Fire Rescue firefighters finally got burned in the annual Guns and Hoses charity hockey match as the RCMP won the first game in its six year history with a final score of 8-2.
The game was played Friday (March 16) at the Brennan Park Arena to a house packed with media and fans. Proceeds of the event goes to The Helping Hands Society and are still being counted.
RCMP Cpl. Dave Ritchie said the key to the RCMP winning was their young goalie Const. Kevin Mack.
Apparently all Mack needed was the right motivation as Ritchie threatened to send him to Regina if he didn't come up big. Mack eagerly complied, stopping the onslaught of firefighters who came on strong from the very beginning.
"He stood on his head," said Ritchie.
Ritchie said he was delighted the RCMP finally got to tack one in the win column. "It was very good. It was long overdue," he said.
The success also extended to the turnout, as the stands filled to capacity, and each side received their fair amount of support. Firefighters' Deputy Chief Steve Virgent thought the police played excellent and gave them full marks for their effort. "The RCMP played an incredible game and had an incredible goalie," he said.
Virgent said every time he looked up into the stands their wasn't an empty seat.
The RCMP's ringers including Kyle Ritchie, son of Dave Ritchie played well but it was Cpl. Jeff Karran who single handedly shut down the firefighters best line, the old timers. "We did a few circles around them," laughed Ritchie.
Ritchie was pleased with the way his son, who got two assists, played and insisted his son - who plays for the 樱桃视频Cougars - wasn't a "ringer" since he took part last year and "has police blood in him." "We weren't able to muster a female but we're going to rectify that next year," Ritchie said. Virgent believes Fire Rescue's downfall was in not buying the RCMP donuts before hand. "That was our mistake this year," he laughed.
Despite being spotted taking bribes, a sure sign the referees Mayor Ian Sutherland and councillor Jeff McKenzie made balanced calls was that both Ritchie and Virgent said refs could have been a little easier on them. "There were a couple calls we would have liked to seen," said Ritchie.
"We think the refereeing could have gone our way," said Virgent. Now the RCMP only has to win the next four games to tie the firefighters, but the firefighters likely won't go down without a fight, and they say they have a year to plan a new strategy.
