It wasn't a pretty night for the Hurricanes Friday at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge.
Things didn't start out too well for the home team either. The game was barely 13 minutes old and the Kootenay Ice had jumped out a to 3-0 lead on just 7 shots. That ended the night for Canes' goaltender Ville Kolppanen who did not have a good start between the pipes. Shortly after the goaltending change, the Canes' would get their first of the night when Marc Reners ripped a shot off the crossbar for his second goal of the year. Kootenay got that one back with less than a minute to go to take a 4-1 lead into the dressing room after one. Ice forward Joe Antilla had a heck of an opening 20 minutes, scoring three goals to lead the way for the visitors. There was also a fight in the first, as Brennan Yadlowski dropped the gloves with Kootenay's Matt Fraser. The shots were 13-12 Canes'.
Things didn't get much better for Lethbridge in the 2nd. The Ice notched three more to take a commanding 7-2 lead after 40 minutes. One of those goals was a strange one when Jesse Ismond shot the puck from the far corner behind the goal line and banked one off the back of goalie Brandon Anderson. The Hurricanes got a late goal, when Graham Hood scored with 2 seconds to go to cut the lead to 5. There was scrap in the second period too when Mike Reddington fought with Brendan Hurley.
In the final period, the Ice would add insult to injury scoring once more late in the 3rd to win the game easily 8-2. It wasn't like the Hurricanes didn't have their chances in this one. The shots were fairly close 38-27 Kootenay. The problem for Lethbridge had to do with too many giveaways. That cost them a few times last night and then there were the penalties. The Kootenay power play was very good going 3 for 8 on the night. The Canes' were 0 for 4. Antilla was the game's first star with a hatrick on the night. Overall, it just wasn't the Hurricanes evening. They got behind the eight ball early and couldn't find their way back. Plain and simple. Kudos to the Ice. They smelled blood and kept coming at the Hurricanes all night long. They certainly didn't dominate the game, but they sure did take advantage of their chances, especially on the power play.
I talked with Captain Carter Bancks before the game last night. Bancks says despite the team's record, this is "without a doubt the tightest group he's ever been with". He admits it's been frustrating at times, given some of the very close losses, but no one is packing things in. Bancks says everyone is motivated, now they have to start putting together some victories. He says the players are determined and committed to start climbing up in the standings.
Head Coach/GM Rich Preston told us on our CJOC pre-game show last night that Linden Rowat will be back after the Christmas break. Rowat has been given the green light now to practice when the team gets back together on Boxing Day. He's been off since October with torn ligaments in his foot. It's an injury that's kept Rowat out of the Hurricanes line-up for a lot longer than he or the team had hoped. Once he's back though, it should make for an interesting goaltending situation with Rowat, Anderson, and Kolppanen. Decisions, decisions, decisions!
The Hurricanes play the Ice again tonight, this time in Cranbrook. Game time is 7 o'clock. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.
Thanks,
Pat
The views expressed on this blog are those of the moderator and contributors and are not endorsed by 94.1 CJOC or the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
I guess the loss was so shocking everybody is out of bad comments to make.
ReplyDeleteWell the loss spoke for itself and it could get ugly with Sbisa gone to the WJR"s.
ReplyDeleteOne observation from last night's game. In all the WHL games I have seen over the years, I have never seen all 4 officials get in the way of the play as much as they did last night. It had no bearing on the game's outcome, but it seemed everywhere the puck was, there was an official in the way.
RJ
Good point about the incidental contact, very true. Hope the linesman's neck is ok!... But speaking of officiating that was "in the way" and that certainly did affect the outcome...
ReplyDeleteI want to know how this guy keeps his job. Savage-the-Narcissistic was in fine show-stopping form in this contest.
When will someone inform this guy that NOBODY comes to games to WATCH HIM! He had this one decided by his poor decisions by the end of the first period.
The call on Yadlowski for goaltender interference when the Kootenay tender was out of the crease to the circles to make a stop in the first was disgraceful. How he decided that Yadlowski had intent to injur on that play was brilliant. Even more disgraceful was the absence of an instigator call when Fraser confronted Yadlowski to fight as a direct result of the collision on the tender. If a team cheats against you, and you take the matter into your own hands on the ice, YOU LOSE THE MAN ADVANTAGE YOU WERE ENTITLED TO!
The next phantom look-at-me (ridiculous) call was the "slash" call on Bancks as he drove to the net in the first. What did he slash, the goaltenders PADS as he tried from his knees to push the puck into the net? I talked with a number of people after the game who were sitting in section G closest to the play - All furrowed eyebrows on that one; that one should not have been called.
A blown non-call was the obvious trip which sent Canes player (Yadlowski, I believe) to the ice while the Canes were generating some momentum of their own while already on a man advantage. In a game where the powerplays awarded were 4 vs 8 against the Canes, Savage really needed to make amends for previous poor decisions by making that call.
What makes Savage such a lousy referree is that he is the most INCONSISTENT one. Call all of it, or call none of it, make a choice! Offences that mean nothing, that are marginal, that happen all the time and all over the ice all game, he picks three out of ten to call, often against the same team, and that generates momentum which teams are not deserving of.
When calls are made on minor offenses that do not lead to scoring chances or prevent scoring chances, or if they are made when there is clearly no intent to injur, yet those calls favor one team 4-8, that becomes favouritism. This inconsistency frustrates teams (and fans), and players become unruly in their play.
Did the Canes play well enough to win? They did manage to out-shoot Kootenay despite the 3-1 powerplay chances against them in the first. Without 77 black & white on the ice, it sure would have been a better hockey game, that is for SURE.
Savage did everything to make sure all momentum was against the Canes in the first. If you stayed until the end of the game, you will know just how big a star he was by the salute from the remaining fans in attendance as they encouraged Savage off the ice and wished him a Merry Christmas.
Is that the impact the referee is supposed to have on paying customers? It happens EVERY time with him. Just once, I would like to be able to say at the end of a Canes game, "Oh look, Savage was officiating tonight. What an entertaining hockey game this was!"
Maybe the worst part is that every time he works with an official that might have some potential, they probably get a little worse with his mentorship.
Good luck tonight in Kootenay, Canes! - Sorry for the tirade, Pat, but it was deserved. Now I can get back into the Christmas spirit. - Richie.
WOW buddy! Does your wife have any frikin Valium? She should lend you one.thats a litle overboard to say the least. Do you sit at the game and take notes or what?
ReplyDeleteI live in Cranbrook and I swear the same thing man, that Chirs Savage HATES US! so I think you're a little bias'd here. And maybe, just maybe, slightly paranoid about the reffing conspiracy. The only team that has a reffing conspiracy working with them is Calgary. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
ICEFAN