Pirates Gets Plundered at Season Opener

Disappointment climbed into bed with me last night when I finally laid down to sleep. And no, I do not mean in the form of some Saturday evening rendezvous from the Octoberfest at which I was drowning my sorrows.

The NHL Phoenix Coyotes season opener against the Dallas Stars, at which I would have seen the unveiling of their Pacific Division Championship banner, obviously did not happen.

Sad fact number one.

Far from Jobing.com Arena, I spent my evening on the east side of the Phoenix valley where I felt at least somewhat pacified by the fact that I had AHL hockey to watch.

I’ll cut to the chase on the game, because chances are you know the outcome, or can predict where this is going via the above article title.

Sad fact number two.

The Pirates opened their 2012-2013 season last night on the road against the Adirondack Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers. All was looking promising with 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 leads in the game, but the ship began to sink in the disastrous final 26 minutes where the Pirates allowed four goals.

The Phantoms won the game 6-3.

As previously stated while discussing the Pirates, Oliver Ekman-Larsson was one to watch. He scored with 2 minutes left in the 1st and had a team-high 5 shots in the game.

What the Pirates didn’t account for was while Ekman-Larsson brings some NHL talent down to this league, so did Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier of the Phantoms. Check out this highlight to which PuckDaddy reports:

“That’s Ekman-Larsson at the point on the powerplay getting cleaned out after attempting a casual spin move under pressure. Maybe he thought it would work at the AHL level, but not when the Phantoms’ penalty kill features NHL talent like Schenn and Sean Couturier. In a flash, he’s on the ground, and Schenn is breaking out with just one man back.

That’s about when Schenn takes the opportunity to show off his own skills, dressing down David Rundblad with a gorgeous move to the backhand before scoring the shorthanded goal.

Schenn and Couturier finished with a goal and an assist each. Couturier was named the game’s first star.”

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=0&id=187973

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Michela Ricci

Just a desert native who lives and breathes ice hockey, oh the irony... Born and raised in Arizona,and been skating since she was a squirt. Michela worked on the Ice Crew for the Phoenix Coyotes and was then a Coyotes cheerleader for 3 years. After graduating Arizona State University she moved up to Boston to pursue work in sports. Huge Coyotes fan, loves the Bruins, and has always had a liking for the Pens. Realizing that her dream in life will never be fulfilled (because she's not a 6'4 Canadian male who is capable of playing in NHL), so she's searching for the next best thing.

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