ALLOKAGO:
I'm going to be straight here: mathematically, I believe the Crunch is technically still in the playoff race. I'm sure there's some guy somewhere who can crunch the numbers in such a way that our team, with the third lowest point total in the AHL, would still be in that hunt. But, for many of us, games right now are a chance to kick back, relax, hang out with our friends, and maybe, just maybe, have something to cheer about.
Thanks to Brian "Fluffy" McGrattan, we actually have that whole "something to cheer about" again.
(My ladies came up with the Fluffy nickname, by the way, from that Citibank Big Boy commercial. Again, the things we do to keep ourselves entertained...)
This isn't going to be very long today, because I really only have Fluffy to talk about. So, here are the reasons Crunch fans are smiling today:
--Fluffy has played in five games for the Crunch since being traded here.
--Fluffy has four goals in those five games.
--Fluffy has no fights in those five games, but that's okay. I think we'd all rather have him on the ice as much as possible at this point.
--Fluffy scored twice last night, and one of those goals was an absolutely gorgeous breakaway.
--Fluffy now has the franchise record for shots on goal in a single game with 13, which broke David Ling's record of 12. That record was set in 2001-02. By the way, that shot total was more than the team has managed, as a whole, in some games this season.
--Fluffy has even managed to nab some time our on fledgling PP unit, which means I now get to call that group the Fluffy Donkey unit. I've nicknamed another player who gets heavy PP time Donkey, because, in profile, he looks like one. No, you cannot know who it is. Weirdly, his face only looks like a donkey from the side.
--The Crunch won four games in a row between last weekend and this past weekend, in part due to Fluffy's contributions. That marked a season-high winning streak, something we hoped to see continued Sunday when the Crunch played at Albany. Alas, it was not to be. Fluffy's scoring streak, however, continued, as he had the lone Crunch goal in the 4-1 loss to the Baby Devils.
In conclusion: THREE CHEERS FOR FLUFFY!