By ROB TANENBAUM Courier-Post Staff
PHILADELPHIA – The Wings make you think winning is the worst thing that ever happened to them.
They get a hangover from winning like Ray Millan never suffered through in a thousand “Lost Weekends”.
They stop hitting; they stop scoring and they start complaining.
The Rochester Griffins don’t suffer from such paradoxical psychosis. They enjoyed beating the Wings, 15-12, in the first game of the Nations Trophy finals Thursday night in the Spectrum. And they’re planning on repeating in Game No. 2 Saturday afternoon here.
Twice this season, the Wings got up for essential regular season games against the Griffins. Twice they won. But twice they fell on their collective faces to less worthy opponents in the next game.
The Wings last game before Thursday night was a physical, emotional victory over the Maryland Arrows to clinch the playoff semifinals. 4-2
True to form. Philadelphia came out slapping the next time out
Within 19 seconds the Griffins had a 1-0 lead on a Kevin Parsons’ goal. Within one period, the Wings were behind 8-3. The game was virtually over; the teams began to wonder what it would be like to play their next game in the unaccustomed time period called afternoon.
There was to be no cavalry charge ending in this game. The Wings became famous for them in the Arrows’ series, but Al Gordaneer put a quick end to that.
He scored a hat trick in the second period (four goals in all) and Rochester opened a 1541 margin before going into a defensive shell and letting the Wings climb back to within three.
“We’re playing like we did in the beginning of the season.” said Gordaneer. “We’re fast breaking and making them play our game. As long as we run. I know we can beat them.”
The Wings have to, or should be thinking along the same lines… They’re not!
Goalie Wayne Platt, who usually doesn’t get pulled twice in one game and who usually only drinks a beer after a victory, suffered through both.
“Attitude is 90 per cent of this game.” cried Platt. “You’ve got to psyche yourself up before the game and realize you’re going to hit and get hit.
Nobody around here wanted to tonight and I’m just as good as the 18 guys in front of me.”
Meanwhile, the Wings’ Terry Rowland saw it differently. “We needed a couple of big saves to get us going, but we didn’t get them. “
Time and time again, as the Griffins warned they would, a Rochester man was rambling in alone on Platt or replacement John Hamilton.
They scored almost every time.
“We think we’ve found out why we’ve had so much trouble with Platt.” said Gordaneer. “He’s a lefthanded goalie and earlier in the season we were just shooting everything into his stick. Now we know where his weaknesses are.”
But what was the weakness that kept the league’s highest powered offense from ever threatening Merv Marshall? An illegal zone defense, according to the Wings.
“I’ve played basketball all my life, so I think I have a good background in it.” said Philadelphia’s Larry Lloyd. “So I know a zone when I see one.
They kept two men next to the Wings crease and bumped everyone that came by. Merv Marshall would catch one of our long shots and boom, they had their fastbreak.
“But hell, we should be able to beat a zone anyway.”
Maybe they will; but will they enjoy it?
