The Weekly Faceoff is a regular column talking about all things Tongues, in and around the AIHL.

What happens when a team determined to win meets a team lacking chemistry?  Find out more below.

Period 1: Blue Tongues Tear Knights

After 2 shaky performances against the North Stars, and a 2 losses on the road in Adelaide (1 in a shootout), the Blue Tongues were home last weekend to host the visiting Canberra Knights, captained by former Blue Tongue and always fan-favorite, Mark “Rummo” Rummokainen.  The Blue Tongues were hungry for a win and determined to send a clear and defined message to the rest of the league; we may have 1 point in 4 games, but watch the @$#@ out.   And that they did.  A 6-3 victory on Saturday saw a very motivated Blue Tongues out-play the Knights in almost all areas of the ice.  The Knights, who looked shaky most of the game looked to be lacking team chemistry, but the Tongues know better than to underestimate the boys from Canberra.  Sunday saw an even more motivated Blue Tongues simply destroy the Knights 8-1.  Even the consistently (bad) reffing from “he who must not be named” was not enough to put a dampener on this Tongues performance, although there were times when we wondered if he did in fact have an eye on the ice.  Mike McRae picked up the hatric in the demoralizing game for the Knights.  This weekend the Tongues travel to Sydney to play the Ice Dogs and Bears.

Period 2: Contoversy, Blogs and Opinions

As many of you know, I am not exactly the most tactful person on the Interwebs; in fact, i’m often quite the opposite.  But even I was more than a little shocked at how a personal blog post on AusPuck turned into a major issue to the extent that an apology was demanded of the author.  If you’ve not yet read the whole thing, you can read the post and the comments here: http://www.auspuck.com.au/2011/05/aps-corner-the-aihl-is-asleep-at-the-helm/ .  Now, last time i looked, AusPuck, much like LizardInsider is a personal blog dedicated to Australian Ice Hockey.  It is not affiliated with, or run by a team or the league.  What is said on personal blogs is simply a matter of opinion.  Anybody who reads personal NHL blogs would know this.  Criticism sucks, but it is ALWAYS going to be there, regardless of how much people try and control it.  So to me, to have anybody demand an apology from AusPuck for posting an opinion (that was based upon fact) is simply bullshit.  We often have the same issue on the Hockeypulse Forum, where opinions are hosed down if they are considered too extreme.  Hockeypulse, much like AusPuck is unaffiliated with the league or any of its teams.

Period 3: Trew Vs Riesen

Those at the Blue Tongues games over the weekend would have seen Blue Tongues local Cam Trew pretty much make Alain Riesen of the Knights his b… well, you get what i’m saying.  in a game that was pretty heated already, things got rough when Cam and Alain dropped the gloves… followed soon after by Riesen hitting the ice.   The most shocking part of the whole incident was not the fight, but the participant.  Many fans were shocked, and then in a state of respectful awe when they heard it was none other than Cam who won the fight.  Way to go Cam for defending your goalie, a big LizardInsider Kudos to you.

Overtime: Geric & Johnson Injured

The games in Adelaide really hit the Tongues hard.  Adam Geric left the ice in the first period of Saturdays game and did not return all weekend.  The team announced early last week that both Geric and Matt Johnson would miss between 4 and 8 weeks each due to injuries.  Both these players had a big impact on the Blue Tongues lineup against the North Stars, so losing them to injury could have potentially left a whole in the teams offense.  Based upon what we saw vs the Knights last weekend, we might not need be so worried.