Nov. 16 Portland @ Manchester....three goals and a cloud of chips
MLN Major Blogs- MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Just got through witnessing a pretty good hockey game (in my eyes, there are no bad ones), which had Portland edging Manchester, 5-3...Notable in some ways, such as the Portland debut of Geoff Platt, who had seasons of 30 and 28 goals for Syracuse. He notched a pretty goal that got the Pirates going in the second, then came within an assist of notching the Gordie Howe Hat Trick, when he traded blows with Manchester goalie Dan Cloutier late in the game. "It was a surprising instance," said Platt. "I was cross checked into the goalie, and Dan just exploded on me. I didn't expect that at all. I tried to protect myself, but I was taking body shots. I could see my teammates in my peripheral (vision) coming in like mad men. That was really interesting."
In all, the teams scored six power play goals, three apiece. "It was kind of a strange game," said Portland goalie Mike McKenna (32 saves). "There was a lot of yellow flag hockey out there. It was tough to find a real, true flow to the game."
Platt, normally a pivot, skated at right wing next to rookie Bobby Ryan, who normally patrols that side. I asked Pirate coach Kevin Dineen whether Ryan would be staying in the middle, and he said, "No, he's not. It's an experiment we're still working our way through. There's a distinct possibility we could flip flop those two."
Dan Hickling
in Hockey, Anaheim Ducks, Portland Pirates, Los Angeles Kings, Manchester Monarchs, American Hockey League
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