The Weekly Faceoff is a regular column talking about all things Tongues, in and around the AIHL.
The last few weeks have seen some pretty major announcements come out of the Tongues, not to mention this last weekend was the first Intersquad / Tryout game.
Amado
Those who have been following the Tongues for a few years wont easily forget the incredible force that Matt Amado was for the Tongues back in 2007. Well, Amado is back, and though he’s not really played competitive hockey in over a year, rumour has it he’s still pretty bloody good on the ice, as we saw last night at the intersquad game. Amado still holds the record for the most points through the first 20 games of the season, and while that is not a valid AIHL record, it’s still pretty impressive all the same.
Swedish Twins
No, the Sedin twins have not decided to trade in Canucks jerseys for Tongues jerseys. And no, we don’t have a pair of perky chested blonde cheerleaders either. What we do have is playmaker Tobias Falk and defenseman Bob Sannemo, both from, you guessed it, Sweden. Bob played in 2008 with the (now defunct) Adelaide Avalanche. Bob and Tobias are good friends and should add good depth to the Tongues Roster. Tobias adds a playmaking skill to the top line and we could see him spend a lot of the season setting up Amado on the top line.
Try Outs
So last night was the first of the Tongues on Tongues (hey, keep your mind out of the gutter) intersquad games. It was an interesting match, especially considering we had Matt Amado and Mike McRae playing on defense the while game so the locals could take the forward spots. Standout players during the game were Jack Conner who looks like he’s keen to bounce back after last years “not so good” season, and also Jon Bale and Nick Jones. Nick Jones seems to popup out of nowhere and pull out some amazing plays. If he can nail down the teamwork aspect of the game, he could be a killer local player. The teams played 4 periods of hockey for a total 60 minute game, with the Blue Team winning 8-4.
There are intersquad games next weekend so keep an eye on the Blue Tongues website for details – http://bluetongues.com.au . Updates are posted on the Blue Tongues Facebook and Twitter pages also.
Mike McRae’s hatrick and Reese Kalleitner’s solid netminding ensured the Blue Tongues a 4-2 victory in todays match between the Gold Coast Blue Tongues and visiting Sydney Bears. Dallas Costanzo also had a goal.
The Blue Tongues, missing Ben Spillane and Adam Gebara to injury, relied on fantastic teamwork and discipline to outplay the Bears. The patience in making plays created many opportunities for counter-attacks and the Blue Tongues did not hesitate in making use of them.
The Blue Tongues discipline allowed the Bears only 3 powerplay opportunities, and the team defense killed off all of them. At the other end of the ice, the Bears struggled, going to the penalty box 5 times. The Tongues special teams jumped on the opportunities with 2 powerplay goals.
The fast paced game provided for exciting end-to-end hockey, and the real battle of the game was between the guys between the Pipes; Reese Kalleitner and Nick Boucher. Both goalies made incredible saves and did their teams proud, but it was Kalleitner who won the day, and the game.
Special mentions to Don Burke who played a solid game as a forward today, and Jon Bale, who has stepped up his game this season and pulled off some spectacular plays in todays match.
Let’s do it again tomorrow boys!
