Went to the JMU (James Madison University) vs. VMI (Virginia Military Institute) hockey game in Charlottesville last night and even with the lopsided score it was good to get in the next to last game of the local season....
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JMU came out of the starting blocks with a score in the first 50 seconds and followed up with another 9 goals in the first period...
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The "Keydets" just failed to clear out the area in front of their goal and allowed the JMU forwards to have their way
VMI did manage their first goal with 3 minutes left in the 2nd period after coming alive after a timeout where it was obvious that the game plan had been updated to address the scoring by JMU in the first period...
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The Main Street Arena is a great place to watch a game for you can get up close to the game and the players. Looking forward to next seasons games here...
Went down to Liberty last night to watch the Hokies vs. Flames game and they had a pretty good attendance with a very loud and vile at times student showing. Game started late and had to watch "Human Ice Bowling" for about half an hour before the game started but it was good to catch another live game....
This is the fourth game that I have seen at Liberty and it's nice to be able to find a spot on the 2nd level close to the ice rink with some very nice viewing spots. The officiating the first game or two that I have seen at Liberty was questionable but the third game, which was a playoff game between William & Mary vs. Citadel, it was obvious that the calls were very much one sided. Last nights officiating was almost as bad with several questionable calls going Liberty's way. During the 2nd period a Hokie player ran into the goalie and it appeared that he was pushed by a Liberty player and he received the appropriate penalty for interfering with the Goalie, but there were no penalties when the two Liberty defense men proceeded to beat on the Hokie player as the linejudge stood there and watched... Other then that it was a good game with Liberty winning 4 to 1 and with Liberty player #9 McCombe scoring a "Hat Trick". Very good puck handling and drives to the net did it for him and he was a "Star" of the game...
A few weeks back I went with a friend to a UVA vs. Radford Ice Hockey game in Charlottesville and was sitting watching the Sports channel before the game when we turned to find a familiar and notorious ex-political player from the Shenandoah Valley standing there. As with many times in the past it was he who was to seek out the conversation\debate\conflict, and like many times before it became a back & forth from extreme offense to extreme defense tactics to argue his points...
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My hockey friend did a great job of deflecting personal attacks from the intruder as well as providing numerous facts and examples to set the record straight when the visitor started to revise history to fit his claims.
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Incredibly this went on for 1 1/2 hours and he left 3 different times only to return again and again once the facts were provided that clashed with his agenda and\or desired recollection
Attended my first JMU Ice Hockey game last night when they played UVA at the Main Street Arena in Charlottesville. Also first time at the arena in Charlottesville which has nice ice but very limited area for fans to watch the game. Most and best area is right up against the glass but folding chairs if you are looking to sit. Bonus is the Pub at one end of the rink where you can sit and watch with an ale the HD sport programs\games that are on at the same time between periods.
Teams were fun to watch but it’s obvious that it’s the beginning of the season and these guys will get better as they play together some more. The JMU team was better at passing and running 3 hit plays before shooting on goal and many times beat the UVA goalie but missed the net with their shots. UVA for the most part shot on goal as soon as they got the puck and several goals were made from the Blue line…
JMU goalie was good if he had defense back there with him but on UVA breakaways he looked scared and not skating up to challenge the shooter coming his way. Overall a good game with action even with the score going JMU way 10 to 4…
It was also fun to watch the Charlottesville crowd with many of the students from both JMU & UVA due to free admission and available beer. Another highlight was watching the local family groups come in all dressed up and ready to be seen by all. Think of a “The Housewives of Charlottesville” episode…
First VA Tech Hokies Ice Hockey game of the season for me last at the Roanoke Civic Center and the guys looked good and skating well together as a team. Better passing this year and the team looks more aggressive all together as evident in taking a 3 to 0 lead after the first period...
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Hat Trick for Hokie player wearing #23 but not the player listed in the program that I got. I believe the name was Alex Smith when announced but can't be sure. #23 was hot and was very good at breaking for the goal when the opportunity was there but the trailing player was not always there but much better then last year...
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Senior Joel Samuels (Def) looked strong and more aggressive then last season and was quick to get back into the defensive zone when needed but still had several good shots on goals when the opportunity was there....
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Looked for Senior Andres Morales (forward) who was a hot scorer last year but was somewhat limited this game. He contributed to the team but was not the stand-out I saw last year... Still early and just the beginning of the season.....
Also noticed that Josh Bennett had himself a tough game being on of the smallest players on the team at 5'-7" but he mixed it up with any available player from the Villanova Wildcats and many times he was the guy taking the beating but that did not stop him. Towards the end of the 3rd he was near the glass where I was and mixed it up with a Wildcat going after the same puck. The Wildcat got away with cracking Bennett over the head with his stick and I thought the lady sitting in front of me was going over the glass for the ref missed the call all together. Bennett kept up with it and will be one to look for in future games.....
Hokies took the first of two home games with the Wildcats with a score of 7 to 4...
William & Mary took on The Citadel for the Championship game of the Atlantic division of the BRHC ~Blue Ridge Hockey Conference~ in Lynchburg, VA. at Liberty University...
William & Mary took the game with a score of 3 to 1 after a pretty good game even with some questionable officiating but I must say it was better than some of the calls I have seen made while watching games at Liberty... Liberty vs. Radford or Liberty vs. Hokies
It was good to be able to catch the last game of the season but I was somewhat disappointed that the crowd was no more than 35-40 with apparently nobody from Liberty who was hosting the playoffs and championship game....
First time I had the opportunity to see The Citadel team play and I look forward to more games in the future...
Unfortunately for the next two periods the Radford team was playing "5 on 8" hockey for pretty much the rest of the game the Ref's were obviously on the Liberty team...
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Going into the three games I saw this year I never favored one team over another except for the Liberty vs. VMI where I looked forward to seeing the VMI team for the first time. The Liberty \ VMI game had great action and ended with Liberty up 11 to 6 but unfortunately the officiating in this game also broke down and was one sided many times... In fact there was an individual in the crowd asking the Ref several times what year did he graduate Liberty?......
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LaHaye Ice Center is a great place to watch a game for it is small and possible to stand at the glass on the second level and look down at the Ice during play. Great opportunity to watch a game up close and pick up things that are hard to see seated far away from the action. With that you are able to see many things happen that you don't get to see within the limited viewing area of a monitor or TV screen including many of the hits and actions that often result in fights and penalties...
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This even resulted with almost everybody seeing the Liberty forward take a shot at the Radford Goalie with the puck and after the shot was blocked take another shot at the goalie with a cross check that put the goalie into the net and crossbar. A shot hard enough to put the goalie into the net, knock it off its moorings, and put the goalie down on the ice for a considerable amount of time. This resulted in a melee that put a total of 5 players into the penalty boxes but only the Liberty forward serving 2 minutes for a cheap shot that should have resulted in a ejection from the game....
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Still a good game and enjoyed having the opportunity to see a live game with some good action by guys who want to play some hockey. Liberty and LaHaye will be hosting some playoff games not yet determined or announced but when they are I suggest you attempt to make a game before the season is over....
Virginia Tech Hokies vs Liberty Flames at the LaHaye Ice Center in Lynchburg, VA.
Good game with alot of action from the second period on. Liberty had better passing game and if you look at the roster many of the players were from Ontario and the likes as compared to the Hokies where most players from this area and the east coast...
The LaHaye arena is somewhat smaller and was filled with student attendance. Good turnout for the Liberty team with a 11 to 6 win at the end...
The Liberty college team also won the penalty box occupation contest with many of the fine player\students spending the majority of the game penalty time there....
Virginia Tech Hokies played the Kentucky Wildcats in Roanoke last night at the Civic Center and lost 3 - 2 after a very active game. Games can be watched on the internet by using the Livestream site which may not have the best audio\visual technology, but like the Hockey team, is raw talent that is playing the game for the love of the game. No millionaires skating around just guys who want to play the game for what it is...
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Hokies also maintain a website which is pretty good but not updated as often as it could be... They are also part of the ACHA hockey league which also includes several teams from this area including James Madison, Radford, Liberty College, and VMI...
THE HOKIES ARE NOW BACK TO BACK ACC TOURNAMENT CHAMPSIONS!
. CONGRATULATIONS TO #13 ANDRES MORALES FOR BEING THE TOURNAMENT MVP AND TO HEAD COACH MIKE SPRADLIN FOR WINNING ACC COACH OF THE YEAR FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW!
Energy Year in Review
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Despite occasional policy obstacles, the U.S. energy revolution continues
to enhance America’s economic and national security and deliver major
benefits to...
