Blaze Receive Unprecedented Online Hits !
Following the explosive Saturday night clash between Coventry Blaze and Nottingham Panthers, which saw five players ejected, the Panthers receiving a bench match penalty and with both teams being dismissed to their changing rooms to "cool down", the Blaze footage has received an unprecedented number of views on social networking sites.
Such has been the impact of the footage, filmed by hundreds of fans at the game who posted it on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, the word has spread like wildfire throughout the social networking sites.
The footage on Youtube saw a staggering 30,000 views on Sunday with the club receiving a 300% increase in 'friend requests' from Facebook.
The club's own website, www.coventryblaze.co.uk also saw a massive 200% increase on page views and 100% increase on visitors with over 9,000 page views on Saturday & Sunday alone!
The game exploded in the 28th minute with a bench clearance by both teams which resulted in a lengthy delay and an unbelievable 191 penalty minutes being dished out by referee Tom Darnell.
When the situation calmed down; Coventry duo of forward Brad Cruikshank and goalie Brett Jaeger as well as Nottingham's Guillaume Lepine and Alex Penner were all ejected from the game whilst the Panthers also received a bench match penalty.
If that wasn't enough, when play finally resumed, Blaze then had defenceman Brad Zanon thrown out of the game following an altercation with Panthers forward David Clarke.
Defending Elite League Champions Blaze were leading 1 - 0 at the time of the exchange but doubled their advantage in the 45th minute when Dan Carlson registered his eighth goal of the season. Panthers pulled a goal back with six minutes left with a David Clarke powerplay marker but they could not find an equaliser.
Coventry Blaze Head Coach, Paul Thompson said: "It was an eventful night but the bottom line is we got the win and they are two huge points for us. We already had a big rivalry with Nottingham but it was taken to another level on Saturday."
Extended highlights of the game including the bench clearance can be found on Blaze TV Channel 1 or click on http://bbc.in/hlxi0A
Meanwhile, Coventry Blaze coach Paul Thompson has confirmed American centre Dan Carlson will take over as captain in Jonathan Weaver's absence.
Blaze are next in action at the Skydome this Saturday (11th) against the Hull Stingrays. Face-off at 7pm. Tickets are available from the Skydome box office on 024 76 630 693