Quite a weekend at the Kansas Coliseum. Some odds and ends:
I didn’t have room to emphasize it in the story, but coach Brent Bilodeau’s comments on No. 1 goalie Tim Boron should be of great concern to Thunder fans. Bildoeau has never even hinted that Boron might be out for the season, but last night he mentioned that surgery could be a possibility. Boron has been practicing but Bilodeau said he “isn’t able to do a lot of full movement.”
I can’t remember seeing a game this season where the Thunder passed better than it did in the upset of Odessa on Saturday. Typically, the other teams score the “pretty” goals. Not so last night. “We were more in tune tonight, I guess, more mentally ready,” Bilodeau said.
Recently acquired Mike Zbriger has rather quietly scored in five straight games. He has points in six of eight games with the Thunder. Brad Thompson has four points in two games since returning from injury.
Chris Tarkir had gone 17 straight games without a goal before scoring on Saturday night. I’ll have more on this in my Thunder report in the paper on Wednesday, but it was clear from Bildoeau’s comments after the game that he is a believer in the rookie’s potential.
With an assist on Saturday, veteran Jason Duda moved into third place in CHL history with 528.
Rocky Mountain coach Tracy Egeland got into a shouting match with fans and a sheriff’s officer during Friday’s blowout victory over the Thunder. I had a fairly lengthy post-game interview with him, and he was still angry. He ripped the hecklers who sit behind the bench; the sheriff’s officers; and the Thunder front office. His main complaint: The fans take things too far, and the officers and the Thunder don’t do enough crowd control. I’ll have a lot more on this in my report on Wednesday too.
The trade deadline is Monday.