A fantastic day in Coral Springs as the Cats put on a fine show for yet another standing-room only crowd at Saveology IcePlex. Certainly a grittier brand of hockey than I was personally expecting; the size quotient has been so ramped up that bodies were banging into each other more frequently than in many entire chunks of last season…a most welcome development. More unexpected goodness: Olesz appeared positively possessed.
Scoring – Team White (3): Higgins (two goals…or 25% of his production from all of last season), Grabner. Team Blue (2): Reinprecht, Frolik.
A couple of scary moments, led by Michael Frolik hitting the ice following a bizarre collision behind the goal; appeared as if his stick had become caught in the netting causing him to fall violently. Remained down for several minutes but regained his composure soon after and looked just fine throughout the game. Later, Dmitry Kulikov – now sporting #7 – evidently took a puck off a skate, forcing him to limp from the playing surface. More on him to come.
The pictures are presented in reverse order which be can entirely blamed on me. Another high-five to management for arranging an autograph session – immediately following a practice and scrimmage. A grand and unnecessary gesture which was mightily appreciated.
The roster can be found here for identification purposes; with all of the new names/faces/numbers you’re probably going to need it a time or two. Without further ado, on to the pics…
