Chiefs Lose Composure in Wake of Penalty Calls
Game Writeup:
The Kamloops Storm took round one against the Chase Chiefs by a 3-2 score, at McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre Sunday afternoon.
Game Writeup:
The Kamloops Storm took round one against the Chase Chiefs by a 3-2 score, at McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre Sunday afternoon.
The Storm opened the scoring at the four-minute mark of the first period with Catlin McLeod getting his first of the season. The goal came after discussions with the goal judge a minute and half later when the play stopped due to Chase forward Tyson Bentley putting the puck behind Anthony Manfredi. Bentley’s goal was disallowed after the earlier play was discussed with the goal judge.
The Chiefs would get on the score sheet before the period was over with Brock Balson scoring.
In the second period the Chiefs took the lead with Devon Hobbs scoring. Kamloops would tie things up on the powerplay with 20 seconds remaining in the period. Jason Alessio scored his sixth of the season.
The Storm would collected the game winner at 3:52 of third period with Bevin Ollek’s team leading ninth goal of the season.
Chiefs head coach Tyler Bolt received a game misconduct at 10:30 of the third period.
In total the Storm had 24 minutes in penalties called against them while the Chiefs had 110.
The Storm improved to a 7-2-0-2 record, as they enter a five-game road trip.
Next up for the Storm play their next five games on the road. On Oct. 16 the Storm are in Beaver Valley against the Nitehawks, Oct. 17 in Spokane against the Braves and Oct. 18 in Grand Forks against the Border Bruins. The Storm are in Princeton Oct. 20 and round out their road trip on Oct. 23 against Chiefs in Chase.
Next home game is Oct. 24 when the Storm hosts the Chiefs at 7 p.m. It’s Men in Pink night at McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre. Part proceeds from the game will be donated to cancer charities. Fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of the cause.
• The Kamloops Storm new website has lauched at kamloopsstormhockey.com
Harpreet Sidhu
Kamloops Storm Hockey
Public Relations and Communications coordinator
Our View:
The game started out well but it didn't take long for the shenanigans with the officiating crew to start... with the Chiefs coming out on the short end.
The first major gaff occurred when Catlin McLeod seemingly put the puck in the net at around the 4 minute mark of the period. The goal light went on but the referee/linesmen did not blow the play down. At this point Tyson Bentley (Chiefs) picked up the puck in his own zone and started weaving his way through the Kamloops team, taking it end to end and finishing off with a pretty goal against Kamloops puck stopper, Anthony Manfredi. It was a highlight reel goal that, to the disgust of the Chiefs team, was called back after the officiating crew consulted the goal judge and the goal was awarded to Kamloops. In fairness on this one, at least the officials consulted the goal judge. If it was in, it was in, and as I watched the reaction of the Chiefs, it was disappointing but they took it in stride and carried on.
Other than this one error (and an understandable one at that), the officiating was pretty good in the 1st period. The players got to play, the flow of the game was exciting and the fans loved the end-to-end play.
Frustration from the Chiefs bench started early in the 2nd period. There was a call on Brady Fuller (Kam) for roughing and Chiefs coach, Tyler Bolt, for some reason, lost it enough on the bench while talking with the referee and got the boot. It wasn't long after that the Chiefs on-ice discipline started to go south and the referee wasn't in a mood to put up with it. By the end of the period, the Chiefs managed to accumulate 2 more 10 minute misconducts, one for arguing with the ref (Tyson Bentley) and another for a hit-to-the-head (Vonk). Taylor Stuart for the Storm got the boot too in this period for a hit-from-behind call.
With the score tied a 2 going into the 3rd period, Kamloops picked up an early goal from Bevin Ollek as he did some spade work around the net in front of Chiefs goaltender, Riley Wall. This time it was Chief veteran Darren Pittendreigh that voiced his dismay to referee, Jason Chambers, and ended up with a 10 minute misconduct. Less than 2 minutes later it was Tyson Bentley who lost his composure and picked up a 2 min unsportsmanlike penalty + 10 minute misconduct + game misconduct.
Trailing 3-2, the Chiefs finally started to play 5 on 5 and carried their fair share of the play. During a particularly effective offensive barrage the Chiefs scored again but it was also called back due to a rather obvious penalty by Kevin Hobbs for goaltender interference on Anthony Manfredi, just before the shot was taken from the point (can't remember who let the shot go). In addition, Pittendreigh lost it again and picked up a 10 min misconduct and a game misconduct.
After having their line-up reduced significantly, the Chiefs still managed to keep it close. They continued to take penalties (4 more minors) of which Kamloops did not take advantage of. The Chiefs were given a chance to even the score when they had a 19 second power play at the end of the period.
It was deja vu all over again, except this time it wasn't the Storm that incurred the wrath of a dazed and confused officiating crew. There were a number of blown offside calls and waived icings that may have made a difference to add to the mix of frustration. Although the Kamloops fans were happy that they won this game, they were not as elated as they normally are, perhaps in sympathy for the frustration of the Chase fans. The Kamloops fans know all too well what it's like to be hanging on to the gooey, stinky end of the stick.
As we noted last week, the players don't come to the rink with the intentions of having the game deteriorate like we have seen over the last 2 weeks. Both times, the catalyst was provided by the officiating by not making the right calls and retaliating to defend their honour by showing us all how they have the power to "control" the game the way that they want.
It's a sad state of affairs that this has to be the topic on a weekly basis, but for the most part, these guys are stealing the show so, they get the print.
Dave Ouellette
the KamloopsStormWriter
Posts
For three years we have listened to you call the games and read your blogs. It has become clear you do not like Mike McCance. We watched the game against Chase in person, watched it again on the internet and you had the stupidity to call Mike's second assist a "phantom" assist. Try watching the play again. Freddy gives the puck to Mike, Mike takes it from his end all the way down to the other end, passes, the second guy misses the puck and the third player scores. Mike skated hard down the ice, made a strong pass in front of the net to create that goal. If you don't like McCance, well fine! But, stop embarrasing the team and yourself by your inability to follow the play.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, we have listened for three years to you call the plays and read your blog and your dislike for McCance shows through in your write up. During the Chase game Mike shows leadership on the ice, gets two assists and is given the 1st game star ( which are hard to come by for defensman) and in your write up you can not give him one bit of credit. What is your problem with McCance? People listenting from Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas,Texas, Victoria and Whistler are all wondering? Thank goodness you are not the coach!
ReplyDeleteWow, someone (anonymous- as usual) has a burr in their butt. Not being a McCance fan has been the furthest from my mind. To think that I am taking from Mike to support someone else is ludicrous.
ReplyDeleteA couple things to remember...
- We don't have replay in our booth so I can't rewind to make sure... it's a luxury that most higher level hockey provides when doing a video play by play. With our current booth setup, there is a lot going on around us at any given time including fans jumping up and down blocking our view temporarily. The phantom assist that I talked about wasn't to diss Mike but to give credit where I thought credit was due, on some hard work by a couple of forwards that appeared to me had made the play work. If we missed something, please accept our apology
- I took the time to follow McCance last year when he a shot with Merritt. I thought that he performed admirably and said so in my write ups. In fact, I couldn't believe that they didn't keep him in their line-up
- The story didn't revolve around the performance of the team, as you may have noticed. I picked up the paper this morning and (to my amazement) Mike wasn't highlighted much there either. Not because he didn't play well, but because it wasn't the story of the game.
- This is my blog... the team does not pay me and rarely contributes to what is posted
- If a player has an outstanding game we usually make note of it. Mike has been a solid performer most of the year and he certainly is a good choice for captain... but, I haven't seen him step it up to a level that has made him standout. He is performing well, as expected.
- Glad to hear that our broadcast is going out to so many locations
- Just another note, I have coached many kids that have gone on to play pro hockey, including one of the assistant coaches for the Storm this year. Was I the reason they got there?... no, but I sure as heck didn't hurt them
- when I make a comment or statement or blast someone, I put my name to it. Accusations like the above remind me of the whining we used to hear in Minor hockey, when everyone's kid was another Gretzky and no one got a fair shake except the coaches kid