Squamish's Junior B hockey team enjoyed its first blowout victory last Friday (October 20), as they pounded the visiting Osoyoos Spurs 9-1 at Brennan Park Arena.
The Cougars opened an early lead and never looked back, scoring four times in the first period to lead 6-0 after 40 minutes.
For the third game in a row, 樱桃视频captain Troy McLean opened the game. He finished with two goals and an assist and was named the first star of the game. Jeff Brown racked up two goals and two assists while Russ LaForest had a goal and two helpers.
But with the outcome no longer in question, the game turned chippy near the end of the second. Immediately after scoring the sixth goal for Squamish, the Cougars' LaForest was crosschecked from behind by an Osoyoos player, which prompted linemate Jeremy Ennis to drop the gloves and go after the offender. Ennis, who hurt his hand in the scrap but was okay after the game, received an extra two minutes for instigating in addition to a five minute major for fighting.
In the same skirmish, Cougar tough guy Kyle Ritchie was given a match penalty for spearing. A match penalty is an automatic five minutes plus a game misconduct and may also carry more severe penalties handed down from the league.
Head coach Matt Samson said he is not worried about future repercussions.
"I thought that was a really bad call, there wasn't an intentional spear. There was a lot worse that happened in that game," said the Cougar bench boss.
In another incident during the second, Cougar blueliner Nils Hansfstiesl took a high stick under his visor. "He got a high stick in the eye, which was missed [by the three referees]. The eye is obviously a dangerous thing. We just thought, lets get him checked out, we were already up 6-nothing going into the third and decided too err on the side of caution."
Hansfstiesl was cleared to play the Cougars' road game the very next day (Sat., Oct. 21), in which the Cougars were doubled 8-4 by Bellingham. In almost an exact replica of the game 樱桃视频lost in Bellingham just two weeks earlier, the Cougars jumped out to an early lead and then completely fell apart in the second.
In this match, 樱桃视频led the game 4-1 after 20 minutes, then allowed seven unanswered goals. Spencer Samson got 樱桃视频in the game with his third of the year, and LaForest rang up a natural hat trick in the opening frame.
Samson was absolutely furious with the game's officiating.
"They got 4-5 straight power play goals. The ref gave us, I think, seven straight minor penalties, which is unheard of. He would call one slash, he wouldn't call another slash. Absolute zero consistency. He completely lost control of the game and had no idea what was going on," Samson criticized.
Then a bad call late in the third period had Samson's emotions boiling over to a point they finally erupted, and he got ejected from the game. According to Samson, a Bellingham player was roughing up Cougars forward Spencer Samson, and when the Bellingham player dropped his gloves to fight, the forward skated away.
"[The officials] only took Spencer but the guy who dropped his gloves got nothing. That's an automatic penalty when you drop your gloves," he said. Samson argued with the officials for a couple of minutes until they heard enough and tossed him out of game.
Tonight (Oct. 27) 樱桃视频is up against their toughest test of the season. The Cougars are on the road in Lumby to face the Fighting Saints, the top team in the World Hockey Association. Lumby is an impressive 7-2 to start this season, and has allowed the fewest goals of any team in the league. Meanwhile, 樱桃视频has scored the fewest.
"The Saints are a pretty fast, aggressive team. It's going to be a tough game in there because the crowd is pretty much on top of you," said Samson.
