A Memorable Star Wars Night Ends With 2-0 Win Against Rail Yard Dawgs
By Bill Vilona
Ice Flyers Correspondent
An early-season surge of attendance gave the Ice Flyers an opportunity Saturday to turn their home ice into a festive, special force on Star Wars Night.
They made it happen in multiple ways.
A memory was created with a crowd of 5,187, many of whom wore Star Wars costumes, remaining through the end of the Ice Flyers 2-0 victory against the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs that had the Pensacola Bay Center in a buzz when the final horn blew.
“Our crowds are pretty loud anyway, but when you get over 5,000 in here, it can get real loud,” said Ice Flyers coach Rod Aldoff, whose team won its third straight game to even its overall record (5-5) after the first full month of the season. “And it was a good game to watch. I enjoyed watching that game from my seat. It was a good hockey game.
“It was up and down and quick,” Aldoff said. “So, it was a good, fun game. Lot of intense moments and we came out of top. It was just a good atmosphere, all the way around from a crowd perspective and from our perspective and obviously getting a win is fun as well.”
Even a couple of the Roanoke players remained on the ice to shake hands with Ice Flyers players after a game that featured a near-even number of 60 shots between the teams, only six penalties whistled, and plenty of end-to-end rushes by both teams.
“We played hard, we played well defensively, and it was a great team win,” Aldoff said.
The Ice Flyers had their best weekend, after winning a 3-2 overtime game at Macon on Friday night.
Goaltender Christian Pavlas, 26, a native of Bratislava, Slovakia, was in net both games. He earned his first shutout and the game’s No. 1 star on Saturday with the Ice Flyers, after stopping 31 shots, including several big saves in the second and third period to hold Roanoke off the scoreboard.
Pavlas played five games in the first month of last season for the Ice Flyers with a 3-1-1 record. He is a goalie that Aldoff first scouted four years ago at a minor-league, professional hockey free agent camp in Chicago.
After three seasons in the Federal Hockey League (2017-19) with two teams, Pavlas returned to his native Slovakia to play in a pro league during the 2020 season. He was the FHL Goaltender of the Year in 2019 with the Carolina Thunderbirds.
“He’s a good goaltender,” Aldoff said. “He started slow (this season), but I think he just really looked in the mirror… he’s a good goaltender and I have seen him before and he can play like he did in these last two games.
“He can play that way every night. So, it was a matter for him of getting that rhythm back. He didn’t play a whole lot last year (after leaving Ice Flyers) and he’s now getting that rhythm back. And he’s starting feel good from how he has been playing.
“You need goaltending. You need that first save and then you need your players to clear pucks. In Macon, he played tremendous for us. You need that.”
Beyond the win, however, was Saturday’s energy inside the Bay Center. On a cold, drizzling night in Pensacola – the kind of night that has previously affected attendance in an adverse way – the Ice Flyers filled the entire lower bowl of the arena.
The Ice Flyers are significantly above attendance of the past couple years at this stage of the season.
“We have never seen 5100 in November (at home game),” said Ice Flyers owner Greg Harris. “That was the best crowd we’ve ever had in November. It was a very complete night. The boys played well, a 2-0 victory and it’s one of those complete nights that happens every now and then. As an owner, I’m very proud of what we have done.”
After a scoreless first period, the Ice Flyers got what became their only power-play opportunity five minutes into the second period. And they cashed in just 28 seconds later.
Griff Jeszka was between both faceoff circles when Cory Dennis put a pass right on his stick. Jeszka’s one-timer found the back of the net. John DeRoche had the other assist on the goal.
From that point, the Ice Flyers had to kill off four penalties – two of those delay-of-game penalties – in the remaining time of the final two periods. With 2:07 left in the second period, Pavlas made his biggest save of the night on a Roanoke power-play when it looked like the net was wide open before he slid for a lifted pad save.
On the last Roanoke power play, early in the third period, the Rail Yard Dawgs were unable to get off a clean shot. And with 8:20 left in the game, Pavlas caught a break when a shot hit the crossbar and bounced away.
With 1:15 left, Roanoke called a timeout, after an icing call against the Ice Flyers. They pulled goaltender Austyn Roudebush.
With the faceoff in the Ice Flyers zone, Roanoke won the draw, but Ivan Bondarenko alertly jumped a pass attempt by a defenseman, poked the puck past the blue line, kept a defender behind him and literally pushed the puck the rest of the way until letting the disc just slide into the empty net.
“In those situations you can’t get out too high,” Aldoff said. “Garrett (Milan) was on the strong side where the puck was. You have to look for opportunities to jump that. Ivan saw it, timed it right and tipped it off of his stick at the right time and then obviously was going down the ice with an open net in front.
“It is anticipating. It is smart hockey.”
GAME NOTABLES
— More than 200 replica, Star Wars jerseys that matched the ones worn by the players, were available at the arena merchandise stands Saturday. When the game ended, owner Greg Harris noted only nine jerseys, priced at $140 apiece, remained for sale. And that does not include the online and post-game auction of the game-worn jerseys the players wore.
— The festive scene inside the arena was further enhanced by the presence of 40 Star Wars characters in authentic costumes, who paraded around the concourse and seating areas to take pictures with fans. As Harris explained, the use of Star Wars characters must be approved and supplied by film rights owner Lucasfilm.
“We have such a great relationship with them, but we can’t do anything officially until the night gets approved,” Harris said. “And then they put out a call (for the characters). We asked for 30 and they said, well we may have more, do you want to have more? And we said, yes bring as many you want. We had over 20 last year and it’s just the great relationship we have with them. And those costumes, it’s like you are walking on a movie set with them.”
