Matchup: Alaska Aces at Idaho Steelheads, Thursday and Friday, 7 PM at Qwest Arena.
Rivalry Week: It’s a matchup that dates back to the very origins of professional hockey in Idaho – Aces versus Steelheads. It began in the old WCHL days and has grown in the ECHL days, with Idaho knocking Alaska out of the playoffs en route to each of its two Kelly Cup championships (2004 and 2007). Aces fans like to beat the Steelheads … and Steelheads fans certainly like to beat the Aces.
Wear your Steelhead gear: To help promote the rivalry, the Steelheads will be giving a free drink voucher (soda or beer) to the first 1,000 fans who show up Thursday or Friday night sporting the Idaho Steelheads logo (a hat, jersey, t-shirt, or jacket). Fns purchasing Steelheads merchandise will receive two vouchers with a purchase of a new Steelheads hat, jersey, or t-shirt.
Like looking in a mirror: Steelheads fans certainly loved “The Rooster,” Lance Galbraith, when he wore an Idaho sweater. Well, Lance will be back with Alaska and he’ll get to see a younger version of himself in Idaho rookie Mathieu Tousignant. Tousignant can score, can agitate, and isn’t afraid to drop the gloves with anyone, just like Galbraith.
Former Steelhead Lance Galbraith found the net just 48 seconds into the game, silencing the crowd and kick-starting a 6-1 Alaska Aces victory over Idaho at Qwest Arena in Boise on Friday night.
John Lammers, also a former Steelhead, had two goals on the night for the Aces (11-9-2) and Eric Boguniecki had a goal and three assists, finishing the night plus-5 for visitors.
Idaho’s lone goal came from Mark Derlago in the third period. With the loss, Idaho falls to 17-4-1 on the season with three of the four regulation losses coming at home.
After Galbraith scored, the Aces didn’t wait long to add to their lead. Nick Mazzolini had a pair of goals in a span of less than four minutes as the Aces had a 3-0 lead before the first period hit the midway point. The early blitz effectively removed the Qwest Arena crowd of 4,283 from the game.
Lammers’ tenth goal of the season extended Alaska’s lead to 4-0 at the 4:12 mark of the second period and the rout was on. Lammers scored again right out of the locker room to start the third. After Derlago netted Idaho’s only tally, deflecting Brad Miller’s shot past Sebastian Dahm seven minutes into the final frame, Boguniecki put an end to any hopes of a wild comeback with Alaska’s sixth goal of the night less than a minute later.
Dahm stopped 25 of 26 Idaho shots in the win, improving to 6-5-0 between the pipes on the season. Rejean Beauchemin took the loss for Idaho, stopping 29 of 35 shots.
The Steelheads loaded the bus and hit the road right after the game for West Valley City where they’ll face the Utah Grizzlies on Saturday night. Game time is 7 PM and fans can tune in to the play-by-play call of Doug Plagens on KTIK (1350 AM).
Idaho returns to the Qwest Arena ice Wednesday night, December 9, when they host the Ontario Reign. Tickets are available at the Qwest Arena box office or by calling 208.331.TIXS. Full-season and partial-season ticket plans remain available as well. Contact the Steelheads front office at 208.383.0080 for more information.