recapping the *shellacking* that was Brown @ Princeton (ECAC Hockey playoff round 1/game 2)/*tons* more retail headlines/nostalgia

...well, Princeton absolutely hammered Brown Friday night, 8-2, in game 1 of a possible 3 (best-of-3 games, so first team to 2 wins moves on to the next round; also, "full disclosure" - I wasn't there myself 'cause of the nasty weather around here that night), so all Princeton needed to do last night (Saturday), in game 2, was win by any margin in order to move on out of the first round, and into the second round, of this season's/(calendar) year's ECAC Hockey conference tournament!

The beginning of the game, ironically, after the rout the previous night, almost seemed like a "feeling-out" period, in a sense, with Princeton seemingly getting the majority of the scoring chances, along with only a pair of Brown penalties early in the frame, although Princeton getting the game's first goal with just barely under a minute remaining in the period (like, 59.6 seconds remaining-close to a minute) very much ended up setting the stage for the rest of the game, when all the "formalities" between the teams suddenly ended, and in dramatic fashion for the rest of the game!

Once the second period started, Princeton added to the lone goal of the opening 20 minutes with another tally about three minutes in, followed by another only about another minute and a half after that goal, to open up a multiple-goal lead, and, honestly, by then, the game already seemed like it was over, as the penalty boxes started overflowing with players, and it seemed like all Brown could suddenly do was start some "extracurricular activities" after quite a few of the whistles that period - while Brown kept doing things after all the whistles, though, Princeton kept doing things between them, stretching its lead to 4-0 after all the penalties and "scrums" had been sorted out earlier in the period, and once again got a goal with under a minute remaining in the period to end the middle 20 minutes of play with a staggering 5-0 lead, which would only grow afterward, much to the regret, surely, of the Brown coaching staff and players!

The final 20 minutes of a game that Princeton had suddenly broken open in devastating fashion contained Princeton's only "penalty kill" situation of the game, during which Brown finally converted something into what would end up being the team's only goal of game 2, and just its third between both games, although by then, Brown looked like it was already looking to just hop aboard the return bus back to downtown Providence, RI, but, unfortunately, there were still a few more merciful minutes left in the team's 8W-19L-4T 2017-18 season, during which Princeton added yet another pair of goals even after that, to take game 2, 7-1, and the "mini" series, two games to none, outscoring Brown in the process, 15-3, between each night's games! With the win, Princeton awaited the results across the rest of the ECAC 1st playoff round (in which Quinnipiac took both games @ Yale, 5-1 and 4-1, while Colgate defeated RPI, and Dartmouth topped St. Lawrence, respectively, in a pair of decisive game 3 match-ups) to determine which teams the top 4 - Cornell, then Union, Clarkson, and, finally, Harvard - would end up facing next weekend!

I'm sure you already know what's up with me for the rest of this month: possibly Air Force @ Army in the Atlantic Hockey conference's 2nd round of its playoff tournament, and definitely the 45th annual FDNY-NYPD game @ MSG, followed by the NCAA East Regional final in CT later that night, where the winner will advance to the NCAA "Frozen Four" in Minneapolis, MN; I will tell you, however, that I'm (once again) sort of considering taking in some of the St. Patrick's Day "festivities" somewhere around here in the N.Y.C. area, although I'm sure you remember what happened with those plans this time last year, so I won't definitely tell you anything about that just yet!

box score

all of Princeton's many goals

the lone anything for the Brown U. Bears on the night

...retail headlines now:

Aldi and Kohl's have been said to be joining forces;

7-Eleven is set to take over gas stations from Sunoco;

Fresh Market is set to leave Missouri soon;

even strong 4Q financial results couldn't entirely help Macy*s "bottom line";

Dollar General, meanwhile, is too busy defying the "retail apocalypse" to care about other retail companies' recent financial performances;

a Charlotte, NC mall re-thinking its expansion plans;

British appliance/electronics retailer Maplin just declared the British equivalent of bankruptcy, with private equity "short-selling" possibly being to blame there; also, in a "double whammy" for British retail, the British division of Toys "R" Us also announced its own shutdown;

new supermarkets currently being built in the Fort Wayne, IN region; speaking of IN, one of the earliest malls there is set to close soon/reactions/timeline;

Best Buy Mobile just deactivated its service;

Target has adapted to change much faster than most of the retail industry;

Foot Locker set to close 100 locations, leading to speculation about "the beginning of the end" of the (remnants of the) former longtime Woolworth company;

some people unfortunately think malls are their own personal "babysitters";

...old retail commercials now:

mattresses at Abraham & Straus department stores (later merged with Macy*s), 1960s;

Kmart's "grand opening" of a location somewhere in GA, 1970;

long before Walmart was the "king" of retail, it held "toy shows", such as this from 1977;

A&S "stock-up sale", late 1970s;

want some truly "homemade" ice cream? (1978);

the "grand re-opening" of Zayre discount department stores' 20 Boston-area locations, 1978;

A&P promotes its Chicago-area stores/says "you'll do better" with S&H Green Stamps, 1981;

Alexander's department stores promoting what we now know as "Presidents' Day", which was separated into celebrations of individual Presidents, sometime in the 1980s;

Target's "Dollar Days" (which seemed more like a shot at Woolco/Woolworth than anything else, if you ask me...), 1978/L.A.-area grand opening #19, 1982-83/"home sale", 1984;

Consumers Distributing, late 1970s/Service Merchandise's 50th anniversary sale, 1934-84;

Channel Home Centers price-matching light bulbs, 1988;

speaking of Woolworth's "Dollar Days", here now is a pair of those commercials (1989);

Best Buy promoting Packard Bell desktop computers for businesses, 1991;

"Nobody Beats The Wiz" right before Election Day 1992;

what might very well have been a Caldor Christmas ad, given the timing, 1997;

DirecTV @ Circuit City, 1997/50th anniversary sale, 1999;

Bradlees "One-Day Sale", which makes me think that that was where Macy*s got that idea, 1998 (only 15 seconds in length)

DirecTV @ P.C. Richard & Son, which was celebrating its 90th in 1999;

Montgomery Ward's last-ever "regular" sale (featuring pre-baseball steroid scandal Sammy Sosa)/$1,000,000 giveaway (featuring Regis Philbin), 2000;

Clover discount department stores' "sweater sale", 1987;

Fortunoff commercials 1 (china/other "table furnishings"), 2 (featuring a "cameo" from a gum ball machine, of all items for a department store to sell), 3 ("bed/window coverings" - blinds; curtains; linens; pillows; sheets; etc.), late 1970s(?)

Gold Circle's "around the clock hours" 20-50% off sale, 1986, Cincinnati, OH area;

Hudson's department stores (Detroit, MI area), late 1960s;'

JCPenney/MCS Stereo audio receivers, 1977;

Levitz Furniture's "March madness" sale, 1996;

Rich's department stores (Atlanta, GA area), 1967 100th anniversary celebration 1, 2;

Seaman's Furniture's "$100 weekend sofa spectacular", 1985;

Craftsman lawnmowers @ Sears, 1971;

Silo electronics stores - 1985, '86, '87, '88