Solar Bears fall flat early during ‘breakfast’ defeat
Makenzie Moore came to cheer.
The purple in her hair matched the color of the foam puck on her head and the pompom in her hand. Moore, a freshman at Lyman High School, wore an Orlando Solar Bears jersey to signify her allegiance further.
Watching her favorite hockey team beat her preferred activity on most Sunday mornings.
“Sleeping,’’ Makenzie said, playfully rolling her eyes that were behind a pair of dark-rimmed glasses and above some of the team’s eye black.
It was not a typical game day for Central Florida’s ECHL franchise. The puck dropped for the Solar Bears’ 6-5 loss to the Wheeling Nailers at 9:30 a.m. because of the Orlando Magic’s game Saturday night and a Latin music concert Sunday night at Amway Center.
Makenzie attended the game with her father, Jason, and a family friend, David Mitchell. The announced attendance was 3,731, but the actual crowd was considerably smaller.
Fans saw the Solar Bears (21-22-5-1, 48 points) surrender three goals to the Nailers (27-20-4-0, 58 points) in the first 12 minutes, 15 seconds and never recover. The loss left Drake Berehowsky with 80 career victories as the Solar Bears’ coach, tied with Vince Williams for the most since the franchise joined the ECHL in 2012.
“I’m proud that they fought back at the end, but we’ve got to be more prepared to start games,’’ Berehowsky said.
Joe Perry scored twice, Chris Crane added a goal and two assists and Kyle Rankin contributed three assists for Orlando, which will host Wheeling at 7 tonight.
“We came out a little sluggish maybe because of the early start time,’’ Perry said. “I’m not sure, but that’s something we can’t afford to happen. We lost that game because of our slow start.’’
The Solar Bears billed the brunchtime game as “Breakfast with the Bears.’’ Fans were not affected by the early wakeup call.
“I’m happy to be here,’’ Jason Moore said. “She’s really happy to be here.’’
Troy Ouellette came with his 5-year-old daughter, Chloe, and her grandfather, John Murphy.
“I’m from Canada, so we watch hockey anytime,’’ said Ouellette, who lives in Orlando. “If you’re a true hockey fan, you’ve got to come to every game, even if they’re at 9:30 in the morning. We get our coffee, get our breakfast and here we are.
“It’s a different feel because you don’t have the same atmosphere in the mornings that you would in the evenings.’’
Joshua Steele of Winter Garden said his sons, Josiah and Elijah, probably would be playing video games if the Solar Bears didn’t get them out of the house.
Steele estimated this was the eighth or ninth game he has attended this season.
“We were planning on doing it for a while, so it wasn’t that big of a deal [to get up early],’’ Steele said. “[It’s just] getting down here and watching hockey.’’
As for Makenzie, she said she was most excited to see the fights, but no fisticuffs occurred. Makenzie, though, came away with something more valuable.
While she watched the Solar Bears warm up, taking pictures and calling out names, her face became animated. She was even more thrilled when Solar Bears right wing Darryl Bootland tossed her a puck as he returned to the locker room.
It was the first one she ever has received.
“I love hockey,’’ Makenzie said.
Some things are worth losing sleep over.