Making a mark: Oshawa Ravens

[BLemieux]

The Oshawa Paper
Home opener ends in 1 goal win for Ravens

The day has finally arrived! The first home game in the history of the Oshawa Ravens is here. The sold out Oshawa Coliseum was packed to the rafters, and extra tickets were sold for a cheap price for people who would stand and watch the game. The opening ceremony had all of the players skate around the ice, lead by Brandon Lemieux's own son Ethan Lemieux, who carried a small torch. This had the crowd up and cheering like nuts, waving all of the Oshawa Ravens flags.

The home jerseys saw a green like colour in the the logo, with red all around and black on the shoulders. Many great people were here for it, including Don Cherry, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Jean Beliveau.

The team that they were facing was the Columbus Blue Jackets. The opening puck was dropped for the beginning of the game, and former San Antonio player Adrian Aucoin got the first home goal ever recorded by a Oshawa Raven. The crowd went ballistic standing and cheering for over 10 minutes, and replays of the goal on the point shot were played over and over again.

Soon Prucha got a goal of his own, which was unassisted. The crowd went nuts again. The bench was crazy, and the players on the ice were all hugging Prucha.

The horn sounded and the 1st period ended. The arena was never silent during the intermission. It looked like in their first game, the Ravens had a very loyal fan base.

The second period was opened up with Hanzal getting a goal of his own from a screened shot in the slot that beat the Columbus goalie. The crowd went nuts once again, the players cheered and Columbus didn't look like they were enjoying themselves very much.

It soon got a goal when Lombardi streaked by all of the defence and snuck the goal past the Columbus netminder, making the lead 4-0.

Columbus wouldn't quit, though, and Rick Nash got a goal on a bad angle, which slipped through Bryzgalov. Then it got worse as Modin and Boll got goals that would make the Oshawa lead only by one. The crowd was almost silent for the first time, but they were keeping the team spirit high in their first home game.

Oshawa would hold on to the win, with Bryzgalov making a few key saves to preserve the win.

Article by: Ben Sokay
Editor: Connor Dobos

[BLemieux]

The Oshawa Paper
Bryzgalov is sent packing for Canada after terrible outing in San Jose

Finally, the Oshawa Ravens have somehow altered their roster in the hopes that they would get better. Following the terrible loss to San Jose, where Bryzgalov looked like he couldn't save a beach ball, and for his shaky performances in the past against other teams, Mckinnon decided he had had enough of the goalie and traded him, and Al Montoya, a potentially great goalie, but not good at the current moment, for rising star N. Backstrom of the Edmonton Oilers.

"I know it may seem a bit rash, but Bryzgalov has been shaky the entire season, and training camp wasn't exactly great. Montoya was also an expendable plug. He wasn't all that great, but he has potential. But Backstrom seems like a better goalie in the long run. Not only that, but we have a extra space on our roster that we could use for a free agent. This trade is more than an exchange of players, it's also a roster update of 2 people that'll help the team out."

Fans of the Ravens have agreed with this general statement, and are hoping that Mckinnon's trade will help the team against other teams with better skill.

Article by: Ben Sokay
Editor: Connor Dobos

[bthomp05]

Great couple of games there, I hope the roster mix up works.

[hockeyplaya2724]

Good job getting N. Backstrom, it's weird that you had to trade Bryzgalov AND Montoya for Backstrom. The Oilers must think Backstrom is Kiprusoff or something.

[BLemieux]

I originally tried Bryzgalov and a 3rd rd pick, but they said no, and I didn't wanna sacrifice a better pick.