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At the end of last season, Philadelphia Wings owner Russ Cline guaranteed a victory in their final home game.  In front of 12,000 people he offered a free ticket to their ‘08 home opener if he was wrong. 

Well, the Wings lost and I am not sure what happened to the free entry promise, but it appears that last year’s Nightmare on Broad Street, Part V, might be the end of long and painful series.  The 19–11 final score in Saturday’s opening night game accurately summarized the inequalities between the Wings and the Shamrox, in spite of the fact that Chicago only trailed by 3 early in the fourth quarter.

 The Wings dominated face offs (no surprise).  Blasdell had an excellent game in net.  Iannucci, Bergey, Thompson and Crosbie all had big games offensively.  Meanwhile, Chicago failed to capitalize on the power play (2-for-11).  Surprisingly, the Shamrox even failed to create much transition.

You would expect Philly to dominate the X.  The stats say Snider was 18-for-23 while Peter Jacobs went 10-for-11.  I don’t remember the Shamrox winning a single face-off other than by technical violations.

The Wings offense looked confident and scored from everywhere on the field.  Merrick Thompson looked especially good.  Teaming up with Jason Crosbie, he finished on pick-and-roll opportunities and even a couple shots from 10 yards or more.  Iannucci has obviously never seen a shot he didn’t like.  Athan showed on Saturday his ability to create opportunities from nothing.  The fact that Jake Bergey is rolling makes for a dangerous offense.  I can only assume that the goaltending duo of Brandon Miller and D-Rock would like to forget Saturday as quickly as possible.  Sometimes it is hard for me to evaluate what shots should be saved from the stands.  On Saturday it was obvious that Miller and Collins got lit up.

I was really looking forward to witnessing the transition game that Chicago has come to be known for.  I am not sure what happened, but the Shamrox were not creating opportunities in transition.  The breaks that did materialize often ended in a dropped pass or low percentage shot.  I can only expect that to improve as the season progresses.

In a league typified by parity, I wonder if we are witnessing a degree of disparity in the East.  Obviously it is early in the season to tell.  Friday night’s showdown between Rochester and Philly should help to gauge just how good the Wings really are.

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