With not even a month elapsing since the previous season ended, the Taipei Ice Hockey League on Sunday night took to the rink in its season opener with new-look squad lists and captains.
In the first game, the Black Bears swamped last season’s champions, the Leopard Cats, 5-2, while the Buffalos trounced the Clouded Leopards 5-1 in the late game.
The league had a draft a week prior to the opening night of games and the selection process resulted in vastly changed lineups.
Bears captain Steve Clark said after the games that he was happy with the team they had assembled together from the draft.
“I ended up getting to pick first ... so I got No. 1 and [No.] 8 [draft picks],” Clark said. “Other than one or two guys, I got everyone that I wanted.”
“I wanted our team to be the fastest team,” he said.
Clark was among the goal scorers in their win.
“Someone [on the opposition] tried to pass it out of the zone. I got a rolling puck and I slapped at it and it ended up going into the top corner,” he said. “I’ll give it 50 percent luck and 50 percent trying to hit the net.”
Clark picked out his goaltender, Mario Beaulac, as his pick for player of the game.
“I think he played good,” Clark said. “He made some big saves when the game was getting close at the end.”
Beaulac said he was very happy with his game.
“They weren’t weak goals,” Beaulac said of the two scored by the Cats.
Beaulac reserved special praise for his captain.
“He makes everyone better,” he said of Clark.
Meanwhile, Buffalos goaltender Marshall Ting downplayed their win.
“In the first period, we started weakly,” Ting said. “I think that’s because it was the first game for us as a team. We got better in second, and then things were going well.”
In the upcoming round on Sunday night, the Bears face the Leopards at 9:30pm ahead of the Buffalos-Cats clash at 11pm.
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