Turnout for the Blast games has been understandably thin, so I thought you sports fans out there would like an update (and I don't have much better to do at the moment, but that's sure to change).

We played two teams that started in the beginner league last year, and beat them fairly easily. In the second of those games, one of our best players (Scott L) was injured after being tripped from behind while shooting on goal. As a result, Scott crashed into the net, separating his shoulder and we got a penalty shot (which we missed, but we won the game anyway).

Last night, we played the Chiefs, who, despite not having played yet as a team, have somehow earned a reputation as a really tough team. Thumbing our noses in their general direction, we took the ice last night at the All American rink. Mayhem then ensued.

Scott L, with shoulder in sling, came to watch the game, as did his brother Jay and Jay's wife Jaci. They were watching from the balcony above the rink, but by the second period, Scott came down to the ice, and crossed it to join our bench, so that he could affect our team play more persuasively than from the balcony. His brother Jay used to play on our team, but has changed to the Hornets, whom we play at the end of our season (they're in the division above us). Blast fans will remember Jaci from the stands of our games last year, and it was great having her at the game once again.

We were severely short-benched, with about 12 people to play plus Audrey in goal. Audrey was amazing, and we played a good game IMHO considering how outnumbered we were by the Chiefs (the "too many Chiefs" problem which has been explored in detail elsewhere).

Near the end of the game, we were dealt several penalties. One player was given a substantial penalty for being pissed off and throwing his stick, loudly and with understandable disgust, in the penalty box. The other interesting penalty was dealt to Carlos "Ramming" Ramos, who decided to head-butt one of the Chiefs after some particularly rough interactions with said Chief. Word on the street is that the ref mistakenly gave him an extra game misconduct, not realizing that the first penalty he gave Carlos carried an automatic game misconduct. The result will be a two-week or four-week suspension, depending on the interpretation of the penalty.

Stats on the game and our schedule appear on the blast web site.