V-Reds take commanding lead in series
February 27, 2012
FREDERICTON – Saturday night the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds defeated the UPEI Panthers 5-1 in a penalty-filled game in front of just over 2000 fans to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-five AUS men’s hockey semi-final playoff series. Rookie Shayne Wiebe led the V-Reds attack with two goals while linemate Chris Culligan had three assists. UNB goaltender Travis Fullerton held the Panthers to one goal for the second game in a row.
The first period got off to a resounding start with several big hits delivered by the V-Reds fore-checkers. The game’s first goal came at 6:11 when Shayne Wiebe (Brandon, MB) came speeding down the right side of the ice and backhanded the puck over the shoulder of Mavric Parks (Eganville, ON). UNB’s puck possession game meant UPEI did not get a shot on the UNB net for the first 11 minutes of the game, and that wasn’t until V-Reds d-man Jonathan Harty (Oromocto, NB) was called for slashing. UPEI tied the game at 16:19, one second after their next power play expired, when Mike MacIsaac (O’Leary, PE) was all alone in the slot to tip-in a pass past Travis Fullerton (Riverview, NB). The V-Reds outshot the Panthers 10-3 in the first period.
UNB regained the lead at 2:13 of the second period when Dion Campbell (Melville, SK) drove the UPEI net and pushed the puck through a crowd and under Parks. Midway through the period UPEI’s Matt Carter (Mississauga, ON) had his pocket picked in the neutral zone by Daine Todd (Stettler, AB) and perhaps in frustration he cross-checked Culligan just seconds later. On the resultant power play, UNB veteran centre Kyle Bailey (Ponoka, AB) was all alone in the left circle to take a pass from Josh Kidd (Sundridge, ON) and snap it past Parks at 11:23. A few minutes later Wiebe redirect a pass from Bailey and the score was 4-1.
At 14:39 UPEI was given an opportunity to mount a comeback when UNB rookie Geordie Wudrick (Abbotsford, BC) checked Zach MacCullough (Barrie, ON) from behind and was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct. Coincidentally Wudrick was inserted into the V-Reds line-up to replace Tyler Carroll (Strathroy, ON) who had to serve one game suspension for a checking from behind major penalty the previous night. Panther defenceman Matt Boyle (Charlottetown, PE) retaliated against Wudrick on the play, so he was sent off for roughing and the teams played four-on-four for the first two minutes of the major penalty. The Panthers were unable to take advantage of the power play but did get four scoring chances. In the period UNB edged UPEI 16-13 in shots.
The third period quickly deteriorated into a tit-for-tat grudge match. At 4:20, UPEI’s MacCullough went from checking from behind victim to aggressor when he nailed Taylor MacDougall (New Maryland, NB) against the boards and was given five and a game. Two other players were given roughing after the whistle penalties in the resultant scrum. UNB stifled that power play at 5:34 when Jordan Clendenning (Fredericton, NB) was called for cross-checking. Thirty seconds later Desousa high-sticked Wiebe, and the UNB player retaliated with a slash and they were both sent off. With the teams still four-on-four d-man Kidd jumped into the rush with Nick MacNeil (Creignish, NS) and beat Parks with a little backhand move at 6:22. UNB was on the power play just four second later when Matthew Maione (Unionville, ON) was called for slashing, but that advantage ended a minute later when Harty was called for holding, and then had an extra two minutes tacked on when he simply waved his hand at the referee to show his displeasure with the call. Antoine Houde-Caron (Trois-Rivières, QC) was called for holding while on the penalty kill and the Panthers had a rare four-on-three man advantage at 8:51.
The real fireworks started ten second later. While on the penalty kill UNB defenceman Ben Wright (Foremost, AB) took the puck up through the neutral zone and under pressure dumped the puck into the UPEI corner. He continued into the zone after the puck and at the same time Park came out of his net and into the corner to play the puck. Wright didn’t hold up and skated through Parks. Parks went down, his teammates swarmed Wright, and then the UPEI goalie who was unhurt got to his skates and waded into Wright as well. Only Wright was penalized on the play and he was given a five minute major for goaltender interference and a game misconduct. In apparent retaliation four minutes later UPEI’s Nathan McQuaid (Charlottetown, PE), in his first shift of the game, bumped into Fullerton in the other net and was assessed a two minute minor for goalie interference plus a ten-minute misconduct while Boyle and Kidd were each given minors out of the resulting scrum.
At 16:26 Desousa took a dangerous blindside run at UNB’s Thomas Nesbitt (Ottawa, ON) in the neutral zone and was assessed two-and-ten for checking from behind, and MacNeil came to his aid and was called for roughing along with Panther Boyle. Before the next whistle UNB coach Gardiner MacDougall elected to take Fullerton out of his net and replace him with Dan LaCosta (Labrador City, NL). We would later say he was being “prudent”. Seeing this, UPEI coach Forbes MacPherson followed suit and sent Jhase Sniderman (Toronto, ON) to replace Parks in his net. Late in a power play a few minutes later Panther forward Devin Praught (Summerside, PE) took the skates out from under LaCosta just before the puck went into the net. The goal was nullified and Praught finished the game in the box.
UPEI outshot UNB 10-7 in the period, with six of their shots on net coming on the power play. The V-Reds had a 33-26 margin in shots in the game and a 45-33 margin in faceoff wins. On the power play UNB was 1-for-8 while UPEI was 0-for-8 officially with their sole goal coming one second after a power play expired. UNB racked up 19 penalties for 65 minutes while UPEI had 18 penalties for 58 minutes. The majority of the penalties for both teams were in the third period.
Understandably the teams were still pretty heated after the emotional game. UPEI head coach Forbes MacPherson opened his media scrum by stating, “We’re upset. And I want to make sure that it is noted that yes, it was a 5-1 game, but nothing happened until [Parks] was run, and in the last two games [UNB] have had two five-minute majors for hitting from behind. So they still have to come to the Island. Don’t forget that.” MacPherson noted he was happy that his team actually responded with some energy in the third for the first time in six periods versus the V-Reds in the series.
When asked about the goalie changes late in the third period, Forbes didn’t pull any punches. “We all know they have one goalie, everyone in the CIS knows they have one goalie, and we know our goalie is our MVP. So if they’re going to pull Fullerton, to me that says they that maybe they’re going to run our guy again, and they’re just protecting theirs. So we’re going to protect Parks.”
UNB captain Kyle Bailey did not condone Wright’s hit on the UPEI goalie. “What happened with Benny was unfortunate,” he said. “And I have all the respect in the world for him, and he has been a good friend of mine for a ton of years, but bottom line is that was not the right play to make. And as captain and a leader, I take responsibility for it because that’s a bad reflection of our team and he shouldn’t have done it.”
On the other hand, Bailey was not impressed with the UPEI response. “When their guy goes out, and the guy [McQuaid] hasn’t played a shift in the game, he does a similar thing, maybe it wasn’t as bad, and I look over and see their best player smacking his stick on the boards, congratulating the guy for running our goalie, I thought that was a classless move.”
The teams will get back to hockey on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm in a must-win for UPEI at home in Charlottetown. Game 4 if necessary would be Thursday at UPEI.
The first period got off to a resounding start with several big hits delivered by the V-Reds fore-checkers. The game’s first goal came at 6:11 when Shayne Wiebe (Brandon, MB) came speeding down the right side of the ice and backhanded the puck over the shoulder of Mavric Parks (Eganville, ON). UNB’s puck possession game meant UPEI did not get a shot on the UNB net for the first 11 minutes of the game, and that wasn’t until V-Reds d-man Jonathan Harty (Oromocto, NB) was called for slashing. UPEI tied the game at 16:19, one second after their next power play expired, when Mike MacIsaac (O’Leary, PE) was all alone in the slot to tip-in a pass past Travis Fullerton (Riverview, NB). The V-Reds outshot the Panthers 10-3 in the first period.
UNB regained the lead at 2:13 of the second period when Dion Campbell (Melville, SK) drove the UPEI net and pushed the puck through a crowd and under Parks. Midway through the period UPEI’s Matt Carter (Mississauga, ON) had his pocket picked in the neutral zone by Daine Todd (Stettler, AB) and perhaps in frustration he cross-checked Culligan just seconds later. On the resultant power play, UNB veteran centre Kyle Bailey (Ponoka, AB) was all alone in the left circle to take a pass from Josh Kidd (Sundridge, ON) and snap it past Parks at 11:23. A few minutes later Wiebe redirect a pass from Bailey and the score was 4-1.
At 14:39 UPEI was given an opportunity to mount a comeback when UNB rookie Geordie Wudrick (Abbotsford, BC) checked Zach MacCullough (Barrie, ON) from behind and was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct. Coincidentally Wudrick was inserted into the V-Reds line-up to replace Tyler Carroll (Strathroy, ON) who had to serve one game suspension for a checking from behind major penalty the previous night. Panther defenceman Matt Boyle (Charlottetown, PE) retaliated against Wudrick on the play, so he was sent off for roughing and the teams played four-on-four for the first two minutes of the major penalty. The Panthers were unable to take advantage of the power play but did get four scoring chances. In the period UNB edged UPEI 16-13 in shots.
The third period quickly deteriorated into a tit-for-tat grudge match. At 4:20, UPEI’s MacCullough went from checking from behind victim to aggressor when he nailed Taylor MacDougall (New Maryland, NB) against the boards and was given five and a game. Two other players were given roughing after the whistle penalties in the resultant scrum. UNB stifled that power play at 5:34 when Jordan Clendenning (Fredericton, NB) was called for cross-checking. Thirty seconds later Desousa high-sticked Wiebe, and the UNB player retaliated with a slash and they were both sent off. With the teams still four-on-four d-man Kidd jumped into the rush with Nick MacNeil (Creignish, NS) and beat Parks with a little backhand move at 6:22. UNB was on the power play just four second later when Matthew Maione (Unionville, ON) was called for slashing, but that advantage ended a minute later when Harty was called for holding, and then had an extra two minutes tacked on when he simply waved his hand at the referee to show his displeasure with the call. Antoine Houde-Caron (Trois-Rivières, QC) was called for holding while on the penalty kill and the Panthers had a rare four-on-three man advantage at 8:51.
The real fireworks started ten second later. While on the penalty kill UNB defenceman Ben Wright (Foremost, AB) took the puck up through the neutral zone and under pressure dumped the puck into the UPEI corner. He continued into the zone after the puck and at the same time Park came out of his net and into the corner to play the puck. Wright didn’t hold up and skated through Parks. Parks went down, his teammates swarmed Wright, and then the UPEI goalie who was unhurt got to his skates and waded into Wright as well. Only Wright was penalized on the play and he was given a five minute major for goaltender interference and a game misconduct. In apparent retaliation four minutes later UPEI’s Nathan McQuaid (Charlottetown, PE), in his first shift of the game, bumped into Fullerton in the other net and was assessed a two minute minor for goalie interference plus a ten-minute misconduct while Boyle and Kidd were each given minors out of the resulting scrum.
At 16:26 Desousa took a dangerous blindside run at UNB’s Thomas Nesbitt (Ottawa, ON) in the neutral zone and was assessed two-and-ten for checking from behind, and MacNeil came to his aid and was called for roughing along with Panther Boyle. Before the next whistle UNB coach Gardiner MacDougall elected to take Fullerton out of his net and replace him with Dan LaCosta (Labrador City, NL). We would later say he was being “prudent”. Seeing this, UPEI coach Forbes MacPherson followed suit and sent Jhase Sniderman (Toronto, ON) to replace Parks in his net. Late in a power play a few minutes later Panther forward Devin Praught (Summerside, PE) took the skates out from under LaCosta just before the puck went into the net. The goal was nullified and Praught finished the game in the box.
UPEI outshot UNB 10-7 in the period, with six of their shots on net coming on the power play. The V-Reds had a 33-26 margin in shots in the game and a 45-33 margin in faceoff wins. On the power play UNB was 1-for-8 while UPEI was 0-for-8 officially with their sole goal coming one second after a power play expired. UNB racked up 19 penalties for 65 minutes while UPEI had 18 penalties for 58 minutes. The majority of the penalties for both teams were in the third period.
Understandably the teams were still pretty heated after the emotional game. UPEI head coach Forbes MacPherson opened his media scrum by stating, “We’re upset. And I want to make sure that it is noted that yes, it was a 5-1 game, but nothing happened until [Parks] was run, and in the last two games [UNB] have had two five-minute majors for hitting from behind. So they still have to come to the Island. Don’t forget that.” MacPherson noted he was happy that his team actually responded with some energy in the third for the first time in six periods versus the V-Reds in the series.
When asked about the goalie changes late in the third period, Forbes didn’t pull any punches. “We all know they have one goalie, everyone in the CIS knows they have one goalie, and we know our goalie is our MVP. So if they’re going to pull Fullerton, to me that says they that maybe they’re going to run our guy again, and they’re just protecting theirs. So we’re going to protect Parks.”
UNB captain Kyle Bailey did not condone Wright’s hit on the UPEI goalie. “What happened with Benny was unfortunate,” he said. “And I have all the respect in the world for him, and he has been a good friend of mine for a ton of years, but bottom line is that was not the right play to make. And as captain and a leader, I take responsibility for it because that’s a bad reflection of our team and he shouldn’t have done it.”
On the other hand, Bailey was not impressed with the UPEI response. “When their guy goes out, and the guy [McQuaid] hasn’t played a shift in the game, he does a similar thing, maybe it wasn’t as bad, and I look over and see their best player smacking his stick on the boards, congratulating the guy for running our goalie, I thought that was a classless move.”
The teams will get back to hockey on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm in a must-win for UPEI at home in Charlottetown. Game 4 if necessary would be Thursday at UPEI.