Hollywood2

May 16, 2009

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORT .....

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HOUSTON AEROS 2
MANITOBA MOOSE 5
(Moose lead Western Conference Final 2-0.)

LINKS

• [TEAM SUMMARY -with video highlights ] ~ [MOOSE TV]
  [AHL SUMMARY] ~ [AHL STORY]
  [SUN - post-game] ~ [FREE PRESS - nothing yet]

OFFICIAL HOLLYWOOD OBSERVATIONS

1. The Moose owe a lot of their success to their penalty killing early in the first period. The Moose drew the first two penalties and a goal-line sprawling save from Schneider was all that prevented the Aeros from taking an early lead.

2. Why were the men's washrooms lined up so badly tonight? I chose to zip to the lower level one to avoid the lines.

3. The Moose aligned like this:

• Goal:
  Schneider (Sanford backup)
  
  Defence:
  Heshka - Baumgartner
  Fistric - Fortunas
  McIver - Ramsey
  
  Forwards:
  Grabner - Krog - Jaffray
  Bolduc - Cullen - Sawada
  Keane - Bliznak - Desbiens
  Rallo - Hodgson - Collins

4. The Aeros aligned like this:

• Goal:
  Khudobin (1st) Schaefer (2nd & 3rd)
  
  Defence:
  Stoner - Rogers
  Albers - Teswuide
  Falk - Noreau
  
  Forwards:
  Lundbohm - Hrkac - Rogers (or Irman)
  Beaudoin - Pouliot - Locke
  Kassian - Ryznar - Irmen
  kolanos - Rosa - Lammers

5. The Grabner-Krog-Jaffray unit had the Aeros running mad all game. They were also the 3 stars.

6. There is way more beer being sold at playoff than regular season games. Lots of guys near me were coming with two hands full at each intermission.

7. That McIver-Earl fight was sad. The referee chose to not dignify it by giving 5 minute penalties. INstead, McIver got 4 minutes for roughing whilst Earl had 2 minutes. At least Earl "showed up" for it. Earl reminded me of one of those jabroni wrestlers from back in the day who got squashed in 5 minutes.

8. Hodgson had his first goal, a one-timer from high in the slot. I don't think he had much ice time later in the game.

9. The first time the Jets won the Avco Cup was with a one-sided win over the original Houston Aeros on a hot May evening. This one was somewhat similar in that the victory was a foregone conclusion by mid-2nd period. BTW, that Jets win came the day after Kiss made their Winnipeg debut.

10. It is hard to imagine a big Houston comeback. They are a decent team but I don't see the series coming back to Winnipeg.

NEXT

• Game 3 – Mon., May 18 – Manitoba at Houston, 7:05
  Game 4 – Wed., May 20 – Manitoba at Houston, 7:05

ELSEWHERE

• 
  Providence Bruins 3
  Hershey Bears 2
  (Providence leads Eastern Conference final 1-0.)
  [AHL SUMMARY] ~ [AHL STORY]

BOOKMARKS

• [THEAHL.COM] ~ [CALDER CUP LINKS PAGE]
  [SCHEDULES/SCORES - links to summaries] ~ [NEWS LINKS]
  [AHL LIVE - if you want to watch a game on your computer]
  [HOUSTON AEROS] ~ [MANITOBA MOOSE]
  [WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SPORTS] ~ [WINNIPEG SUN SPORTS]

Hollywood2

May 18, 2009

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MANITOBA MOOSE 4
HOUSTON AEROS 3
(Moose lead Western Conference Final 3-0.)

LINKS

• [TEAM SUMMARY -with video highlights] ~ [MOOSE TV]
  [AHL SUMMARY] ~ [AHL STORY]
  [SUN - post-game] ~ [FREE PRESS - post-game]

I watched the game for $8 on the internet. The Moose built leads of 2-0 and 3-1. However, Houston rallied with two 3rd period goals to level the score. The 3rd Houston goal was shorthanded. Michael Grabner was on the point on the PP (I don't like that), missed his check, and allowed a scoring chance. Cory Schneider could have stopped the shot, but still. Anyhow, Grabner redeemed himself with the GWG (his second of the night). Mike Keane and Alexandre Bolduc also scored for the Moose.

Just think: If the Moose win on Wednesday they will have to wait for the Eastern Conference to conclude games 3 through 7.

NEXT

• Game 4 – Wed., May 20 – Manitoba at Houston, 7:05
  Game 5 – Fri., May 22 – Manitoba at Houston, 7:35 (if necessary)

BOOKMARKS

• [THEAHL.COM] ~ [CALDER CUP LINKS PAGE]
  [SCHEDULES/SCORES - links to summaries] ~ [NEWS LINKS]
  [AHL LIVE - if you want to watch a game on your computer]
  [HOUSTON AEROS] ~ [MANITOBA MOOSE]
  [WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SPORTS] ~ [WINNIPEG SUN SPORTS]

Hollywood2

May 20, 2009

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MANITOBA MOOSE 4
HOUSTON AEROS 5
(in overtime)
(Moose lead Western Conference Final 3-1.)
[TEAM SUMMARY -with video highlights ] ~ [MOOSE TV]
[AHL SUMMARY] ~ [AHL STORY]
[CANOE/SUN - post-game] ~ [FREE PRESS - post-game]

May 22, 2009

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MANITOBA MOOSE 3
HOUSTON AEROS 4
(in double overtime)
(Moose lead Western Conference Final 3-2.)
[TEAM SUMMARY -with video highlights ] ~ [MOOSE TV]
[AHL SUMMARY] ~ [AHL STORY]
[CANOE/SUN-pre-game] ~ [CANOE/SUN - post-game]
[FREE PRESS - post-game]

NEXT UP
Game 6 - Mon., May 25 - Houston at Manitoba, 7:30
*Game 7 - Wed., May 27 - Houston at Manitoba, 7:30

Although the Moose lost, the way the game gives me loads of confidence for game 6. The only downside was Schneider's shaky performance in the 1st period which put the team down 2-0 early. But Sanford was good (as we all suspected he would be) and the goals with 20 and 2 seconds remaining showed just what the Moose can do against this team.

Hollywood2

May 25, 2009

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HERSHEY BEARS 5
PROVIDENCE BRUINS 2
(Hershey wins Eastern Conference final 4-1.)
[AHL SUMMARY] ~ [AHL STORY]

Since Monday was a U.S. holiday, they played this one in the afternoon. And it was on XM radio as part of a double-header. So Hershey takes the battle of Yogi vs Booboo. Strange thing that Providence was swept in the 3 games played on their home ice.

@

HOUSTON AEROS 1
MANITOBA MOOSE 3
(Moose win Western Conference Final 4-2.)
[TEAM SUMMARY -with video highlights ] ~ [MOOSE TV]
[AHL SUMMARY] ~ [AHL STORY]
[SUN - post-game] ~ [FREE PRESS - post-game] ~ [CANOE - CP story]

The Moose controlled the game throughout. The final shots were 36-17 and each period was solidly in favour of the Moose. I watched on AHLlive.com. Pope, Grabner, and Fistric scored for Manitoba. IMO, Pope is as much or more of a revelation that Hodgson in these playoffs. Grabner now has 7 playoff goals. Houston seemed to be playing the waiting game, hoping they would eventually get a PP and a goal then go back to hanging on for dear life.

CALDER CUP FINAL

.::. .::. .::.

MANITOBA MOOSE v HERSHEY BEARS

Game 1 – Sat., May 30 – Hershey at Manitoba, 7:30
Game 2 – Tue., June 2 – Hershey at Manitoba, 7:30
Game 3 – Sat., June 6 – Manitoba at Hershey, 6:00
Game 4 – Sun., June 7 – Manitoba at Hershey, 4:00
*Game 5 – Tue., June 9 – Manitoba at Hershey, 6:00
*Game 6 – Fri., June 12 – Hershey at Manitoba, 7:30
*Game 7 – Sun., June 14 – Hershey at Manitoba, 7:30
(all times CDT)