Spiders eat Pronto Pups, play (a) little hockey

Jan. 6, 2008

The Spiders (2–7–0) began a three-game stand at the Coliseum to kick off 2008 in State Fair style, this time facing the Renegades (5–3–1), against whom the Spiders got well-handled 9–1 in the two teams’ previous meeting. Could the Spiders pull an upset? Is the State Fair known for easy parking, sparse crowds and healthy eating?

The sluggish Spiders were handily outskated by the solid Renegades squad, which controlled the puck, the play and the scoreboard for pretty much the entire 51 minutes.

And if getting outplayed at 5-on-5 wasn’t enough, the Spiders gave the Renegades plenty of man-advantage opportunities, racking up 12 minutes in the bin (including two early sits by Carlos “LaCosse” Eberhardt), to the Renegades’ 6. And yet even on their first PK, the Renegades controlled the puck for most of the 2 minutes.

As Jacques Lemaire said in the paper today, “Nothing was happening except goals against.”

The Spiders’ highlight reel wouldn’t be activated until late in the third, at 3:17 remaining, facing a 7–0 shutout, when blueliner Ryan Herman busted through to beat the Renegades netminder, finally getting the Spiders on the scoreboard, on assist by center Mike Johnson. Herman, whose family was in the capacity Coliseum crowd this afternoon, wasn’t happy with just one, almost beating the goalie again on a breakaway shortly thereafter.

Herman would be involved in the Spiders’ second and final marker, this time on the Power Play, with just 1:21 remaining in the third, right winger Ted Samsel scored on assist from Herman and a newly off the DL Michael Armel.

As to be expected, the Spiders’ offense recorded double-digit shots in the game (10; 2–2–6), while Spiders netminder Mike Derer faced a Renegade barrage of 30 shots (11–6–13), stopping 23.

Following the game, the Spiders’ ownership group, which had earlier in the week indicated possible roster movement between the D1 and C2 squads to the shore up C2 squad’s offense and defense, commented, “Quite frankly, we don’t know what we were thinking.”

Back in the Spiders GM office, it could be reportedly overheard a group of people frantically arguing about how to use Vonage to call Siberia.

Next up, the Coliseum stand continues, Sunday, Jan. 13, a 7:45 faceoff against Jets (currently 3–6–1; lifetime Spiders vs. Jets: 2–1), who excercised their overburners on the Spiders last meeting, winning 10–1.