Copyright Melissa Dafni, All RIghts Reserved
Yesterday marked a very important day in Colorado sports history. What?! No, I’m not talking about Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. The Colorado Mammoth celebrated the start of their 10th season. While the Denver Broncos were facing their own battle, the Mammoth faithful were packed in to the Pepsi Center. While it was a smaller crowd than usual, and definitely less than the reported attendance, the Mammoth were well supported by their fans; a fitting way to say goodbye to fan favorite Brian Langrtry who announced his retirement in October.
Before the game began, there were plenty of speeches and hugs and tears. Langtry’s speech filled with love for his family, his team and the fans was full of the passion he’s known for. His fiery intensity will definitely be missed this season, but with his underdog story and local entrenchment, he will be an inspiration for many years.
1st quarter
As you would expect, both teams looked unsettled and a bit rusty. Stick work was sloppy with several bobbled shots on net and dropped passes in the offensive zone. The Minnesota Swarm did a good job of reading the plays and intercepted several Mammoth passes. Both teams came out aggressive and willing to mix it up although more Mammoth players had a seat in the sin bin. Jordan MacIntosh started off the scoring giving Minny the lead making the most of their first power play. The lead didn’t last long though. John Grant Jr. scored a shorthanded goal just over a minute later. With the quarter half way over, Matt MacLeod scores for the Mammoth giving them the lead. It’s very short lived however as Callum Crawford scores for the Swarm 30 seconds later to tie the game. Jamie Lincoln scores on the power play to give the Mammoth the lead but minutes later, Jamie Shewchuck scores his own power play goal for the Swarm to tie the game back up. As the clock wound down, Gavin Prout scored his first goal of the season, but refs said it was after the buzzer.
Colorado Mammoth 3, Minnesota Swarm 3
2nd Quarter
The Swarm come out strong scoring back to back goals within twenty seconds three minutes in to take the lead. The first, scored by Ryan Benesch on a power play, the second by Corbyn Tao. Not to be shown up, John Grant Jr. scores his second of the night to cut the lead by one. Ilija Gajic shoots on net, Patterson blocks it, MacIntosh recovers the rebound and takes down the floor, he passes to a wide open Benesch who shoots it over Chris Levis’s left shoulder. With just over five minutes left in the half, Gajic scores a tricky behind the back goal as he dives across the corner of the crease. The ref rules it a no goal, the challenge flag is thrown, and upon review, the goal is ruled good. Lincoln scores his second goal of the night to tie the game quickly followed by a goal from Sean Pollock on a bounce shot to take the lead, getting taken out afterwards sandwiched between Joe Cinosky and Nik Bilic. Kevin Ross scores off the crease to send the game into halftime tied.
Colorado Mammoth 7, Minnesota Swarm 7
3rd Quarter
Just under four minutes in to the half, Gavin Prout scores on a screened over hand shot to retake the lead, but as was the case in the first half, the Swarm match it with their own goal thirty seconds later courtesy of Andrew Suitor. The goal is waived off on the floor as a crease violation. Swarm challenge, and after review, the goal is ruled good.
Mammoth struggle on the rebounds and loose balls giving Swarm plenty of opportunities but it’s the Mammoth who go on a scoring streak six and a half minute in led by the rookie Adam Jones. Rookie Jordan McBride scores a quick stick goal near the crease off a behind the back pass from John Grant Jr. Rookie Jamie Lincoln closes out the triple rookie threat by scoring a hat trick goal. Lincoln also scores an unsportsmanlike conduct for his comments to Nick Patterson after the goal putting the Swarm up on the power play. Pollack scores a short hander for the Mammoth before Minnesota is able to stop the run. Swarm call a time out to settle the game down. Callum Crawford scores almost immediately followed by Ryan Benesch. The Mammoth close out the third by giving the Swarm a 5:3 opportunity but despite a one on one opportunity on the crease between Levis and a shot faking Benesch, the play is broken up from behind by the rookie Dan Coates.
Colorado Mammoth 12, Minnesota Swarm 10
4th Quarter
Thirty seconds into the forth, Crawford scores on the power play assisted by Benesch. John Grant Jr. immediately follows it up with his own goal for the Mammoth kicking off a flurry of back and forth goals. Brendon Doran scores for the Swarm then Gavin Prout for the Mammoth; Jay Card for the Swarm capped off with a Brian Langtry like goal, Mat McLeod dives across the front of the crease kicking off what will be a six goal run for Colorado. Showing why Levis is the starting goalie, with under eight minutes left, Suitor shoots on Levis, he blocks it, misses the rebound, MacIntosh picks it up and shoots, Levis diving blocks it, lands flat on his back as play continues behind the net. Levis gets back on his feet in time while Rory Smith covers MacIntosh like red on an apple keeping him from getting another shot off.
With less than two minutes left in the game, Crawford scores his fourth goal of the night on a penalty shot after Mammoth are charged with an Illegal Substitution. The Mammoth made a lot of mistakes and had some costly penalties, but they really started to show chemistry in the second half, which, after last season’s constant gear grinding is something very solid to build on.
How fitting is it though that on the night the Mammoth retires Brian Langtry’s number 6 jersey, the Mammoth win by six goals?
Final score: Colorado Mammoth 20, Minnesota Swarm 14
Attendance: 14,106
As it appears that the league is either no longer listing or simply no longer doing a game MVP, I have decided that I will list my three stars of the game.
1st star – John Grant Jr. He had 4 goals on the night, 7 assists and 13 second assists, not to mention the number of defensive plays he made. A frequent complaint last year was that JGJ was slow on transition, often watched the ball and opposing players go by without any attempt to stop them. This year he seemed like a completely different player and was all over the floor making plays.
2nd star – Gavin Prout. He had 3 goals, 6 assists and 7 second assists.
3rd star – Sean Pollock. In his first game in a Mammoth sweater, he had a huge impact with 2 goals, 6 assists and 7 second assists.
Around the League
Rochester Knighthawks 22, Philadelphia Wings 12
Toronto Rock 10, Buffalo Bandits 12
Calgary Roughnecks 13, Washington Stealth 10