Forty eight seconds into the Cincinnati Stingers first game, Stingers
center Bernie MacNeil and Crusaders Bryan Maxwell broke out into a fight....Not a bad
start? But most of the game remained moderately peaceful. The Stingers and Crusaders
managed to skate away without a single goal in the first period. This was a minor miracle
for Cincinnati seeing as how the Crusaders took 24 shots on goal to the Stingers 9.
Several of the Crusaders shots were at close range but Stingers goalie Steve Aubry kept
turning them back. Cincinnati spent very little time in the offensive zone getting only
one really good shot from Gary Veneruzzo who flipped a five-foot shot at Clevelands goalie
Gerry Cheevers. Despite a few short handed situations for Cincinnati, they hung tough.
Something in which they didn't do during the exhibition season. The Stingers had
surrendered on average more then five goals a game during the exhibition season while
being short handed.
The Stingers went on to score their
first franchise goal at 12:45 in the second period. The shot came from their 1975 first
round draft choice Claude Larose. Larose took a pass from Mike Pelyk inside the blue line
and skated towards Cleveland's goal tender Gary Cheevers. Crusaders defenseman Bryan
Maxwell came up to challenge the swift Larose, but the Stingers left winger faked one way
and went another. A move that tangled up Maxwell's legs and gave Larose the advantage with
an open alley to score. Larose then slipped the puck under Cheevers legs for the goal.
Stingers Gene Sobchuk was also awarded an assist on the goal. Seconds after Laroses goal,
the Stingers lost two defensemen. John Hughes for high sticking and Mike Pelyk for cross
checking. Cincinnati would be two men down for one minute and forty five seconds as a
result of the two penalties. But the Stingers held on by intercepting many Cleveland
passes and having Dave Inkpen freeze the puck against the wall to help run down the clock
towards the end of the period.
During the third period, the Stingers
focused all efforts on maintaining their one goal lead. For all intents and purposes,
Cincinnati just played defense in the final period. The Crusaders managed 10 shots on
goal, but skated away with nothing. The game was over and the Cincinnati Stingers had won
the franchises first game.
Also on this day:
- The Cincinnati Reds lost to the Boston Red Sox
6-0 in Game 1 of the World Series. Click here for game summary.
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