By Eddie Graveline, Glovedropper.com
After waiting with varying degrees of patience for the 2010-11 hockey season to get underway, Fresno Monster fans finally got to see some action when both the WSHL and NAHL teams opened their home schedules at Selland Arena on Friday. The results were mixed, but the games were competitive and there were plenty of positive points to take away from the both of them.
The Tier III (WSHL) Monsters played the Valenica Flyers at 3:30 in the afternoon. Don Coyle got Fresno on the board first, while David Kann and Ethan Carlson added later goals. The Monsters were able to completely stifle the Flyers' offense, holding them scoreless throughout regulation. Marcus Harbison was in net for the Monsters and earned a shutout for his efforts.
The WSHL team will be back on the ice at 3:30 PM Saturday at Selland Arena. They'll face Valencia once again and could move themselves up in the standings with another victory.
At 7:35 PM, the first puck dropped in Selland Arena for the Monsters' Tier II NAHL team. The Monsters played the third of four consecutive games against the Wenatchee Wild. They lost two to the Wild on the road last weekend, but were looking for some redemption in front of their home crowd.
Things looked ok for most of the first period, but Eliot Grauer and Chris Rumble's goals vaulted the Wild into a 2-0 lead just before the teams went to the locker rooms. About halfway through the second period, Willie Hess got the Monsters on the scoreboard with a power play goal. Wenatchee answered back, but Matt Tritsch scored with 9 seconds left in the second period to make it a one-goal game at 3-2.
The Monsters played well in the third period and had some good scoring chances. D.J. Carnley had the most memorable fight of the night and the team pounded Wenatchee's net. They just couldn't get one to go in, though, and ended up taking another loss.
"We're young and inexperienced and so far, we haven't been able to master the first period," Head Coach Eric Ballard said after the game. "The games that we've won, we played well in the first period, but it's games like tonight where we're playing catch-up hockey. Once we get over that, I think we'll be fine."
Fans can take heart in the fact that the Monsters were in Friday's game the entire time. If they can come out a little stronger and avoid falling behind early, there's no reason to think they can't get their first win over the Wild on Saturday. They'll get that chance at 7:35 PM at Selland Arena.
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