It’s Vancouver’s title to lose
The news of the week was in the trade market. Christian Del Bianco, who has spent the year on the Holdout List after being franchised tagged by Calgary, was dealt to the Vancouver Warriors. The former MVP is a franchise cornerstone level player. Not only is he excellent at stopping the ball, he’s among the best to ever do it at turning defense into offense. Taking a shot that’s an easy save is doubly bad for the opponent, because CDB will turn it into transition. But if we check the calendar, it’s mid March. First game for him is March 14th. Surely he’ll have to shake a little bit of rust off, the season has been underway for months. Nope. Del Bianco recorded 48 saves, went just under 86%, and recorded an assist on the Warrior’s second goal of the night, just 2:24 into the game. No visible rust, low mileage, well maintained, like new condition.
Revenge season is here
Buffalo went to Calgary and returned the favor from a week ago. The Roughnecks came into Banditland and gave Buffalo their second loss of the year in front of a sold out crowd. This week, Buffalo went to Calgary with revenge on their mind. The crowd was once again enormous; a massive 16,443 fans in the arena. But Buffalo is no stranger to big crowds. Bandits shut out Calgary in the second quarter, while Dhane Smith recorded a natural hat trick. Matt Vinc was a wall, stopping 88% of shots. Nick Rose played well, but Calgary just couldn't find the scoring support he needed. The Bandits held Calgary to just six goals from 50 shots on goal. Also on the revenge theme, Rob Hellyer scored six goals by the middle of the 2nd quarter against his old team. Hellyer was traded to San Diego from Las Vegas over the summer for draft capital. Over the weekend, Hellyer recorded four goals and an assist in the first quarter against Vegas. He completed his sock trick midway through the second quarter. He finished the game with 12 points.
The most dangerous team in the league isn’t Buffalo or Saskatchewan
Two teams are on serious heaters right now. Rochester has won four in a row, and they are downright burying opponents in that stretch. They’ve won by a combined margin of 30 goals in those four games. The schedule has been fairly friendly (three of those opponents are sub .500) but wins are wins. After a 1-4 start, Rochester has posted in a 7-3 record since January. They have three games remaining, all at home. Connor Fields is the first player in the league to crack 100 points this season, and he has 128 loose balls to go with it. MVP conversations around him get louder every game. Halifax is looking equally dangerous. After the 0-3 start, capped by an ugly incident between a fan and a player in Colorado, the Birds looked grounded. But since then, it’s been nothing but an upward trajectory. They’re 8-2 since that happened, the losses being a one goal loss to Rochester that was decided at the buzzer, and a close one to Toronto. Randy Staats has been banged up all year, but when he’s been in the lineup, he’s been in MVP form. He has scored the game winning goal for Halifax four times this year. They have five games left, none of which are particularly easy, and three are on the road.
Albany FireWolves, playoff team?
It took a few months, but Albany is finding some of the magic they had last season. They’ve now won three of their last four games. Dyson Williams scored a power play game winner with a minute to go to beat Georgia on Saturday. At 5-9, the playoffs are a long shot, but they’re not out yet. Winning out would take Albany to 9-9. The remaining schedule, however, is brutal. Home for Buffalo, at Vancouver, and then a home and home with San Diego to end the year. Doug Jamieson has been hot the last four games, a major reason for Albany putting things together. Even in losses he’s been great. He stopped 50 shots in the loss to Rochester. He’s been, on average, over 80% for that entire stretch. A hot goalie is the backbone for a magical run, Albany could be firing one up right now.
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