The Unofficial Web Site caught up with former Trenton Titans fan favorite Jed Whitchurch in New Orleans ! Although he will always be at least somewhat disappointed over his trade from the Trenton Titans, Jed Whitchurch is very happy with his new beginning as a member of the New Orleans Brass. The February 8th trade, while a bit shocking, certainly didn't come as a complete surprise to the loyal Titans center. It was obvious that Titans Head Coach Troy Ward didn't view Whitchurch as a perfect fit for his system, and it had been made well-known by Ward and General Manager Brian McKenna that anyone on the roster was expendable. The most agonizing part of Troy Ward's long-winded farewell for Jed was waiting to learn which ECHL market he was exiled to. Whether it was a goodwill gesture to the man who served the City of Trenton so well for 1 2/3 seasons, or just the luck of the draw, New Orleans ranks pretty high on the list of ECHL destinations. Although Jed misses his former teammates and the great fans back in New Jersey (and of course, Pennsylvania), he is genuinely happy with the opportunity in Louisiana. He is very pleased with the Brass organization, his new Head Coach (Ted Sator), his new teammates, his new arena (New Orleans Arena), his new living and training facilities, and yes - the proximity of good golf courses.

Ten days after Jed's trade to New Orleans, a small group of loyal fans made the long road trip south from Trenton to catch up with him when the Brass visited the Charlotte Checkers. Superfans Pam Bloom, Barbara Bloom, Bernie Haney, and Sue Haney were there to support Jed and give him a better send off than time permitted in Trenton. Jed was very appreciative of their visit, the cards they bore, and the deluge of mail he receives in New Orleans from the fans up north. The strong fan support has helped to ease his transition from Trenton to New Orleans. Last week, The Unofficial Web Site (i.e. - Jim and Jo Ann Tupper) launched an eastward-bound road trip from our homebase in Texas to New Orleans to visit Jed (a journey similar in distance to the trek from Trenton to Charlotte). Jo Ann and I arrived in New Orleans on Thursday, March 15th - our first trip to The Big Easy. While our visit was dubbed "The Unofficial Road Trip", sanity prevailed and we flew in rather than drive 8-9 hours each way from our home in Texas. Although we were in town in time for that evening's Brass game against the pesky Tallahassee Tiger Sharks, we had made the decision to attend only Saturday night's game against the Baton Rouge Kingfish, in order to have an adequate opportunity to see the city too. Little did we know, we chose the wrong game.

While we were strolling the streets of Vieux Carre (aka the French Quarter), Jed Whitchurch and the Brass were taking care of business a few blocks away at the New Orleans Arena! The next morning, I quickly retrieved a copy of the New Orleans Times-Picayune and flipped to page 2 of the sports section. To my delight, the headline read "Whitchurch's goal lifts N.O."! Rather than discuss our encounter with Hurricanes at Pat O'Brien's or the debauchery known as Bourbon Street, I'll provide the recap of what we missed. The Brass opened the scoring at the 9:10 mark of the 1st period on a Kevin Colley shorthanded goal, but the visiting Tiger Sharks converted on the same power play 14 seconds later to tie the game. Midway through the 2nd period, Jed Whitchurch and Sean Peach set up Denis Timofeev for a 2-1 Brass lead. A game-tying Tallahassee tally at 15:13 was answered 36 seconds later by Bryan Forslund for a 3-2 New Orleans advantage heading into the 3rd period.

In the opening minutes of the final frame, with a 3-2 lead on a 4-on-4, Jed Whitchurch had the perfect opportunity for an insurance goal. A half-empty net was calling his name but Tiger Sharks netminder Alex Fomitchev (affectionately referred to as VomitChef by some Brass fans) came through with the stick save. Moments later, Tallahassee's Olivier Morin knotted the game at 3-3 with a power play goal. Jed felt that he had let his teammates and fans down; he was determined to redeem himself. At the 5:48 mark of the 3rd period, that's exactly what Jed Whitchurch did! Oleg Timchenko and Ryan Fultz fed the puck to Jed, he spun, fired, and to quote famous New Orleans chef Emeril Lagasse: BAM! The goal would stand as Jed's first game-winner in a Brass uniform as New Orleans dismissed the Tiger Sharks 4-3! Goalie Ron Vogel worked his butt off for the Brass, stopping 42 of 45 shots for the victory, but it would come back to haunt the Brass as the weekend wore on.

On Friday, while Jo Ann and I celebrated her birthday with lunch at Emeril's, the Brass headed to Mississippi for a road game against the Jackson Bandits. New Orleans rallied back from a 2-0 deficit 17 seconds into the 2nd period to claim a 4-3 lead heading into the 3rd. However, the Bandits weren't about to surrender, posting a pair of goals in the opening minutes of the 3rd period to turn the tables on the Brass. At the 7:28 mark, New Orlean's Kevin Colley lit the lantern for a hat trick, tying the game 5-5. All three of his goals were set up by former Titan Adam Edinger. The stalemate lasted through the remaining 12 1/2 minutes of regulation and 5 minutes of overtime, but the Bandits robbed the Brass in the shootout for a 6-5 victory. With fellow netminder Alexei Volkov out with an injury, Ron Vogel was forced to face another 38 shots in 65 minutes of work, not including the shootout.

The 'Big Game' on Saturday was a bit anticlimatic. We arrived at New Orleans Arena after taking in some local history with a tour of the Oak Alley and Laura Plantations (a great contrast providing two distinctly different views of Louisiana's past). Our seats for the game were absolutely wonderful, just five rows behind the New Orleans Brass bench (thank you Ticketmaster, yet again)! Unfortunately, the outcome of the game wasn't quite as nice. Playing in their third game in three days and down a goalie, the New Orleans Brass fell to the well-rested Baton Rouge Kingfish 5-2. The game was a stinker for the exhausted Brass, who fell behind 2-0 in the opening period. The Brass outshot the Kingfish 13-8 in the 2nd period, but each team scored once so Baton Rouge maintained their 2-goal lead. The Kingfish added a pair of goals in the final frame before New Orleans scored again for a 5-2 final. The loss was certainly not due to any lack of effort from Jed, who played well throughout the game. After Ward's treatment of Jed in Trenton, it was great to see him skating regular shifts for the entire game. I even got to see him splatter an opponent against the boards. While the score of the game was disappointing, the venue was rather impressive. The two-year-old NHL-ready New Orleans Arena seats 17,500 for hockey and sits right beside the Louisiana Superdome (home of the New Orleans Saints). It is conveniently located within walking distance just northwest of New Orleans' famed French Quarter. New Orleans Arena rivals Sovereign Bank Arena in class while dwarfing it in size.

Okay, enough about arenas. During the 1st intermission of Saturday's game, Jo Ann and I finally had the opportunity to meet Danielle Iles, Jed's wonderful fiancee. As most Titan fans know, Danielle and Jed will be getting married on July 7th, just a few months away. Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting them knows that they make a truly great couple! We had the chance to spend a little bit of time with them after Saturday's game to conclude our Unofficial Road Trip. Jed and Danielle stressed how happy they were with the way things turned out in New Orleans, and look forward to the future (as Mr. and Mrs. Jed Whitchurch, of course). Jed has every intention of re-signing with the Brass, but he will see what the next season brings. Is a return to the Trenton Titans possible? While Jed is certainly not one to burn bridges, I would think that the breach of loyalty by the Titans organization would make it very difficult for a player like Jed Whitchurch or Eric Brule to return. As the saying goes: "Once bitten, twice shy." We can always hope that if Mike Haviland takes over as Head Coach next season that maybe they'll try to bring Jed back, but what is best for the fans isn't necessarily best for the player. What Jed and Danielle need is stability and commitment from a hockey team, and it appears that the New Orleans Brass intend to provide it. Whatever happens, Jed's fans will be there in spirit even if we can't always be there in person!

For those of you looking for anecdotes like the ones that peppered last year's Unofficial Memoir of the Unofficial Visit, I'll throw in a few. Arranging our travel plans for New Orleans were only slightly less chaotic than last year's trip, but I'll skip the monotonous details. My Jed Whitchurch victory streak (2-0 last year) came to a screaching halt with the 5-2 loss against the Kingfish. My puck catching/fetching streak also came to an end, but with a near miss. Of all the players, it was Jed Whitchurch's shot around the boards that rolled over the glass and landed just two seats in front of me. So close, yet, so far. The final streak that basically came to an end was bringing a hockey stick on an airplane as a carry-on item. Jed gave me a hockey stick autographed by members of the New Orleans Brass to compliment the one with Titans autographs that I received last year. On the first leg of our Southwest Airlines flight home, the flight attendant needed only mild persuasion to allow the stick onboard. Since the Southwest Airlines plane lacked the coat closet that served so well last year, the flight attendant stowed the stick under the windows along side of the back few rows of seats. I was silly to think that the same location would suffice on the second leg of our flight. Nope. I didn't even make it past the gate agent the second time around. The gate agent and his supervisor were quite adamant that hockey sticks (golf clubs, fishing poles, yada yada) were no longer allowed as carry-on items despite my previous success. After they tagged the stick and sent it off to join the luggage (shudder), another Southwest employee paged me on the plane and told me that she would personally see to it that the autographed stick would come to no harm (not that luggage is ever damaged or anything). She kept her word and reunited me with the stick as soon as everyone deplaned.

Well, that concludes my account of The Unofficial Road Trip. Thank you again Jed and Danielle! I've posted a collection of photos from the trip (link below), strictly amateur hour though. The photos are a bit clearer if you right click to view the larger image. Notice my knack for blinking at exactly the wrong time. You can continue to keep track of Jed Whitchurch with our special tribute section.