Blades and Checkers Split Wild Series

ESTERO, FL – The Florida Everblades split a knock-out series this past week that involved plenty of goals, fights, and penalties. The game flow was erratic, but fast paced and entertaining. The outcome ended with two wins for each team.
Here is a look at the recent four game series between the Everblades and the Charlotte Checkers.
Sunday 12/28/08 @ Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC Charlotte Checkers win over the Florida Everblades 8-0 This blow-out win for the Checkers was the second largest margin of defeat for the Blades in team history. Net minder Jeff Jakaitis earned his third shutout of the season. Charlotte came out fast and strong and took command early and never looked back. Mike Bayrack scored just 22 seconds into the game shocking the Blades and exciting the fans. Peter Tsimikalis scored later in the first with Charlotte taking a 2-0 lead to the locker room. The second period only produced one Checkers goal by Lee Falardeau. The third period, however, was a knock-out for the North Carolina team. The Checkers blew open the game by scoring three rapid fire third period goals in a little over two minutes. Falardeau and Tsimikalis each scored a second goal. At that point starting Blades goalie, David Leggio, was relieved in favor of tandem partner Anton Khudobin. Khudobin was not able to stop the bleeding as three more Checkers scored thanks to Michel Leveille, David Rutherford, and Falardeau who triumphantly scored his third goal of the evening to earn the hat trick. GOALTENDERS: Jeff Jakaitis earned the win saving all 32 shots. David Leggio suffered the loss making 27 saves on 32 shots playing only 48:27 of the game. Anton Khudobin (3 of 6) playing the remaining 11:33. POWER PLAY: Florida 0 for 5; Charlotte 0 for 4 3 STARS OF THE GAME: 1. Jeff Jakaitis (CH), 2. Lee Falardeau (CH), 3. Peter Tsimikalis (CH)

Wednesday 12/31/08 – @ Germain Arena in Estero, FL Charlotte Checkers win over the Florida Everblades 5-1 The Charlotte Checkers gave the fans in Florida a repeat performance of the third period from Sunday evening in North Carolina. Charlotte exploded in the third period with another five goal barrage. The first period was quite calm as opposed to the third period of play in Charlotte. Both goaltenders kept the game a scoreless tie going into the second period. The Blades scored their one and only goal in the second period by Colin Nicholson, but the Blades lead lasted until the beginning of the third period when Charlotte took charge of the game. Matthew Ford of the Checkers scored early in the third period to tied the game at one. Not soon after the goal, Khudobin misplayed the puck and once again the opportunistic Checkers made them pay for their mistake. Peter-James Curse took the advantage of the situation and gave the Checkers the lead they never relinquish. The scoring continued with Corsi’s second goal of the night, while Rutherford and Michel Leveille scoring to round out the five third period goals. GOALTENDERS: Jeff Jakaitis earned the win saving 30 of 31 shots. Anton Khudobin lost making 18 of 23 saves. POWER PLAY: Florida 0 for 6; Charlotte 1 for 7 3 STARS OF THE GAME: 1. Peter-James Corsi (CH), 2. David Rutherford (CH), 3. Jeff Jakaitis (CH) Friday 1/02/09 – @ Germain Arena in Estero, FL Florida Everblades win 6-3 over Charlotte. The New Year gave the Blades a fresh start and ending their three game losing streak. Their success in this game was largely due to four power play goals. The game was fast and furious, literally. The penalties were numerous with both teams combining for 92 minutes and 22 power plays. Unfortunately for the Blades, they received the worst end of the calls with 57 minutes in the box and 20 infractions. Columbia had an excessive amount of 5 on 3 chances, but the Blades survived and triumphed. The Blades came out focused and physical. Three first period goals gave them the start they needed. The first goal came from Colin Nicholson. The Blades scored on both ends of their 5 on 3 advantage with goals by Kevin Baker and 22 seconds later by Ross Carlson. The momentum swung back to the Checkers as they tallied twice to cut the Blades lead to just one thanks to Michel Leveille and Ethan Graham. Florida’s power play unit was strong and redirected away a number of Charlotte chances with the man advantage. The four goals by the two teams rounded out the night. Three successive Blades goals by Ryan Lang, Mark Lee, and newcomer Steve McJannet sealed the win for Florida. Peter-James Corsi added one more for Charlotte to finished off the final score. Both teams were tired and frustrated and acted out their feelings out on the ice. With 11 seconds left in the game, a brawl ensued with Peter Metcalf and Brad Zanon of the Blades and Peter-James Corsi earning major penalties. Metcalf and Zanon were given game misconducts prohibiting them from playing in Saturday’s game, but Zanon’s was reversed. Even goaltenders Jakaitis and Leggio joined the party. “We were a little undisciplined, but we really showed as a team that we care about what we’re doing here. We played like a desperate hockey team tonight. We needed this win”, said Goaltender David Leggio who was quoted in the Ft. Myers News Press after the game. The team also recognized the #1 star of the game, Ryan Lang, in the locker room. He was awarded their “Hard Hat Award”, a white construction hat for the player who works hardest in the game. GOALTENDERS: David Leggio earned the win saving 31 of 34 shots. Jeff Jakaitis suffered the loss making 38 of 44 saves. POWER PLAY: Florida 4 for 9; Charlotte 1 for 13 3 STARS OF THE GAME: 1. Ryan Lang (FL), 2. Ross Carlson (FL), 3. David Leggio (FL) Friday 1/03/09 – @ Germain Arena in Estero, FL Everblades win 4-2 over Charlotte Checkers The fourth game of the series looked like an NHL game was playing out on the ice. Each team was wearing their respective affiliate jersey’s (Florida is affiliated with the Carolina Hurricanes while Charlotte is affiliated with the New York Rangers. Both teams jerseys are available for bidding on e-bay for charity.) Florida once again came out hard and strong. Tonight their key to victory was three goals in the first 10 minutes of the game. Two goals by Kevin Baker and one by Danick Bouchard were enough to get starting netminder Maxime Daigneault chased out the Charlotte net. Jeff Jakaitis returned to play the fourth game of series. Checkers’s Brad Ralph added a goal to the scoreboard and the Blades went to the lockers leading 3-1. Florida’s Bouchard gave the Blades their three goal lead back. Goaltender David Leggio earned his first assist on the season assisting newcomer Noah Babin on the goal. The Checkers opened with a goal by Michel Leveille. The rest of the period the Blades penalty killers were once again the stars of the game as Charlotte failed to capitalize on any of their 5 on 3 chances. The third period was played very tight with only 12 total shots on goal by both teams in the third period giving the Blades a victory 4-2. Florida’s Brad Zanon, who almost missed the game due to Friday’s misconduct call, played 35 minutes with a bruised elbow due to the limited number of defenseman able to play. Blades Coach Cameron felt that the excessive penalty calls on the Blades were uncalled for. “That was an absolute embarrassment to the game of hockey. What can you do about it? I made my voice heard last night. The Brad Zanon suspension was rescinded.” (Ft. Myers News Press, 1/4/09). Although the Blades played well, they had to work even harder due to the number of undisciplined penalties. The Everblades can thank David Leggio that the team had a chance to win. GOALTENDERS: David Leggio earned the win making 35 of 36 saves Maxime Daigneault suffered the loss making only 2 of 5 saves before being replayed by Jakaitis. POWER PLAY: Florida 1 for 6; Charlotte 1 for 9 3 STARS OF THE GAME: 1. David Leggio (FL), 2. Kevin Baker (FL), 3. Danick Bouchard (FL)     Everblades notes FLORIDA ALL-STARS Three Florida Everblades players have been selected to play in the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game: Goaltender David Leggio, forward Kevin Baker, and defenseman Aaron Brocklehurst. PLAYER MOVES Brad Herauf – called up to the Albany River Rats of the AHL Yannick Tifu – called up to the Albany River Rats of the AHL Andrew Sweetland – called up to the Albany River Rats of the AHL Noah Babin – assigned to Florida Everblades from the Albany River Rats of the AHL (note: Babin is the first Florida born player to join the Everblades) Steve McJannet – (formerly of the Columbia Inferno) was signed by the Florida Everblades The Florida Everblades will next host the Mississippi Sea Wolves at 7:30pm on Friday, January 9^th at Germain Arena. Contact the author at: sharon.weatherhead@prohockeynews.com