GREENVILLE, SC – In continuing their countdown of the top moments from their inaugural season in the ECHL, the Greenville Road Warriors today revealed top moment number two.
Teddy Bear Toss games have become a tradition for many teams in the ECHL. Fans look forward to the game from the announcement of their team’s schedule in the summer and come out in droves, with stuffed animals in hand, in December to take part in the fun. And when that first goal by the home team hits the back of the net, it’s always an impressive sight to see thousands of stuffed animals flooding the ice. In their inaugural season, the Road Warriors were the visiting team for Teddy Bear Toss games in North Charleston against the Stingrays and in Estero against the Everblades. They spoiled the party on both occasions; first by shutting out the Stingrays on December 4, 2010 then by scoring first and ultimately winning 5-2 over Florida on December 11, 2010. So one would have understood if karma came back to bite Greenville on its first every Teddy Bear Toss game on December 17 against Gwinnett.
The Gladiators entered the game that night desperate for a win having dropped five in a row, including two straight to the Road Warriors, and out-scored by a 31-9 count in those games. Greenville, meanwhile had surged to the top of the South Division standings on the strength of a 7-1 win over Gwinnett on December 2 and followed that with four wins in their next six games. Each team was hungry for a win for vastly different reasons. Road Warriors fans simply wanted a reason to test out their throwing arms and launched stuffed animals onto the ice. What took place at the BI-LO Center that night was an impressive battle of wills and a showdown to see which goalie would blink first.
Gwinnett established control in the first period by sending eight shots Dov Grumet-Morris‘ way while Greenville managed six shots on Billy Sauer. The Road Warriors had a pair of power plays in the first while Gwinnett had one. None mattered as Grumet-Morris and Sauer denied all challengers. In the second period Greenville’s depth and skill began to win momentum as the home team held an 8-5 shot advantage. It was at this point that Sauer began to emerge as the overriding story of the game. Could his stellar play hold up against the Road Warriors’ unrelenting attack? And could the Gwinnett offense provide him any goal support? The scene shifted to the third period where the Road Warriors produced their best chances. Brendan Connolly broke loose alone on net. Marc-Olivier Vallerand had a gaping net to shoot for on a rebound chance. Sauer remained impenetrable. Grumet-Morris did everything he had to in order to keep Greenville in the game with six third period saves and the game arrived at overtime.
In the sudden-death period the Road Warriors received the most unique of opportunities to end the game: a penalty shot. Gwinnett players, coaches, and supports might argue that the penalty shot wasn’t warranted. Those in the Road Warriors’ corner would argue exactly the opposite. Merited or not, Mark Voakes was given a one-on-one chance against Sauer to end the scoreless game and bring out the teddy bears. His OT penalty shot provides us with Top Moment Number Two in our countdown.
