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Sharks Minor League Fresno Falcons play NHL style hockey in Fresno
By Gary Araki January 5, 2004 |
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FRESNO CA-Save Mart Center- Central California isn’t an area in which one would think professional hockey would have a following but it does, as evidenced by the 6,071 fans which showed up at the Save Mart Center to see their local Fresno Falcons take on the Idaho Steelheads on Saturday Night. While the San Jose Sharks are on the road in St Louis and Vancouver, it was time for me to go see what the Sharks’ AA minor league affiliate the Fresno Falcons have as for upcoming players that we might see in San Jose in the near and distant future. Some Background on the Falcons and Save Mart Center Fresno is a member of the ECHL, the AA minor league organization for the NHL, and they also are an affiliate of the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks AAA team is the Cleveland Barons, so players which play in Fresno are attempting to improve and make their way to Cleveland, and then eventually to the big show, San Jose. The Save Mart Center is a new facility that just opened in November, and it’s located on the campus of California State University, Fresno. Sink Combs Dethlefs, the same group who designed the Shark Tank for the city of San Jose, designed it. The design of the Save Mart Center has some similarities to the Shark Tank with its double-deck level of seating, and with the location and position of luxury boxes. Along with being the home of the Fresno Falcons, the main tenant for the facility is Fresno State Athletics with the Fresno State Bulldogs men and women’s basketball teams play here also. Last night’s Falcons game was a first for this facility- a double header sports event in the same day- Earlier on Saturday Afternoon, the Fresno State Women’s Basketball team hosted Hawaii, and right after that game was done, the floor was converted from basketball to a hockey rink, and at 7:30 last night the Falcons started against the Steelhead. The Shark Tank will be going in reverse next Saturday as the Atlanta Thrashers will be in at 1:00PM, and then the San Jose Stealth will have their home opener at 7:30PM that night. Fresno vs. Idaho- The game A true hockey fan couldn’t ask for much more action than there was in this matchup with just about everything that you could see in a hockey game including: -The final score was 5-4 in favor of the Fresno Falcons, with the overtime win that came down to 0.01 in the extra session. -The Falcons had 46 minutes of penalties, while the Steelheads had 14 minutes of penalties in this game -The Falcons also had 2 game misconducts in the game for two players. -And there were two major brawls in the game. -Idaho’s Lance Galbrath had a hat trick with 3 goals in the game -And a penalty shot in overtime by Greg Bullock, which was missed, but Bullock was to be the hero of the game. The Falcons have a mascot also like the Sharks, a falcon that’s name is Freddy. Just like Sharky, Freddy comes out during the player’s introduction and skates around the rink. Last night’s with Idaho was the first Saturday night game on the 2003-2004 home schedule for the Falcons, and the attendance of 6,071 was positive, since the average home attendance over their 10 home games had been around 4,351. The Falcons are currently 9th in attendance in the ECHL. The Falcons only have had 10 home games so far this season. Fresno began the season on the road for the entire month of October and part of November, since the Save Mart Center wasn’t ready until November 16th, which meant the Falcons had 11 straight road games. The tide will turn in February when there will be 10 home games and only four road games. Fresno took the early lead in the game with Mark Jackson picking a goal a 17:02 in the first period making the score 1-0 for Fresno. The first big brawl occurred at 2:33 in the first when Kroy Mullin for Fresno and Adam Stefishen went at it and both teams went at it and Mullin was assessed with a Game Misconduct penalty after this fight. In the second period, Idaho scored at 11:36 with Jan Kopecky picking up a goal, and then at 7:53, Galbrath picked up his first goal of the night, making the score 2-1 Idaho. Fresno did tie the score up before the end of the 2nd period with Boris Protsenko picking up a goal at 2:22 in the second period making the score 2-2 at the end of the 2nd. The third period began with Fresno taking a commanding hold of the game with Mike Sandbeck picking up two goals. The first at 17:11, gave Fresno a 3-2 lead. But two minutes later Scott Borders for Fresno was ejected from the game with a game misconduct call for another fight, and it put Fresno short handed, but Sandbeck was able to pick up another goal at 08:28, making the score 4-2 Fresno. Then the Galbrath show began with two goals in less than minute, near the 6 minute mark in the third period making the score 4-4 and Galbrath had his had trick for the night, and it put the Steelheads back in the game, and forcing overtime. In less than 2 minutes in the OT, Fresno had a penalty shot that was called since a Idaho player had put his hand on the puck in the crease, and Greg Bullock was given the opportunity and failed. But 2 minutes later Bullock was at the right face off circle near the dot received a pass from Kris Porter who was behind the net and Bullock took a 30 foot shot that five holed Idaho’s goalie Blair Allison which was ruled a goal and a victory for Fresno, 5-4 over Idaho. Bullock said after the game about the pass he received from Kris Porter “Somehow he (Kris Porter) made a miracle pass to me and all I had to do was shoot it.” When asked about missing the penalty shot earlier, Bullock expressed that the win was the most important outcome of the game.”It was just nice to win the game, we’ve been struggling, and we’re trying to make a commitment in the new year to win hockey games, and take a run at this thing. It just so good to get a win that’s all I’m thinking about right now.” Fresno now takes on Idaho again tonight (Sunday) at the Save Mart Center and then goes to Las Vegas for one game and then they are home for a five game series. Special thanks to the Fresno Falcons and to Brian Clark, Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations for allowing Sports Radio Service to cover the Fresno Falcons, and the cooperation we received while at Save Mart Center in writing this article. Gary Araki is in his third season of covering the San Jose Sharks for SportsRadioService.com, and is also Sports Director for KLIB AM 1110 in Sacramento, and KPTL 1300 in Carson City, Nevada. |
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