Manitoba Moose

Yo and hello Moose fans,

We are here for Game 4 between the Grand Rapids Griffins and the Moose. The Griffins open with a montage of pretty much every inspirational speech from every movie ever released (Old School, Braveheart and Miracle…which they’ll need).

Pretty confident atmosphere down here in the Moose director’s lounge, and hey, we’re up 3-0, so we’ve earned some confidence. Not cockiness. Not yet.

FIRST PERIOD

The first few minutes seem like a feeling-out period as neither team seems particularly keen to put its stamp on the game early. Greg Rallo takes a roughing minor approximately six minutes in, and Grand Rapids has the early advantage. The Moose kill it off and drop Grand Rapids to 1-12 with the extra man in the series.

Interesting how defenceman Aaron Downey lines up as a winger…unless they’re playing him as a winger but listing him as a defenceman, which would explain why he was up in Cory Schneider’s grill in Game 2.

The Griffins currently have three players called up from their lower-level affiliate, the Livonia Ligers. (I’m a little concerned that “liger” doesn’t come up in Auto Correct in Word…)

The Moose receive a power play courtesy of Francis “Don’t call me Mario” Lemieux, but it’s the Griffins who set up shop in the Moose zone. Jakub Kindl fires a harmless-looking shot towards Schneider, but it gets past him anyway. 1-0 Griffins.

The Griffins head right back into the Moose zone, but Jamie Tardif takes down Mark Fistric to put the Griffins down 5-on-3 for 31 seconds. Jason Krog capitalizes, and it’s a quick 1-1 tie with the Moose still on the power play.

Justin Abdelkader takes his second goalie interference call of the series as he tries to rattle Schneider and the Moose are right back on the power play. Secret: you can’t rattle a redhead. I know. From experience.

First intermission interview with Griffs captain Darren Haydar, who’s wearing a headset, and also have a microphone shoved in his face, even though he only appears to be giving one interview. Josh Dudych’s take: “The headset makes it look official”.

First intermission promo: two girls run along the ice putting on hockey equipment as they go and then taking a shot on net. They really need to make skates the first one, not hockey pants. Ever tried to see someone who can’t skate (or tie skates) try to do both? Hilarity ensues.

SECOND PERIOD

The Moose come out flying in the middle frame, and Guillaume “The Goods” Desbiens blasts one past Jimmy Howard to stake the Moose to a 2-1 lead.

The Providence Bruins and Worcester Sharks are playing the second game of their series – eight days after Game 1. One arena had the circus in town, and the other was booked as well. Booking a ton of events in playoff season - showing a lot of faith in their teams, I see.

Hope Cory Schneider didn’t partake in too much Cinco de Mayo festivities and get his fill of trumpet: the dude right behind him is just tooting away.

Former Griffin Mark Cullen makes his old team pay for another infraction with a killer snapshot past Howard. 3-1 Manitoba.

Soon after, Jason Jaffray is sprung on a breakaway, but Howard comes up huge to keep Grand Rapids within a pair.

The Griffins have their mascot involved in a Michigan Lottery promotion. The Griffins formed in the mid-90s, so if my math is right, Griff isn’t 18, and shouldn’t possess any gambling-related paraphernalia.

The Moose take a couple penalties late in the period, but Jason Jaffray has a great 2-on-1, but Howard shuts him down once again.

THIRD PERIOD

Basically, up by two, it becomes a batten down the hatches kind of period – protect the lead and if something presents itself, give it a shot. We’re just 20 minutes away from advancing to take on either Houston or Milwaukee, both of whom would provide a stiff challenge.

We have the Pens-Caps playing on another TV. Hey Pittsburgh, how well does a whiteout work when your guys are in black and the Caps are in white…?

For the first time in the series, Cory Schneider gives up a second goal. Jamie Tardif gets credit after Brett Peterson wraps around. Schneider then bounces back to rob Justin Abdelkader on a wrist shot.

The Griffins put together a final flurry, but the Moose hold tough, including saves from Schneider and a painful-looking shot block by Mark Fistric. He looked hurt, but hopefully he’ll have several days off to recover.

So the Moose win their fourth straight one-goal game over the Griffins, and they’re heading out to the Western Conference Final, where they’ll either face the Milwaukee Admirals (giants) or the Houston Aeros (giant-killers). Should be a solid series either way, with former Moose stars on both team – Drew MacIntyre on Milwaukee, and Jesse Schultz on Houston. Way too early to tell what’s next, but the Moose are through for another series. Let’s rock this out Winnipeg!