Hey, I didn't jinx them!

What a game, eh?  Ok, what a first period, eh??

They came out on fire--or through fire with the pyrotechnics--lighting up Reid for four goals in the first period.  The place was rocking, the team was clicking, it was awesome hockey.

2nd and 3rd periods either saw Spokane wake up or the Ams sitting back, but as the 3rd period went on, I just wanted to end, if it didn't, I could see it possibly going another direction.  Thank God for Mike Brown and his empty netter to provide the insurance.  Mike Brown = Captain of my Heart.

The 2nd and 3rd periods also saw a lot more Ams penalties.  Sam Grist must have had some cookies hidden in the penalty box that he couldn't wait to eat.  Sam is a big boy.  Huge.  I'm guessing he just hasn't mastered control of his body and as such will take some penalties.  It's unfortunate, but I think he's got a mountain of potential.  Hope the coordination comes soon.

As Spokant pointed out last night, David Conrad wins faceoffs.  Huzzah!!  Also, I liked his play on the penalty kill.

Some quotes from the Herald:

"When this building is electric, this team can move," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "We are looking to be great every night. It's a pretty high standard around here and that's the standard we have to hold as a team."

"It was pretty cool raising the banners," said Tri-City goalie Drew Owsley, who finished with 25 saves to win his third straight home opener. "It was pretty emotional knowing I had a part in that. And Tri and Spokane on a Saturday night, it doesn't get any better."

"Give them credit, they played well, but at the same time I thought we made far too many mistakes and they capitalized on those mistakes," Nachbaur said. "That's what good teams do. Our veterans weren't good enough tonight. Our young guys learned as the game went on but the young guys can't win unless the old guys show them the way. I thought too many guys who played on this team last year took a back seat. If they keep that up they'll have a seat in the stands."

"Obviously the guys were pretty pumped for tonight," Shinnimin said of the quick start. "We celebrated what we accomplished last year and when the puck dropped we got after it and got our fans in the game. A lot of the guys here learned from Don and we knew if we played our game we could win."

"There was a scrum in front of the net and the next thing I know it was inside the post blocker said," Owsley said. "The last half of the game we took our foot of the gas pedal and got into trouble." (Herald)

Foot off the gas is right. Hope that serves as a wakeup call.

I'm just ecstatic that I didn't jinx them. I was getting worried there in the 3rd.

"Obviously, the guys were pretty pumped up for tonight," said center Brendan Shinnimin, who opened the scoring just 1:22 into the game, added another goal 57 seconds into the second period and saw a third disallowed despite a lengthy video review.

"It felt good to get that early goal. It got the fans going, the team going, and we built on that. We let up in the second and third, and I didn't like that. It was good to get the win, but we've still got stuff to work on."

"Dow and Sutherland communicate pretty well together and move the puck out quickly," Hiller said. "With Sam and Spencer, they're both big, strong guys, and if they can develop chemistry, they can become a big, aggressive, nasty pairing. We just need to give them a chance."

That also was Shinnimin's take on how the young defensive pairing did on opening night.

"Grist made some big hits and established himself in this league," Shinnimin said. "What we need them to do is learn every game. When we get them to the level of our veteran players, our back line is going to be tough to beat."  (Examiner)

Ferran's article also mentions that Pechurskiy will be in net tonight.

Final note on last night, those 3rd jerseys are SHARP.  The way the blue at the bottom blends into the blue shorts it makes the guys look taller.  The colors are rich, it's not an obnoxious red.  And there's not a lot of white.  They just look good.  And the part I don't like, the "Tri-City" along the bottom, I still don't like, but at least it's not unflattering on skinny hockey players.  Still don't really like it enough to buy one, but looks good on the players.

Game day tonight against Seattle (hey, they beat Portland last night!) at 5, skate with the Ams immediately following the game.

Oh, one more thing, you should pick up one of the new media guides.  They are really fantastic.