The Moose were looking to build on a successful end to their road trip which saw them take two of the final three games including the last one in Chicago against the Wolves they were playing this morning in the first home school day game in conjunction with Project 11. Ace Burpee who is a big mental health advocate was present along with 5000+ kids inside CLC as they got away from school and had a chance to sing along to every song played during the commercial timeouts. Regardless of score you always know the kids will bring the energy.
Lineup news:
No surprises in the lineup today after practice on Wednesday. Kappo Kahkonen would get his second straight start.
Lines & D pairs:
AJF -Lambert – JAD
Suess – Toninato – Ford
Shaw – King – Chibrikov
Liwiski -Conley – Empey
Heinola – Lundmark
Sautner – Salomonsson
Anhorn – Bauer
Kahkonen
Notable:
Ville Heinola made his 2024-25 debut after recovering from ankle surgery. He played his first game in about seven months (April 25th) when Manitoba was eliminated by Texas in the play-in series last AHL playoffs.
After a good start by Manitoba they gave up two goals in 22 seconds to give Chicago a 2-0 lead early in the 1st.
Former Jets/Moose forward Brendan Lemieux got caught with a big hit that knocked the wind out of him. He would leave the game shortly thereafter and did not return.
The Wolves might have the most NHL connected players on a team I’ve ever seen as during the game I counted four players whose dad’s played in the NHL and two others whose brothers currently play in the NHL. And I even missed one guy whose uncle played a handful of games with the Flames.
One positive for the Moose is Ville Heinola played almost every second shift during the 1st period as he works on his conditioning during this game and the next one before getting recalled to the Jets.
The home team just didn’t have it today. One of the best chances in the middle frame for the Moose was this one by Brad Lambert who created some space for himself but who fired it wide.
Kids may have no clue what’s going on in the game but they know the lyrics to every single song that’s played between whistle.
No clue how this stayed out of the net. I’m not sure Kappo Kahkonen knows either.
Kids go from screaming for blood to singing Taylor Swift. Love these school day games.
For those curious I’d say Ville Heinola got out of the game what he needed but he doesn’t look like his usual self quite yet. Again that’s what a seven month layoff from playing games will do to you. So it should come really as no surprise.
In the end the Moose gave up another goal in the middle frame and two more in the final one to drop this contest 5-0. With the loss Manitoba falls to 5-9-0 which ties them with Rockford for last in the Central. Good news is they are just one point back of 4th place Iowa/Chicago.
Multi-point game:
None.
Highlights:
Post-game interviews:
Up next:
The Moose will conclude this three-game mini series with the Wolves on Saturday afternoon at 2 PM CST.
After two games with the Moose the Finnish defender heads back up to the Jets.
The Jets lost a top-four defenceman in a 4-1 loss to the Preds.
Keeping you up-to-date with all the latest pro hockey news in Manitoba.
Tough news about the 2nd pairing left side defender.