A rough start (Burnt Hills vs. LaSalle @ Frear Park, 2/16/21)

 Today's matinee between Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake-Ballston Spa and homestanding LaSalle was the 4th game in 5 days for the Spartan Scotties, so you'd think the Cadets, playing their first game of the season, would be fresh and ready.

And they say perception is reality.

Scheduled for a 12:20 pm start, the game was delayed by about 15 minutes. One must assume this is because the Spartan Scotties were late arriving due to the inclement weather that hit the 518 this morning. Also, this was the first time that LaSalle was trying out its live-stream for their YouTube channel at a live event, as almost every Section II school will live-stream this season with fans not allowed to attend games. Couple that with this week being winter recess, and there were bound to be some issues with the feed.

And so there were, but we'll talk about that later.

In addition to the lack of fans due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Frear Park Arena, LaSalle's temporary home rink, doesn't have a PA system at present, so LaSalle may be forced to supply their own PA, and they would need it no sooner than their next home game on Friday vs. Albany Academy.

But, we're getting ahead of ourselves just a wee bit.

While game stats for the Cadets are not available at press time, for all the preparation that they underwent over the last few days, there were still the defensive breakdowns that plagued them last season. Kevin Cullen took advantage of that to score two goals. Antonio Rosetti had the other, and Burnt Hills won its second straight game, even though this was billed as a non-league match, 3-0.

Teams in the Capital District High School Hockey League (CDHSHL) are using a model similar to the NHL in that home & home series are being scheduled closer together than in past years. To that end, the Cadets will begin a 2 game series with Albany Academy tomorrow night on the road before returning to Frear Park for the conclusion of the Battle of The Cadets 2021 on Friday. Puck drop on Friday will be at 3:50 pm.

As for LaSalle's YouTube feed, there were a few rough patches here & there, but that's to be expected when you are doing this for the first time.

One odd quirk this season, again likely due to COVID, is that there is only one intermission when the teams return to their locker rooms. The game officials called for intermission with 6:35 left in the 2nd period, even though the game clock remains the same (15 minutes per period). This is bound to confuse some fans tuning into the live-stream, accustomed to two intermissions per game. The teams will meet at their benches between periods for about a minute or two before play resumes. This, we shall assume, is just for this season, or at least until the pandemic has run its course, whichever comes first.

We'll take this opportunity to also note that LaSalle's basketball game at Catholic Central has been postponed for tonight due to weather issues. No make up date has been set as of press time.