ORLANDO, FLA – Whether a player is a fresh-faced rookie or a seasoned veteran, there is something about an opening night that gets the blood pumping. Maybe it is the onset of a new season or the excitement of the potential that comes with that first drop of the puck.
When that first night is on home ice, the stakes are magnified. Everyone wants to impress the partisan crowd, to hear the roar when a goal is scored or a hard hit is thrown or at the end of the night when the buzzer sounds and the host team is victorious.
Saturday night, the Orlando Solar Bears will play host to the Atlanta Gladiators in the franchise’s sixth home opener at the Amway Center. The Gladiators will be just the third different team to be the visitors when the Solar Bears hit the ice for the first time in the new season in front of a boisterous audience anxious to see their “boys” for the first time.
In anticipation of Saturday’s first home game of the 2017-18 season, let us take a stroll down memory lane at the first five Orlando opening nights…
Saturday, October 20, 2012: Â “Out of Hibernation”
It was a night more than eleven years in the making as the Solar Bears came “Out of Hibernation” to join the ECHL. A capacity crowd of 9,555 filled the lower bowl at the Amway Center to watch the rebirth of minor league hockey in the City Beautiful.
The opening ceremony was something to behold with plenty of pyrotechnics and fanfare. There was an opening video narrated by Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Emrick, a ceremonial puck drop by Mayor Buddy Dyer and more. With former NHL defenseman Drake Berehowsky running things behind the bench, the fans were ready to see the team’s first win on home ice.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer drops the ceremonial first puck (Photo courtesy of G. Basing & F. Medina / Orlando Solar Bears
While the first ECHL goal scored at the Amway belonged to Florida’s Brandon MacLean, it wasMat Sisca’s tally at 7:15 of the first period that will be remembered as the Solar Bears’ first goal at home. The first Solar Bear to get into a fight was Josh Caron against the Everblades Leigh Salters of the opening period.
After Mike Wilson evened the score, the first Orlando lead in a game at home was granted by Simon Danis-Pepin at 2:12 of the second period. By the time the buzzer sounded at the end of the third period, the score was deadlocked at 3-3, bringing on the first ever overtime period at home.
Following a scoreless extra period, the teams went to a shootout – and what a shootout it was. For eight rounds, Orlando’s John Curry and Florida’s Pat Nagle stopped everything thrown at them. In the ninth round, Florida’s Mathieu Roy beat Curry but the Solar Bears’ Kyle Medvec put one past Nagle to keep the game going. Then in the eleventh round, Sean Lorenz blew the roof off the building when he scored to give Orlando a 4-3 win (and a two-game win streak after the Solar Bears had won their first ever game the night before down in Estero).
Saturday, October 19, 2013: “Those Pesky Everblades”
Year two began as year one had with the Solar Bears bitter in-state rival coming north to christen the new season at the Amway. One night earlier, Florida took down Orlando in southwest Florida so the home team wanted revenge in the worst way.
Goals by Zach Harrison in the first period and David Rutherford in the second had staked the Solar Bears to a 2-0 lead in front of a loud and happy crowd of 8,849. Orlando goalie Christopher Gibson was outdueling Florida netminder Kristers Gudlevskis through forty minutes and the fans were anticipating a big win.
Then the roof caved in. Four unanswered goals by the Everblades in the third period spoiled Solar Bears’ head coach Vince Williams’ home debut as Florida won 4-2.
Opening night 2013 (Photo courtesy of G. Basing/F. Medina and Orlando Solar Bears
Saturday, October 18, 2014: “Road Warriors become road kill”
Year three opened with the Solar Bears at home for the first time with a brand new opening night opponent – the Greenville Road Warriors. 8,297 fans packed the Amway as Orlando looked to carry the momentum from its first ever playoff appearance at the end of the 2013-14 season.
Williams, back for his second season, had the Solar Bears ready to rock. Bryce Aneloski and Brad Ross staked the home team to a 2-1 lead after one period. In the second, Ross scored a short-handed goal which was followed by a goal from Gleason Fournier to puch the lead to 4-1. Late in the frame, Ross completed the first ever opening night hat trick in Solar Bears ECHL history. In the end, Orlando won the game 5-2. Ross ended the night with four points.
Goalie Garret Sparks, assigned to the Solar Bears by Toronto, stopped 35 of 37 shots to get the win over his Greenville counterpart Jeff Malcolm. It would be just the first big night for the young goalie as he began making a name for himself both between the pipes and at the 2015 ECHL All-Star Game hosted by Orlando when he became an air guitar legend.
Saturday, October 17, 2015: “Solar Bears serve Rabbit Stew for opener”
Greenville was back to open up the Amway Center in the fall of 2015 as the Anthony Noreen era began for the Solar Bears. More than 9,000 fans (9,366 to be exact) were there to greet their Solar Bears to start the new season. It began on a somber but uplifting note as the public address booth at ice level was dedicated to the memory of late Orlando radio icon and IHL Solar Bears announcer Scott McKenzie.
Opening night in 2015 saw the dedication of the PA booth to IHL announcer Scott McKenzie (Photo courtesy of G. Basing and F. Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Once the game began, the Solar Bears started quickly with a power play goal by Brady Vail – the one and only man advantage score by Orlando in a home opener – and a second score by Matt Rupert to give Orlando a 2-1 lead after one. A second period tally by Brett Findlay and Rupert’s second of the night early in the third gave the home team a 4-1 advantage.
The Swamp Rabbits drew within one at 4-3 before the Solar Bears put the game out of reach with two short-handed goals, one by Eric Baier and the other by T.J. Foster into an empty net sealed a 6-3 win. Vail finished the night with four points while Johnny McInnis had three assists to go along with two each from Jack Rodewald and Patrick Watling.
Saturday, October 22, 2016: “Return of the Everblades”
Florida was the opponent a year ago when the season started and 9,237 fans witnessed a tight, defensive struggle.
Rookie defenseman Nik Brouillard gave Orlando a 1-0 lead in the first period before the Everblades came back to tie it before the end of the frame. The visitors struck for two in the second and carried a 3-1 margin before T.J. Foster took a feed from Brouillard to pull the Solar Bears back within one.
The final period belonged to the goalies as Orlando’s Kasimir Kaskisuo and Florida’s Anthony Peters battled save for save. Kaskisuo ended the night with 34 saves but it was the Everblades who prevailed by a 3-2 final.
Less than a month later, Anthony Noreen was replaced by Berehowsky who led the Solar Bears into the playoffs for the third time in franchise history. Orlando nearly pulled off an upset, gaining a 3-1 series lead over the Everblades before Florida came back to win in seven.
If past history is any indication, Saturday’s home opener will be a spectacular show with plenty of pomp and circumstance to go around. And if the high expectations the team and its fans have are met, there may be more pyro and celebration to come.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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