AALBORG:Aalborg Pirates sent an unequivocal statement in the first of potentially seven DM finals.
The big question before Friday’s game was whether Aalborg’s nine-day match break was an advantage over Herning’s fresh semi-final victory over Esbjerg Energy. The pirates quickly responded to the charge.
Herning Blue Fox came out to the game and tried to put pressure on the pirates, but that storm was quickly blown away from the North Jutland side.
When Aalborg Pirates got their first power play, an old Herning boy stamped in. Patrick Bjorkstrand made it 1-0 for the pirates. Subsequently, it was another former Herning and current Aalborg player who made good publicity for himself.
George Sørensen had a couple of fine saves before the Pirates made it 2-0 towards the end of the first period.
The first 20 minutes of hockey was a very even game, but the Pirates had sharpness and margins with them. Well illustrated by Anders Koch’s 2-0 scoring.
That image was reinforced in the second period when Martin Højbjerg made it 3-0. From that point on, there wasn’t much excitement left in the match. Not even a stupid sending off for Victor Rollin Carlsson towards the end of the second period could get Herning going. Midtjøden seemed affected in several sequences. It was the Aalborg players who had the physical advantage, and it is otherwise an area where Herning is usually Denmark’s strongest team.
First game in the final series
This meant that the match could go in two different directions at the start of the third period. Either the pirate ship could run away in case of more scores, or the Blue Fox could mount a comeback.
It was definitely the first scenario that became a reality. The match was decided when Matt salhany made it 4-0, and while most of the hall was occupied with a fight with Lasse Bo Knudsen as one party, Julian Jakobsen brought the pirates to 5-0.
Photo: Lars Pauli“/>
That kind of goal celebration was seen as many as six times during Friday’s DM final in Aalborg. Photo: Lars Pauli
Already before the 5-0 scoring, the Herning frustrations had unsurprisingly erupted into the open. They were really given free rein when the game was decided. As is so often the case in play-off matches, where one team has run away on the scoreboard, the other team tries to play with their muscles, but the only thing the mid-judges got out of it was a queue to get out to visit the penalty box.
The sovereignty of the victory cannot be discussed in any way, but it must be included in the story from the match that Herning was by no means as harmless as the numbers make it appear.
George Sørensen had several saves, which was a major contributing factor to Kirill Kabanov’s 6-0 score equaling an egg for the foxes.
When the match was over, a tired but fired-up Herning team could drive down and applaud the traveling fans, who showed great support despite the applause. The Aalborg players, on the other hand, could be applauded by a sold-out arena, where the vast majority stayed behind to pay tribute to the pirates.
Game two awaits in Herning on Sunday, and here Martin Højbjerg has no doubt that Herning Blue Fox will probably be ready for the second round in the ring against the pirates.
– It’s 0-0 on Sunday, and it doesn’t seem to matter how much we won this game by, points out Martin Højbjerg, who was unsurprisingly very satisfied with the way Pirates had played the first 60 minutes of the final.
– We came out well for the match and went on from the start. It’s also clear that it all gets a little easier when we get ahead. We played well offensively, and George had some good saves, so it all went as we had hoped, says Martin Højbjerg.
– It is always difficult to simulate a real match when you are just training, but we had talked a lot about getting to the match properly, and we managed to do that, says Martin Højbjerg.
Aalborg Pirates – Herning Blue Fox 6-0
- Ice hockey
- 1. DM-finale
- Periodecifre: 2-0, 1-0, 3-0
- Goals: 1-0 Patrick Bjorkstrand (6.46), 2-0 Anders Koch (18.13), 3-0 Martin Højbjerg (34.33), 4-0 Matt Salhany (41.25), 5-0 Julian Jakobsen (49.23), 6-0 Kirill Kabanov (53.37)
- Dismissals: Aalborg 4×2, Herning 7×2
- Spectators: 5000
- Thus, Aalborg Pirates leads 1-0 in matches. Game 2 will be played on Sunday in Herning.
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