Tim Tookey just got booed. Rivalry never dies.
State of the league: Dave Andrews said there’s some talk about having an outdoor game, and he threw no cold water on “Hersheypark Stadium” speculation. Makes the most sense, doesn’t it? I asked him about going to 18-and-two, just because I’ve heard it from some people, and while he said it’s a very cyclical thing — people love it in October when they have bodies, and hate it in March when all those bodies are hurt — he said it has more than once been only one or two votes away from passing. He mentioned that the board needs to address the issue of playing more teams; season-ticket holders mention that to him more than any others. The flip side is that the casual fan responds more to the rivalry games. Travel costs, he thought, aren’t the issue that they once were as a fraction of a team’s budget. The 72-game schedule remains on the table. A move westward is conceivable; he said one team is very interested in that (somebody say Anaheim?). Lots of other stuff, too. He gets pretty freewheelin’ at these chats, which is nice.
5:08 first: Canada is trapping and crashing the net. Now THAT’s an all-star game.
7:30 first: Barrett Heisten has retired again.
13:39 first: The goaltenders are havin’ fun: Leighton way out to take a breakway away from buddy Aucoin; then Rask out to the right circle to take one away from Tambellini, who has played three shifts with three different centermen.
17:57 first: Who’s this Hamel dude?
6:10 first intermission: Storm’s team lost the Mascot Game something like 4-0. I think he’s going with Kimber to Utah.
1:24 second: Hey, Tambellini gets a plus. This Teddy Purcell’s OK. Got to get the dirt from Capuano one of these days about the Maine boy and how hard they went after him. He said the Isles talked to him a little, but other teams — obviously, L.A. — went harder.
3:30 second: Good penalty shot call. The whole press box was pointing for Pochmara. Jonathan’s next to me, and with Petersen vs. Schaefer, his story is written.
14:00 second: Nygel totally would’ve just called that hook.
15:55 second: Somebody’s totally got to call for a stick measurement.
18:30 second: Would you believe no one has ever scored four at an AHL All-Star Game? (Guess what: I couldn’t.) Three hat tricks. Er, four, now.
:30 second intermission: The on-ice guy just said some chuck-a-pucker would win tickets to next year’s ASG in “Warchester.” Is that in Mazachasuts?
3:30 second intermission: He keeps saying “Warchester,” but what’s funnier is the Marlies’ mascot, Duke, is chuck-a-pucking the chuck-a-pucks back into the crowd.
4:52 second intermission: Jason Chaimovitch confirms for Phil Janack: Petersen’s was the first penalty shot in ASG history. When Tenute scored eight second later, that was also an ASG record.
3:55 third: Loudest goalpost ever.
8:00 third: Having just written a lead about Tambellini having a kind of quiet night, I fully expected that shot to go in just now.
13:20 third: Denis Hamel cannot buy a goal. They are chanting his name, anyway. They think he’s terrific.
14:31 third: There it is. Nice job to keep himself onside, too.
Somewhat later: Good stuff from Tambellini, who helped make his teammates a few hundred dollars richer. “This was phenomenal, a lot of friends I played with in school, on other teams,” Tambellini said. “It made the whole weekend a blast.” Stuff about his goal and his buddy T.J. Hensick, whom I’d never seen play before, are in the notebook.
See you in Warchester.