HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAPTAIN

June 28th, 2006

A big Happy Birthday goes out to team captain Brandon Spears.

Spears is celebrating his 21^st birthday.

A statement from the captain reads:

“I just want to thank all the fans for their good wishes and all the support for myself and teammates throughout the season. I would like to celebrate my birthday as a Bullet for as long as I play hockey”.

HOPEFUL GAME TURNS SOUR

June 27th, 2006

An incredible start in which the Bullets scored four goals in under ten minutes ended abruptly after a regrettable incident occurred involving the opponents goaltender. 

With the Bullets trying to shake off last weeks 4-2 loss they were determined to come out strong and hard. “”We’ve beaten these guys before, we knew we had the mental edge on them”, alternate captain Mike Adelson said. The Bullets started the game off at an incredibly quick pace, making crisp passes and creating great chances for themselves. Playing as a team paid off for the boys in black and teal as they tallied four markers and only allowing one before the first period was over.

Unfortunately, the team’s great play was cut short when the opposing goaltender took out a little bit of frustration on forwards Max Shuster and Mike Adelson. After battling Shuster for a loose puck and successfully freezing it, the goaltender attacked Shuster with his blocker and swung his stick towards the face of Adelson. Shuster was tackled and Adelson got involved with the goaltender. This sticky situation could have turned ugly had players like Dave Preston and the referees not broken up the fight. “I pulled the goalie away from Mike as he was about to jump on him. Even the ref took a bit of pain when trying to restrain that ‘tender. He attacked the guy”, Preston explained.

After it was all said and done, the opponent’s goalie was ejected and the game was called and recorded as a 4-1 victory for the Bullets. Penalized on the play for the Bullets were Max Shuster and Mike Adelson. Shuster received a fighting major. Adelson was also called for fighting but also received a game misconduct for being the third man in. He will not receive a suspension, league officials have told the teams coaches.

The Bullets were 2 for 2 on the powerplay. Goaltender Dustin Stroll stopped 8 out of 9 shots.

Will the shortness of the game hurt the Bullets? “The negative part about this game being cut short is that we wanted to play an entire game of the strong and intense game we brought throughout the first. We’ve got to look ahead to next week a bit early, I guess. Hopefully our game will stay powerful. We’ve got to work hard in practice and be fully prepared. We’re playing a strong opponent, but we can definitely keep up with these guys”, captain Brandon Spears told the media surrounding his locker stall.

Be sure to catch the Bullets next week when they take on the league leading Mooseheads at 10:10pm!

UGLY GAME, UGLY LOSS

June 20th, 2006

The Bullets lost their fifth game of the season tonight to the Smashing Pumpkins by a score of 4-2.

Fresh off last weeks 5-2 victory, the Bullets looked to carry momentum into this game as well, but it just wasn’t enough. “Unfortunately, our strong effort from last week failed to carry over for tonight”, forward Joey Evans said after the game. “We had a chance to inch closer to the .500 mark, but we were unable to do the little things right and are going to have to work harder in the final three weeks to finish with an even record”, defensemen Ari Greenberg added.

Work harder is exactly what the Bullets will need to do in the coming weeks. The Bullets must win all of their remaining games to finish 5-5. The club has never finished below the even mark in their history. “We’ve got to take it one game at a time, and if it happens, it happens. The playoffs are the only thing that count, so even if we don’t end up with the record we’d like, it doesn’t mean that its over for us”, Evans later added.

Although out-shot 21-13, the Bullets were able to capitalize on the powerplay as they finished 1 for 3.

The game ended on an ugly note as Mike Adelson was ejected after the final buzzer for fighting with an opponent. “The extremity of my actions is inexcusable; however throughout the game I felt that the Pumpkins were showing us their game plan – slashes and low body checks while the ref wasn’t looking. I took it upon myself to show those guys that I don’t approve of that style of play. I will never sit and watch my team come under deliberate abuse from opponents. Unfortunately, I did take it a bit too far. But I do think that the message was conveyed. If we ever play them again, it’ll be a much cleaner game I’m sure”, Adelson said during the post-game press conference.

The Bullets and Smashing Pumpkins will not share the ice again this season. The Bullets remaining games will be against the Mooseheads, Rottweilers, and Coyotes, the latter of which they play next week at 9:55pm.