Senators Artcles: Tension between teams runs high
April 27, 2005 Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Patrick Williams of Times Leader.com Tension between teams runs high
By PATRICK WILLIAMS Special to Times Leader
Fans in Binghamton and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are among the loudest, most passionate and most opinionated in the American Hockey League. A mere hour and change on I-81 separates the two arenas, plus the clubs played a very prickly eight-game regular-season series and a pair of heated preseason contests.
Colby Armstrong’s goal 12:26 into the third overtime of Game 3 on Monday night/Tuesday morning has made this a series that should further fuel those tensions. The first three games have been intense, but the Senators were threatening to run away with the series.
“We’ve got some life now,” Armstrong said in the Penguins’ dressing room after the victory.
The Senators lead the best-of-seven-games series 2-1 heading into Game 4, which is set for 7:05 p.m. today at Wachovia Arena. The series turns to Binghamton for Game 5 on Friday.
Andy Chiodo, who stopped 42 of 44 Binghamton shots in 112:26 of playoff hockey in Game 3, was at the opposite end of the ice when Armstrong tipped the puck past Ray Emery.
“It was a relief,” Chiodo explained. You (can) let your guard down. It was a time to let your guard down and relax. It was very emotional.”
Monday night did feature the teams’ first scrap of the series as the Penguins finally tried to deal with Chris Neil. A full-out NHL-caliber tough guy, Neil had run roughshod over the Penguins on Binghamton’s smaller ice. Wachovia Arena’s larger environs helped contain Neil a bit, and Game 3 addition Alexandre Rouleau made himself the first Penguin to challenge Neil.
Rouleau took a solid beating in the fight, but the Penguins increasingly began to challenge Neil as the game progressed. Captain Alain Nasreddine mixed it up with Neil late in the second overtime after Neil just missed what would have been a major hit along the side boards on a Penguin.
The Penguins ratcheted up their Game 3 intensity a few more notches from that they displayed in Binghamton. A loud home crowd, not to mention the stakes, helped the Penguins’ cause.
Go down three games to none against the likes of this Binghamton team, and the series would essentially have been over for the Penguins.
“The guys did an unbelievable job,” a worn-out Chiodo said early Tuesday morning a few minutes after the game. “They committed themselves to what was at stake.”
“We knew the significance of the game,” Armstrong explained. “We knew it was the biggest game of the year.”
Monday’s Game 3 should let the Senators know that they have a series on their hands now, right?
Said Chiodo, “I’m a firm believer that we as a team are not thinking too much about what the other team thinks of us. It’s more important what every guy in this room thinks of the guy beside him.”
Chiodo may not be worried about what Binghamton thinks, but the two sides have spent the past few days bickering.
The feud has meant that Wachovia Arena patrons can expect the Penguins to don their dark sweaters tonight when the teams take the ice for warm-ups.
The Senators on Tuesday exercised their option to deny the Penguins permission to don white sweaters for Game 4 to complement the Penguins’ white-out promotion. Binghamton had obliged the Penguins for Game 3 on Monday, opting for the all-black look.
Tuesday’s fashion development made Penguins CEO Jeff Barrett an unhappy man. The Penguins organization had spent the past several days heavily marketing the white-out promotion, including unveiling a T-shirt for the event.
“Unfortunately, the Binghamton Senators coaching staff would rather play mind games with the players than selling the game of hockey,” Barrett wrote in an e-mail. “Having the ‘white-out’ tradition is good for the game and for our fans.”
The Penguins-Senators playoff spirit has moved to the broadcast booths as well during the Binghamton portion of Monday’s morning skate. Penguins play-by-play man Tom Grace endured a rough visit to Binghamton. The press box sits above the last row of seating in Binghamton, and Grace had to contend with hecklers during his broadcast before Binghamton security intervened.
Senators radio man Grady Whittenburg, who puts on one of the AHL’s best broadcasts, had a bone to pick with Grace for what he and many Binghamton fans perceived to be swipes taken at Binghamton’s hockey history during Grace’s Game 2 broadcast.
The two spoke during the morning skate and made their respective points with each other.
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