Blue Devils roll over Blazers

The Blair Community ice hockey team is not affiliated with or sponsored by the Montgomery Blair High School athletic program or Montgomery County Public Schools. The team is an independent group of Blair students.

JAN. 31, WHEATON INDOOR ICE RINK—

Following their disappointingly close loss against Gaithersburg last Friday, the Blair ice hockey team (0-10) hoped to make a strong showing and put up a good fight against the Springbrook Blue Devils tonight. However, the team was severely outclassed and outplayed, resulting in a 10-0 blowout that was ended in the beginning of the third period due to the league mercy rule.

The Blue Devils took charge of the game from the start, scoring on an easy slap shot from the left of the goal only 25 seconds into the game. They kept the Blazers on the defensive, never allowing them to maintain possession for more than a few seconds and keeping the puck on the Blair side of the rink. Several minutes later, they followed up with another point scored on the rebound after junior goalie Robert Ginsberg successfully blocked the first shot. Springbrook continued to dominate the game while the Blazers ineffectually clustered around their own goal, and the Blue Devils scored for the third time near the end of the period.

The second period continued in the same fashion as the first, beginning right off the whistle with a Springbrook goal in the first ten seconds. They kept up their relentless assault on the net, scoring four more goals, often on the second or third shot after being blocked by Ginsberg or junior Aaron Jarboe, who substituted in for Ginsberg late in the period. The puck spent less than a minute on the Springbrook side during the entire fifteen-minute period, highlighting the ineffectuality of Blair's offense.

With the 8-0 score entering the third period, the Blue Devils smelled blood and kept up the pressure. They scored for the ninth time on a beautiful slap shot from the left of the net, and again from just to the right to gain a ten-point lead and end the game by the mercy rule.

Springbrook had a total of 52 shots during the game compared to Blair's eight, clearly highlighting the disparity in offensive power between the two teams. Ginsberg had an excellent game in the net with 31 saves before being pulled, but could not make up for the lack of offense.

Coach Kevin McCabe attributed the blowout to both Springbrook's more experienced players and a poor effort by his own team. "They have better players than us and we gave a very lackluster effort. They weren't working hard," he said.