Hockey Town

Here are some of my observations from covering Game 2 of the Kelly Cup finals at U.S. Bank Arena Sunday night:

- I haven't been to a sporting event that exciting since covering the NCAA tournament in March
- The Cyclones play very "pretty" hockey. Almost to a fault. Head coach Chuck Weber wants them to muddy up the crease and get more ugly, tip-in goals
- Surprising number of Las Vegas fans in the building. I'm sure they were family and close friends, but a few dozen people in enemy colors was a surprise
- There's really nothing better than a hockey game that's a scoreless tie with less than 5 minutes to play. At that point, it's basically sudden death.
- Tough break for Cedric Desjardins. He played a great game. Stopped about a half-dozen should've-been-goals, but the one that got in was just a bad break.
- Chuck Weber said the winner of this series will be beat up and bruised by the time it's done. I believe him after watching that game. Those two teams don't like each other
- The Cyclones aren't upset about the loss. They feel like they played a very good game, but caught a bad break. They said they knew the series wouldn't be a 4-game sweep and were prepared to win big games on the road
- I heard a fan tell an usher as he left the game, "best $10 I ever spent! I'll be back!" Couldn't agree more.

- Joe D.