Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Brahmas defeat the Americans 4-1 at NYTEX

Well, we've come to expect chicken moves by the Allen Americans and tonight was no different, but once again the Brahmas showed them that you don't mess with Texas with a 4-1 win in front of a sold out crowd at the NYTEX Sports Centre.

Brett Jaeger was simply magnificent in goal, stopping 30 of 31 shots faced to earn his fifth straight win. Chris Kaufman proved once again that if you put a turd in an Allen Americans sweater, it's still a turd. As for Allen's coaching staff - well, if you need me to explain the difference between sh*t and Shinola, let me know. Don't even get me started about the officiating.

With the win, the Brahmas record goes to 25-17-5 and with 55 points they remain in third place in the Southern Conference, a point ahead of the Laredo Bucks who also won tonight.

I was late arriving to the game but with no score on the board, I felt I had time to grab a hot dog and a Diet Coke - my first meal of a busy day. Minutes after settling in upstairs in Section K, both teams had a defenseman in the sin bin and the Brahmas were threatening when Allen defenseman Chris Kaufman took a cheap shot on Jordan Cameron, rendering him unconscious on the ice.

Skating in on Cameron, who probably never saw it coming, Kaufman hit him just under the chin and neck with his shoulder. Kaufman then cowered like he was the victim when Tyler Skworchinski skated in to explain that that wasn't cool. Bruce Graham came to Kaufman's rescue and then Kevin McLeod quickly dropped Graham while Tom Hart made his way over to check on Cameron's condition.

Here's how the Americans later wrote it up in their press release: "Players on both teams got fired up early in the game after a clean hit from Chris Kaufman left Brahma Jordan Cameron knocked out temporarily. Cameron skated off the ice to the applause from players and fans alike."

With the mini brawl broken up by the on-ice officials, Hart and other Brahmas medical staffers continued to check on Cameron, who remained unconscious. A couple of minutes later, Cam was able to get up and was able to make it to the locker room, assisted by Hart and Jason Deitsch. Paramedics had been summoned and he was taken to the hospital to be checked out.

Meanwhile, the penalties were handed out. Kaufman and Graham were each assessed two minutes for roughing as was Kevin McLeod. Skworchinski was assessed two minutes for Cross Checking.

As a result of all of this, the Brahmas resumed play as fired up as ever and made Allen pay in more ways than one.

On the power play, James Hiebert sent a shot through the five hole of Alexandre Vincent to put the Brahmas up 1-0 at the 9:30 mark, with the assists coming from Craig Minard and Jason Deitsch.

On the ensuing face off, Tyler Skworchinski settled some unfinished business with Chris Kaufman, earning both Five Minute Fighting Majors.

32 seconds later, Nathan Perrott and Brandon Straub got into it in front of the Allen net. The short bout earned the two of them Five Minute Fighting Majors.

Oh, and then about 8 1/2 minutes later, Perrott and Liam Hukulak duked it out and yes, you guessed it - Five Minute Fighting Majors for both.

The Brahmas had the 14-10 shot advantage and the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes but all thoughts in the barn were on teammate Jordan Cameron.

The second period was tame by comparison to the first. Although the play remained fast and physical, there were only two penalties called on each bench and neither team would capitalize on the man advantage. At even strength, things were different.

With Tyrell Mason and Ryan Fairbarn in the penalty box, the teams were playing four-on-four when AJ Gale sent a pass across the crease to Jason Deitsch who took advantage of an out-of-position Alexandre Vincent, sending the puck into the back of the net for the 2-0 lead at the 7:31 mark. Kevin McLeod was also in on the assist.

Later in the period, Matt Burto scored on Vincent after picking up a loose puck at the blue line and sending his shot from the bottom of the left circle behind the Allen goalie, who had skated in front of the crease. The puck hit net just inside the right corner and just like that, the Brahmas were up 3-0 at the 12:29 mark.

Allen out shot the Brahmas 11-8 in the middle frame but they were unable to solve Brett Jaeger, who was in top form tonight. after 40 minutes, Jaegs had stopped all 22 shots faced and the Brahmas went into the locker room with the game under control and a 3-0 lead.

The final frame was full of intensity which erupted into another fight at the 4:11 mark when Luke Sellars dropped Liam Huculak for some reason or another. Sellars didn't get a chance to do as much damage as I'm sure he would have liked before he was removed from the Allen winger. For his effort, Sellars received a Five Minute Fighting Major, a Two Minute Fighting (Instigator), a 10 Minute No Category Misconduct and a 10 Minute Game Misconduct. And off to an early shower he went.

Allen stymied Brett Jaeger's bid for a second consecutive shut out with a power play goal at the 9:10 mark by defenseman Tyler Wooddisse. Erik Adams and Jarret Lukin were in on the assist.

Tyler Skworchinski and defenseman Mike Salekin (who was an SOB all night) mixed it up in front of the Brahmas' net at the 11:13 mark and in the aftermath, Salekin was assessed two minutes for Slashing and two minutes for Roughing. Skworchinski also received two minutes for Roughing.

In the final minute of the game, with Jason Deitsch in the penalty box fro Tripping, Alexandre Vincent was pulled in favor of the extra attacker to give the Americans a two man advantage. But Matt Burto was able to take control of the puck and skated it in for a shorthanded unassisted empty net goal at the 19:41 mark to secure the final score at 4-1.

With three seconds left on the clock, Nathan Perrott and Mike Salekin got into the final fight of the evening. Perrott took Salekin down pretty quickly and both were assessed Five Minute Fighting majors. Perrott also received a 10 minute No Category Game Misconduct and with his three fights tonight, may get a one game suspension from the league. I could be wrong but I'll have to check the rule book on that one.

The Brahmas had a 12-10 shot advantage in the final frame and a 34-31 shot advantage in the game.

Brett Jaeger made 30 saves on 31 shots and earned the win. His record goes to 14-10-1-2. Alexandre Vincent made 30 saves on 33 shots and takes the loss, his first as an American.

The Brahmas went one for seven on the power play. Allen went one for nine. The Brahmas were assessed 75 minutes on 17 infractions. The Americans received 42 minutes on 15 infractions.

The 3rd Star of the game went to Jason Deitsch who scored the game winner and also had an assist on the night. The 2nd Star was awarded to Matt Burto who scored two goals and the 1st Star went to Brett Jaeger for another amazing evening in net.

You can view the box score here

You can view my photos from the game here (Not edited yet)

The Brahmas and the Americans will continue their war with another battle on Monday afternoon at the Allen Event Center with a 1:00 pm face off. There should be a fair number of Brahmas fans there - if you have the time, be there, be loud, believe!

Photo Credit: Robert Keith