Thunderbolts

It was a tough assignment last night for goalie Marty Magers, making his first start since Nov. 6. He stopped 31 shots in a 7-5 loss at league-power Colorado. We should see Marc-Antoine Gelinas (3-1-1, 1.77, .939) tonight at IBA when the Eagles bring the league’s third-best offense and suddenly hot power play to town. How the “Reporter-Herald” in Loveland, Colo., saw last night’s game.

While doing a little reading about Bob Probert — I referenced him in a story recently — I came across this interesting article. What really captured my attention was the paragraph below. I wonder if the hard-core hockey fans agree or disagree.

One of the Big Myths in sports spread by the media is that “hockey goons are really the nicest guys in sports.” A few may indeed be friendly, but the role often attracts large, violent young men from disturbed homes who channel their aggression into a sub-genre of a sport for personal profit and public amusement. When they are used up, like all athletes, they are cast aside.

The team schedule had the team leaving town at midnight for what is expected to be a challenging road trip. Some odds and ends:

• The Thunder is facing some challenges on the blueline. Tough guy Jason Goulet isn’t going to make the road trip, coach Kevin McClelland said Tuesday. Goulet is out with an undisclosed injury. Defenseman Kory Scoran is expected to play, but he is battling illness.
• The Thunder plays on Thursday at Odessa, which is in an uncharacteristic position: last place. McClelland is wary, though. “They’re a good hockey club,” he said. “Their record is no reflection of what kind of team they are. They’ve been having some bad luck. When that team breaks out, you don’t want to be the team they’re playing. They’re just a couple breaks and some good, fortunate bounces from getting where they should be.”
• On Friday, the Thunder plays at Allen (11-2). McClelland said Allen may be the best transition team in the CHL.

Sorry to interrupt the blitz of comments with an actual post, but duty calls.

The Curious Case of Ian Keserich: It was a surprisingly quick fall for Keserich, who was expected to be the team’s No. 1 goalie but instead was waived after an 0-3 start with some other ugly numbers (4.03 GAA, .840 SP). What happened? Two theories:

1. Keserich told me during training camp that he was trying “some new things” he learned from a goalie coach during the summer. Perhaps he picked up some bad habits.

2. He has an injury.

Whatever, Keserich simply isn’t the player he was last season when he made some spectacular saves and kept the Thunder in several games. I am no expert when it comes to evaluating goaltenders, but I can say that Keserich seemed to lose sight of the puck more than most goalies during his short stay this season.

I’m pleased that Keserich was picked up by Tulsa. For one, the Thunder plays Tulsa approximately 42 more times this season and Keserich’s presence will add a little juice to the rivalry. And two, Keserich seemed like a good guy. He faced a barrage of shots last season, seldom got any offensive support, but he always shouldered the blame for Thunder losses. It’s good when guys like that get chances to continue their careers.

A Blog Category of Staggering Genius: I am calling this new addition “If You’re Not _______, You Should Be.” Here goes. If you’re not watching “Friday Night Lights,” you should be. The TV series, based on a compelling book, is slumping a bit in Season 5 — the football scenes are becoming too unbelievable and I fast forward through the Jess-Vince scenes — but it’s still solid TV. With all due respect to Coolidge, Salami and Coach Reeves, the first season of “Friday Night Lights” was the best sports show in the history of TV. If you like sports, you owe it to yourself to check it out. What does this have to do with hockey? Not a thing. I just wanted to let you know that if you’re not watching FNL, you should be.

Tonight’s Game: Coach Kevin McClelland can be hard to predict, so I have no idea who starts in net tonight. As McClelland said, newcomer Peter Delmas wasn’t sent here to observe, so I am guessing he gets the start. Then again, Marty Magers and Marc-Antoine Gelinas are both 1-0 against Missouri. Thoughts?

Keserich Revisited: I have covered the Thunder for nine seasons, and I would rank Keserich as one of the biggest disappointments. Top 5 maybe. Jeff Petruic probably leads the list, followed by a host of guys who played the previous two seasons. Keserich’s situation reminds me a lot of Stephen Wagner. He was the No. 1 heading into the 2002-03 season but lasted just seven games (1-5-1) before he was waived.