Lynx long night to be remembered

It was no ordinary night at James Brown Arena, but it was a long one.

The Augusta Lynx wrapped up their third home game in three nights with a 4-1 win over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Saturday. Louis Goulet and Aaron Slattengren scored in the first period, while Geoff Peters and Matt Auffrey put the game away with goals in the third period.

It all came on a night when the Lynx jumped from a tie for fourth in the ECHL's South Division standings to sole possession of third place.

But all of that fine hockey will be nothing more than an afterthought for most of the reported 2,824 fans who showed up at James Brown Arena for a game originally scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. start. Thanks to a pesky problem with the ice, the game didn't actually begin until 9:13 p.m.

It all stemmed back to the first intermission of Friday's home game against the Florida Everblades. It was then that a problem with a relatively small section of ice turned into a major headache. A broken pipe beneath the surface of the ice was the culprit, and it delayed the start of the second period on Friday by almost a half hour.

The pipe was fixed sometime in the early hours of Saturday morning but not before 18 square feet of ice was removed to do it. By the time the repairs were made and the ice replaced, it was 5 p.m. and that's when it became clear that the big patch of slush would become a big problem.

It led to one of the longest nights in Lynx history, and here’s how it all played out:

6:05 p.m. Just as the doors and early-arriving fans began to find their seats, Lynx co-owner and general manager Dan Troutman announced that the start to the game would be pushed back to 7:35 p.m. Soon after, the start was pushed back another half hour to 8:05 p.m.

7:35 p.m. The Lynx and Sea Wolves came out onto the ice for their regular pregame warm ups. That’s as far as they got. The officiating crew, led by referee Jason Rollins, inspected the ice and discussed the problem with each team’s Professional Hockey Players Association’s player representative.

“We were just looking at the safety of it,” defenseman Ken Scuderi, the PHPA player rep for the Lynx, said. “We wanted to see if it could hold up for three periods.”

At that time, the decision was made to delay the game further, and both teams were sent back to their locker rooms.

7:35-9 p.m. The Lynx staff emptied the promo closets. Hats, t-shirts, retractable signs, discs and just about anything else with a Lynx logo on it was tossed into the crowd as upbeat music and clips from popular movies and television shows played on the big screens. It was all in an effort to keep the fans in their seats, and it appeared to work well.

8:58 p.m. As the two-hour mark approached in the delay, the fans began to get restless. A “drop that puck” chant began somewhere in the cheap seats and spread like cracked ice (OK, bad example). Soon, all of James Brown Arena was echoing with the demanding chant.

9:01 p.m. Finally, the announcement came over the loudspeaker. Hockey will be played. The fans were nearly as excited as they were shocked.

9:03 p.m. The Lynx and Sea Wolves returned to the ice for their second pregame warm up of the night. The Sea Wolves tested the patch of questionable ice repeatedly, and it seemed to hold up well.

9:13 p.m. The opening face off finally took place and, after a two-hour and eight-minute delay, the game began.

9:18 p.m. With less than 75 seconds off the game clock, the patch of vulnerable ice became ground zero for a fight between Lynx forward Jeremy Schenderling and Sea Wolves defenseman Chris Cava. Both fighters landed a few hard punches to the delight of the crowd. Cava ended up in the penalty box while Schenderling headed for the locker room with a bloody cut above his eye. Both received five-minute majors for fighting.

 9:41 p.m. After a multiple-hour delay, most of the 2,824 fans actually stayed to watch the game. Then an announcement came over the loudspeaker that nearly cleared the arena. As a thank you to the fans, everyone received free soft drinks at the concession stands for the rest of the night.

10:05 p.m. The second period began with the Lynx leading 2-1. Goulet scored on an unassisted goal with 13:51 left in the first period. Slattengren deflected a pass by Brian Yandle from point for the second score with less than 30 seconds left.

10:51 p.m. The third period began with the same score.

11:26 p.m. The game finally ended. The Lynx added a pair of goals in the third period on a short-handed goal from Peters and an Auffrey score for a 4-1 win that, coupled with South Carolina and Florida losses, improved the home team to third place in the ECHL’s South Division standings.

11:27 p.m. The Lynx began to head to the locker room, but then turned as a team and headed back to center ice. They collectively banged their sticks and waved to the fans as a thank you. The delay lasted two hours and eight minutes. The game took two hours and 13 minutes. Still, it appeared at least 1,000 fans stayed ‘til the end.

“That was unbelievable,” Lynx head coach Bob Ferguson said. “The fact that they stuck around all that time was amazing. It’s not the warmest place to wait around, but I know the players were appreciative.”

There are professional teams that rarely see that kind of loyalty from a fan base. Lynx fans should be proud of themselves for standing by their team.

With all the ice problems, they could have easily given the Lynx the cold shoulder.