Blades put nine-game streak on ice
The Florida Everblades return home this weekend as triumphant road warriors after putting together a successful five-game, six-night journey in which they went 5-0 to extend their winning streak to nine straight games.
The Blades host the division rival Gwinnett Gladiators for a two-game series Friday and Saturday at Germain Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. each night.
Their impressive play has catapulted the Blades to an ECHL-leading 58 points with a 28-8-2 record and in firm command of the American Conference’s South Division standings.
“The guys are working real hard,” said Blades coach Malcolm Cameron. “We have our work ethic jacked up again and the guys are sticking to the game plan.”
Florida is sticking to the game plan so well that Cameron joked, “It’s making easy to coach right now.”
The Everblades, however, have been off the ice and not practicing for most of the past week thanks to the All-Star break.
Everblades captain Kevin Baker recorded a hat-trick in the third period of the All-Star Game Wednesday night and netminder David Leggio was the winning goalie, helping the American Conference record a dominating 11-5 win over the National Conference at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pa.
Baker recorded four points and finished a plus-3 in the annual mid-season All-Star contest. His goals came at 1:50, 7:42 and 12:19 of the final period to cap the American squad’s come-from-behind win.
The blades’ other All-Star, defenseman Aaron Brocklehurst, finished with one assist and a plus-3 rating.
Though Cameron is not concerned that the team may be a little stale when they skate this weekend, he does have a worry or two.
“We want to make sure that some bad habits don’t creep in after the long break,” he said.
Cameron was referring to the team’s play after the Christmas break when, after having four days off, players returned to the ice only to take bad penalties when their opponent was pressuring the net.
“We want to avoid taking (those) bad penalties,” Cameron said. “Right now, we are not taking as many penalties because we are working hard and staying committed.”
Avoiding bad penalties isn’t all Cameron expects from the players as they begin the second half of the season.
“Obviously, we want to continue to improve as a hockey team,” he said. “We want to continue to be stingy on defense and keep (our opponents) shots down and make sure our goalies can see the shots that get them, and we don’t want to give up multiple shots on our goalie.”
That’s not to say Florida hasn’t been doing so already. Over the five-game road trip the Everblades’ defense held opponents to just three goals in 30 attempts with the man advantage.
Forwards Patrick Bordeleau and Danick Bouchard have returned to the Everblades from the American Hockey League.
Bordeleau, 22, was sent back by the Springfield Falcons where he saw action in four games.
Bouchard, 22, rejoins the lineup after a four-game stint with the Lake Erie Monsters, during which he recorded two penalty minutes.