In his pregame radio interview, Brent Thompson told Alan Fuehring his only Christmastime wish for Saturday, and it only took seven words: “60 minutes of consistent effort. That’s it.”
Yet another Christmas miracle.
“The intensity, the character, the leadership stepped up,” Thompson said. “It was a much-needed win.”
Christopher Gibson was on all afternoon, not tested much early but razor sharp in the first few minutes of the second, when Hartford had its best chances.
“Gibby was outstanding,” Thompson said. “He kept his focus. He was controlled.”
They got timely goals. They kept the pressure on. They capitalized on turnovers, quick transition, things that killed them the past few weeks.
Good way to go into the break.
“We’d play one bad period, and it’d bite us in the end. We couldn’t score enough to get back in it,” Devon Toews said. “This was a 60-minute effort.”
…….
On putting Josh Ho-Sang on the, as they rushed, fourth line :”Based off last night,” Thompson said, “I thought Jonesy’s pretty reliable defensively. Jonesy plays with that reliability and that speed. Josh has that speed. … Learning that 200-foot game, away from the puck, those guys can help.”
Pretty sure Toews led Jones, rather than Eansor as announced, which makes it a three-point game for Toews. Toews said that Ben Holmstrom tipped the last goal; still two points for Michael Dal Colle, his first two-point game since Oct. 27 at… Hartford. (His other two-point game was Oct. 22 at home versus… Hartford.)
Thompson said Stephen Gionta had an MRI, but he didn’t know if the results were back. He wasn’t more specific on the injury.
Here’s the Tage Thompson story Alan was talking about the other night, about sending the puck home to Kim and Brent.
Worcester plays tonight in Glens Falls (tough scheduling). Bill Ballou on linesman Kyle Richetelle, who, Bill notes, is from Hamden.
Phil Kemp and Jack Badini of Greenwich were among the last cuts from the U.S. junior national team. New Canaan’s Patrick Harper made it again, though.
Alan Maki on the infamous 1987 World Juniors brawl between Canada and the Soviets.
And RIP, Bob Givens.
…….
That’s the break, y’all. (Couldn’t decide, so: Song 1 (RIP), Song 2, the latter of which may very well be true for me.) See you Wednesday, unless (or maybe even if) warranted. Merry Christmas, happy holidays. May they be happy and safe and restful and all of that, and may you, like Tommer, get everything you want.