ORLANDO, Fla – The Orlando Solar Bears may have lost Wednesday night’s game with the Gwinnett Gladiators at the Amway Center but for one Solar Bear, it felt like a win. For the record, the Gladiators won the game 2-1 in overtime, when a rebound off the pads of Orlando goalie John Curry went into the net off of Gwinnett forward Doug Jones 2:14 into the extra period. The big story for the home team however, was local player Eddie Levens who played in his first professional game. “I never thought this day would ever come, especially in probably the best facility in the country right now,” Levens said after the game. “It was an amazing atmosphere (with) amazing fans. It was an awesome time out there.” Levens, who lives in nearby Clermont, Florida, was one of two local players to be invited by Orlando head coach Drake Berehowsky to the team’s inaugural ECHL training camp from an open tryout. With the NHL lockout causing a displacement of players from the top level down, Levens was cut during camp but Berehowsky promised to keep Levens’ phone number just in case. That call came Wednesday morning and Levens was ready to answer. “Getting a call out of the blue was just kind of a crazy thing to happen to me,” he said. “I’m going to do what I can whenever he (Berehowsky) needs me. I’m going to come help out the team. I’m here for the team. I’m going to work my butt off for them and whatever they need from me. I’m going to give them.” Playing in front of an announced crowd of 4,854 which included his parents and friends, Levens tried to give the Solar Bears a jump start just over five minutes into the game when he squared off with Gwinnett’s Chris Clackson. In his attempt to land the first punch, Levens missed and lost his balance, allowing Clackson to gain the upper hand. It was just a small part of an effort that had Berehowsky praising the 25-year old. “He did a great job. I’m real proud of him. He made the most of his opportunity tonight – just like he did at the training camp and the open camp that we had,” Berehowsky said. “The kid has a good future. It’s a funny thing right now with the lockout and stuff, but any other time I think he would have a spot on one of these teams in the ECHL.” Late in the first period, Gwinnett jumped in front when a breakout during a Gladiators penalty turned into an offensive chance. Evan Bloodoff and Christian Ouellet played catch with the puck before Bloodoff buried a shot past Curry (24 saves) at the 16:51 mark. It was the lone score of the stanza. Orlando (5-3-2-1) pushed back early in the second and tied the score with a pretty passing play of its own. Mathew Sisca took the puck along the far boards and skated into the face-off circle. He passed it to Nick Petersen below the goal line and made a beeline for the front of the net where Petersen hit him with a tape-to-tape feed. Sisca zipped the puck past Gwinnett goalie Mike Lee (26 saves) to even things at one. The Solar Bears had a golden opportunity late in the period to jump in front when Gladiator forward Joey Haddad was hit with a double minor. Although Orlando had its chances, Gwinnett killed off the four-minute penalty to keep the score tied. It was part of a frustrating night for the Solar Bears power play which went 0-for-6 in the contest and is just 1-for-24 in the last five games. “I don’t think there’s a real problem (with the power play). The guys are moving it around well. They’re getting lots of opportunities. I think we hit three or four posts tonight,” Berehowsky said about his man advantage units. “The opportunities are there. It’s when there not there, that’s when you have to worry. The guys have to just remain confident and stick to the structure. We’ll go over them (the power play chances). We’ll show them the great opportunities they had today and hopefully they can move it over two inches and it’ll go in for us tomorrow.” Orlando’s penalty killing, which has been solid all season, was tested in the third, when Petersen was tagged for a double minor just past the midpoint of the period. With Curry hanging tough, the defenders held Gwinnett at bay, killing the entire four minutes. Ouellet had a chance with less than five minutes left in regulation when he let loose with a shot that beat Curry but it clanged off the post and stayed out. Neither team could break the tie in regulation, sending Orlando to its sixth overtime game of the season. In the extra session, Gwinnett’s Tony Lucia started the game-winning push with a steal at the Gladiators’ blue line. He drove into the Orlando end and fired a shot that Curry stopped. The rebound came out and hit Jones who was crashing the net. In the blink of an eye, the puck got past Curry to end the game. “We were just trying to create out there and we got caught. It was an unfortunate thing, a bad bounce for us,” Berehowsky said. The Solar Bears won’t have long to wait for a chance for revenge as the two teams will meet again at the Amway Center Thursday night. Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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