However, if we jump back to Friday where I wrote about the Moose scoring on their own net, the Moose ended up losing Game Four by a 5-1 score as they were unable to score any additional goals beyond the one they put into their own cage. That Milwaukee victory tied the series at 2-2, though, so the Moose still had one more opportunity to oust the Admirals from the Calder Cup Playoffs on Saturday.
Saturday rolled around, and the Admirals jumped out in front in the second period off a goal from Mark Jankowski. As time ticked down, it looked like the Admirals had solved the Moose when it came to shutting down their stars, but Jansen Harkins would finally beat Yaroslav Askarov with 1:57 to play as it seemed the Moose had shaken off their scoring funk. With the game tied at 1-1, Game Five overtime loomed!
Except it didn't. Why? Because this happened.
Defenceman Dean Stewart ran into forward Cole Maier at center ice, causing the turnover that allowed the Admirals to skate in on the 2-on-1. Zach Sanford fed Spencer Stastney - the same guy who got credit for the Moose own goal! - for the redirection with 27 seconds to play, and the Admirals would advance with a 2-1 victory.
As I wrote on Friday night, "[n]o one likes that pressure of needing to win or the season ends, but that could be the pressure that Manitoba faces if they can't dig themselves out of this deficit tonight." With that pressure on them on Saturday after falling on Friday, they gave it their all, but they would fall short. I'm not taking credit for anything the Moose did or didn't do in Milwaukee, but it's a little freaky how I wrote about them on Friday and their season ended on Saturday.
Where this becomes a little more spooky is today, and that has everything to do with Saturday's article about Liam Hughes. I wrote about Hughes' nomadic ways for a few years where he found the occasional stop and played well, but he always needed to have a bag packed with the number of moves he's made in his career. The ending, though, was a good one as Hughes has established himself as a solid netminder in Melbourne, Australia where he has a "5-0-0 this season with one shutout and leads the league with his 1.57 GAA and his .941 save percentage".
Well, this happened in the third period on Sunday afternoon in Perth.
On top of that, Liam Hughes was between the pipes for all five goals as he suffered his first loss, but he saw his league-leading GAA and his league-leading save percentage take a hit as well. He still owns the best GAA in the AIHL at 2.14, but he's now second in save percentage at .925. Make no mistake that Hughes is still one of the best netminders in the AIHL statistically, but it sucks to see him take a loss one day after I built him up here on HBIC.
Again, I want no credit for anything that may ruin Hughes' great season, but two articles followed by two collapses on the very next days had me wondering if this blog was issuing some sort of hex on players. As I said off the top, I'm not a big believer in superstition so I'm not going to push that narrative, but I fully admit that Twilight Zone theme went off in my head when I saw the AIHL results the day after the Moose fell.
Let's hope whatever I write on Monday doesn't see bad things happen to the subjects on Tuesday. If this blog truly is cursed, I may have to start writing a lot more articles about the Toronto Maple Leafs!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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