Pensacola Falls 2-1, But Bushwackers Rebrand Night Attracts 5,500-Plus Fans At Bay Center
By Bill Vilona
Ice Flyers Correspondent
For two and a half periods, the right mix remained in place on Bushwackers Night.
But the final topping was missing.
Knoxville’s Dean Balsamo, the league’s fourth-leading scorer, produced a pair of goals in a three-minute span and the Ice Bears held on for a 2-1 victory against the Pensacola Bushwackers, amid a crowd of 5,512 at the Bay Center for the rebranded specialty game.
“We worked hard, but I don’t think we played a good hockey game overall,” said coach Rod Aldoff. “You can work hard all you want, but if you’re spinning your wheels and chasing…. there’s a lot of things we need toughen up on.
“We were in a spot to win the game, we just got to keep grinding. We were getting saves, grinding, and we were there, but it just wasn’t a clean game.”
Pensacola (22-20-2) quickly gets a chance for a cleaner game Sunday at 4:05 p.m. in a rematch between the teams. This time, Pensacola goes back to the Ice Flyers and their regular home uniforms.
It was Pensacola’s first home game in 20 days. The team chose the occasion for a one-night-only rebrand into the Bushwackers as a nod to the locally-famous, adult beverage that was first sold at the Sandshaker Lounge on Pensacola Beach in 1975.
There was a quite a buzz. An hour before the game, a long line formed outside the Pensacola Bay Center prior to the arena doors opening. When fans entered, most headed straight to the merchandise stands to purchase the colorful Bushwackers apparel.
The idea scored big.
“That’s a lot of work on our office staff and they did a great job,” Aldoff said. “The Bushwackers were fun and the fans enjoyed it and we enjoyed, too. It’s just too bad we could not have gotten two points (with win).”
Playing without the league’s top scorer Jason MacDonald, the Ice Bears still got the bulk of the close range shots and better precision on odd man rushes.
Bushwackers’ backstop Brad Arvanitis had 25 saves, highlighted by several spectacular ones by the goaltender to keep Knoxville off the scoreboard until the final nine minutes.
“I thought Brad played well, made a lot of big saves in the game,” Aldoff said.
The Ice Flyers continued their power play process when Dallas Comeau scored less than seven minutes into the first period and only 14 seconds after Knoxville took the game’s first penalty.
Comeau got a tough, side angle shot into the net to trigger a loud goal dance celebration by the crowd.
“Sometimes at an odd angle like that when the goalie’s stick is not right, you can slide it underneath their pads in that situation,” Aldoff said.
And through two intermissions, that lone goal held up.
But the Ice Bears (28-16-1) kept getting open looks near the net and it led to Balsamo’s first goal, his 22nd of the season, with 9:04 left in the game.
Three minutes later he finished a 2-on-1 situation in the middle of the faceoff circles by rifling a pass from Brett Ouderkirk into the net.
The Ice Flyers pulled Arvanitis for an extra attacker, just inside two minutes left, and had puck possession most of that remaining time, but could not force overtime.
“We’ve just got to use our speed and skill,” Aldoff said. “We didn’t possess the puck enough. We were chasing too much, so they were slopping around and when we had it, we weren’t making the right plays. We need to make plays and smarter decisions with the puck .
“We weren’t generating anything.”
GAME NOTABLES
— Prior to the National Anthem, a tribute and moment of silence was held for Pensacola icon Lewis Bear Jr., the CEO of the Lewis Bear Company, who passed away a week earlier. Founded in 1876, the Lewis Bear Company is the oldest, continuously family-owned distributor of Anheiser-Busch products in the world.
— By the end of the first period, most of the supply of replica Bushwacker jerseys, priced at $140 apiece, had been sold and team owner Greg Harris estimated merchandise sales as a whole were on pace to be the largest one night sale in team history.
— Following the game, there was a live jersey auction for the players’ Bushwacker jerseys. The one worn by Garrett Milan was purchased for $500. An online jersey auction ended at midnight Saturday.
— The Ice Flyers partnered with area beach restaurants which served Bushwackers to help make the event possible. Those were The Sandshaker, Bamboo Willies, Crabs on the Beach, Flounders Chowder House, Laguna’s Beach Bar & Grill, Water Pig BBQ and Juanas Pagodas Bar and Grill on Navarre Beach.
— After Sunday’s game, the Ice Flyers will have only three remaining home games, all in the same weekend on March 24-26 vs. the Evansville Thunderbolts.
WANT TO GO?
WHO: Knoxville Ice Bears vs. Ice Flyers
WHEN: Today, 4:05 p.m.
WHERE: Pensacola Bay Center
TICKETS: Available in various price ranges on www.iceflyers.com/tickets
RADIO: Fox Sports Pensacola (101.1 FM)
TV: YurView (Cox Communications subscribers).
PROMOTION: Friends and Family Day.
