewart was up to the task and turned away each and every shot. The Spiders couldn’t get a power play to produce points but wouldn’t even let the Norsemen into the Spider end of the ice while on the penalty kill. In the end, the Norseman had two shots in the period, but managed to sneak one past Dow as he was dozing off.

This period’s paint pealing instructions were courtesy of Tim Staples, as he was earnestly encouraging his teammates to get the lead out. The third picked up right where the second left off with consistent Spider pressure in the offensive zone. But unlike the second period, Butalla slapped home a rebound from Adelmann to tie the game up. The puck was barely cleaned off by the officials when, 14 seconds later, hats came raining down from the fans as Butalla used Schliesman’s pass to drive home what proved to be the game winning goal.

Two insurance goals by Schliesman sandwiching Hilden’s goal put the fan favorite team in the victory circle with 6-2 win. The game puck was issued to Butalla who ended the night with three goals and two helpers. Not bad for a man who did a rare pre-game interview and indicated that he was tired and questioned his own ability to compete during the game.

As the season nears the half-way point, the Spiders are in a tie for second in the standings with the Zephyrs. This is the time of the year where separation begins between teams that will contend for the playoffs and those who will be cleaning their golf clubs. Next up is Chaos Black at home (New Hope).

Attendance: 5