Given that they have yet to compete their first ECHL season, it might be too early to definitively say which is the toughest road building for the Newfoundlander Growlers.
But if you were pressed to make a choice, you’d probably do well to point to the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, N.Y., home of the Adirondack Thunder.
In three games there, the Growlers are 0-3 and have been outscored 12-2 in the process. That includes a 4-1 loss in their latest visit to Glens Falls Friday night, when Newfoundland opened up what will be a six-game road tip.
The Thunder struck early Friday, getting a goal from Conor Riley just 130 seconds after the opening faceoff, and never looked back. Adirondack led the rest of the way against a Newfoundland side that had difficulty with its starting motor; the Growlers had just four shots in the opening period.
Josh Kestner had the only goal for Newfoundland (39-18-4), which still leads the North Division by 11 points over Adirondack (32-22-8). But the Growlers have hit a bit of a rough patch, going winless in their last three games (0-2-1).
They’ll look to get back to their winning ways in a rematch with the Thunder tonight in their last opportunity to come away with a regular-season win in Glens Falls. It’s part of a three-on-three weekend that finishes with a Sunday afternoon contest in Portland, Me., against the Maine Mariners.
Dog Bites
Eamon McAdam faced 34 shots in the Newfoundland net Friday, while his teammates sent 31 shots in the direction of former Brandon Wheat King Logan Thompson … The Growlers signed forwards Adam Dauda and Matthew Whitaker to amateur tryout contracts Friday and both made their pro debuts against the Thunder. Dauda is a Slovakian who played for the last four years at Colgate University, while Whittaker is a Toronto native who just finished up his collegiate career at Mercyhurst University In Erie, Pa. … Cory Dunn, a defenceman recently signed to an ATO out of the university ranks, has been inked to a standard ECHL contract by Newfoundland ... The Growlers placed captain James Melindy and top-scoring rookie Marcus Power on the team’s reserve list before the game and activated rearguard Ilya Nekolenko …
