Aeros, Dogs break curfew: Hamilton wins in record long game
Bulldogs win marathon: Ryder scores in quadruple OT to give Hamilton a 2-1 win
OK, so this is not going to mean anything unless you live in southeast Texas or Hamilton, ON, but there is another final series outside of the Stanley Cup. The Houston Aeros (farm club for the Minnesota Wild, eh?) and the Hamilton Bulldogs (farm club for the Edmonton Oilers) are playing for the Calder Cup in the American Hockey League finals. By all accounts (I say that because only Game 1 has been televised), it's been a helluva series so far. The Aeros are coming home with the series tied at one game apiece after playing the longest game in AHL history last night.
HAMILTON, Ontario -- The Aeros are heading home tied 1-1 in the Calder Cup finals after losing 2-1 to the Hamilton Bulldogs on Friday night in the longest game in American Hockey League history.
Michael Ryder scored the game-winning goal in the fourth overtime to end 134:56 minutes of hockey and send the season-high crowd of 10,419 at Copps Coliseum into a frenzy.
The final marked the Aeros' seventh consecutive game to be decided by one goal.
"It's almost appropriate that the game was played the way it was because the two teams are so evenly matched," said Aeros coach Todd McLellan. "It's great to be a part of history. People are going to talk about this for a long time. The not-so-fun part is being on the short end of the stick."
The Aeros thought they had the game wrapped up with a minute to go in the second overtime when Travis Roche's shot from the point beat Hamilton goalie Ty Conklin on the power play.
The Aeros were celebrating at center ice when the referee called off the goal and gave defenseman Sylvain Cloutier a two-minute minor for goaltender interference.
"It was a goal," McLellan said. "There isn't a hockey person in this building -- reporter, player, scout, every general manager here -- there is not a guy here who can say that it wasn't a goal."
The Aeros won the old International Hockey League championship in 1999, and they have consistently been competitive over the past few years. That helps, because, as you might imagine, selling hockey in southeast Texas is not as easy as doing it in, say, Ontario. Hockey, palm trees, and a heat index of 105 make for strange bedfellows.
