Falcons Week 25 and a Look Ahead

Week 25 of the schedule for the Springfield Falcons started off with a lot of promise. A big home ice 3-2 shootout win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers opened the latest three-in-three for the Birds. The Falcons ever evolving lineup changed once again for Saturday night’s game in Glens Falls, NY against the Adirondack Phantoms. For the first time, possibly all season, the Falcons had too many healthy “veterans” (an AHL rule), and had to scratch one of them. Adam Mair, who has really found his game over the last few weeks, drew the short straw and sat.

In another frustrating show of minimal offense, Michael Leighton shut down Springfield, with the Phantoms taking a 3-1 decision. After the game came a four hour bus ride to Wilkes-Barre, PA for Sunday afternoon’s game against the Penguins. This was a rematch from two weeks ago in Springfield and there was surely bad blood remaining between the two teams. Greg Amadio and Geoff Walker dropped the mitts just two seconds into the game. This was the only fighting major of the day however, and the two sides went on to play a pretty good hockey game. Bad news for the Birds was the fact that the Pens scored four unanswered goals to erase a 3-1 Falcons lead, giving them a 5-3 victory.

The weekend then, left the Falcons faithful with yet another weekend of disappointment. Speaking for myself, the disappointment is not directed at any one player or coach. Being faced with adversity like this, dating all the way back to training camp, these men have all gone above and beyond in trying to make lemonade out of these lemons. No, my disappointment comes with what might have been. Whittier’s words sum up perfectly this hockey season for the Springfield Falcons. Perhaps to a lesser extent, also that of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Last summer after it appeared that Scott Howson ran the table on his way to building both an NHL playoff-worthy club as well as one here in the “A”, I can say with no hesitation that this has been the single most bizarre season that I have ever seen an organization endure. The big concern now, is when and at whom the finger points. The easy money would be on Scott Howson to not survive, but in my estimation, the multitude of problems on and off the ice this season were the workings of more than just one executive. The CBJ wagon at this point in a long and painful season is being held together with band-aids and bubble gum. Despite a nice win over the Red Wings on Wednesday night, there is no consistency among the Jackets. Yes there are guys who go out there and bust their backside every night. However, there are also some who while great one night, are shaky at best the next time out.

Missing out on last week’s recap, as I updated the standings there were a few things that jumped out at me. First, the Norfolk Admirals. Since losing in Springfield on February 5th, the Ads have gone 21-0. Friends, those are games, not goals. They have won twenty-one games in a row. I just look and shake my head at that. And, much as I hate to say it, major props to them for the streak – the longest in the history of the AHL. One more thing, in their last seven games, Norfolk has outscored their opponents 20-6.

Streaks are the order of the day over the last two weeks. The Hershey Bears have improved their lot, going 7-0-1 in their last eight. The big mover was the Syracuse Crunch, also sporting a 7-0-1 mark in their last eight to vault from 13th all the way up to seventh place. The Adirondack Phantoms (3-0-1) and the Providence Bruins (4-0-0) also have both seen a resurgence of their playoff bids.

And then there are the Falcons. Sixty-eight games into the season, and still playing .500 hockey. This morning, the Falcons find themselves in sole possession of 13th place in the conference. They are trailing eighth place Manchester by five points for the last playoff spot. The first word that comes to my mind is “bleak”. Springfield has eight games left on the regular season schedule, and not a gimme in the bunch. Their final eight looks like this:

March 30th: at Bridgeport
March 31st: vs. Providence
April 1st: at Worcester
April 4th: at Bridgeport
April 7th: at St. John’s
April 8th: at St. John’s
April 13th: vs. Adirondack
April 14th: vs. St. John’s