1 VS 2
1 VS 2
There are no free lunches - Jan Caloun, Jan Caloun Jan Caloouunn... !!
Blues 1 HIFK 2 , 1999-03-27
My inaugural visit to "Länsiauto Arena" was a pleasant one. The Blues management can really be happy with their new arena, albeit all the hard work over the last 15+ years. They´ve really got the settings for real hockey both for the players and especially the spectators.
Game 2 of the quarter-final series took off where the first game ended. Blues were on top of things and despite some changes HIFK were still "out bicycling".
It did look better though and in the end it paid off. Caloun and Rafalski gave the HIFK fans their moneys worth and the rest of the squad assisted where they could.
Mind you, this wasn´t an easy one, but really hard fought win. The main problems we had were the unsatisfying officiating, forcing HIFK to accept more blows than they could give, but more importedly the lack of shrewdness and calm.
The lineup saw some minor, but nevertheless important changes. What surprised me, and probably some 3000 HIFK fans what that #33 Markku Hurme was benched for a good half of the game ?
What we lacked Thursday was solid goaltending, but a couple of crucial saves, by Thomas, made at least me forget all his faults on Thursday.
The series continue tomorrow and I think it´ll go our way now.
Yesterday´s Starting Lines:
My Verdict:
Kultanen, was he there ?
Caloun / Borsato / Tuomainen(Hurme)
Kortelainen / Baker / Nieminen
Kalto / Sihvonen / Mäkiaho
Heiskanen / Ahonen / Laaksonen
Kultanen / Karalahti
Lydman / Rafalski
Siren / Rajala
Thomas
Karalahti, knows his job, secure !
Caloun, 2+0, ***
Borsato, getting better
Hurme, limited use, good
Tuomainen, defensively ok....
Kortelainen, invisble
Baker, present
Nieminen, wake up !
Kalto, "my man"
Sihvonen, reliable
Mäkiaho, invisble, needs upgrade to top two lines
Heiskanen, again well worth his wage
Ahonen, filling his spot more than well
Laaksonen, 3 minors, but still deserves positive comment
Rafalski, massive improvement from Thursday
Siren, stalwart
Rajala, light at times
Lydman, one of the guys