OT: AJHL playoffs

[RunTheGoalie]

Man... I'll never complain about Derek Herman again. Well... not until the next time I see him call a game...

The AJHL playoffs started for both the Canucks and Royals tonight, with the Canucks clobbering Drumheller 6-1 in a wild game where the officiating could charitably be called terrible.

Calgary came out on fire, while Drumheller came out flat. Combine that with a dumb referee, and the powerplay situation after one was 5-0 or 5-1 Calgary. Shots 17-3. Score 3-0. All of the Drumheller players were visibly upset throughout the game, as they twice had three players in the box serving minor penalties, and gave up four PP Goals - two on 5 on 3's.

By the time it was all over, there were four fights, a line brawl, two gross misconducts, a Dragon player who rifled the puck at the referee, one stupid Drumheller goalie who picked a fight with an unwilling Canuck goalie, and one incredibly stupid Drumheller fan who threw a full garbage can onto the ice, forcing the end of the game 12 seconds early.

Game 2 tomorrow at 7:30 at Max Bell could be a fun one...


No word yet on how the Royals are doing in Camrose.

[Hitmen1]

Royals lost 6-0 tonight, not a great start but not really surprising. They have been highly inconsistent all year long.

It will be interesting to see the aftermath of the brawls, etc. Was there any action worth suspensions (the sucker punch probably)? Did the fan get removed from the game? Was the officiating that bad or were the Dragons just very undisciplined? I live in Edmonton so I'm curious of what kind of security is present at Canuck and Royal games?

[RunTheGoalie]

Security is usual minimal or non existant. That will probably change tonight.

Officiating was that bad, though by the end it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. The referee got on Drum's bad side early when he called a poor boarding call against drumheller - it was a hit from behind, but the Canuck player turned away from the check - then immediately made it up by nailing Calgary on a weak crosscheck. He lost control entirely when he tried to reassert himself. With Drumheller already down a man, he called a crosschecking penalty againt the Dragons, and then nailed another Dragon player after the whistle for roughing, but chose not to take a Calgary player as well out of that melee. The first of two times the Dragons had three minor penalties at once.

By the third, all of the Drumheller players and fans were so upset that every minor thing that didnt go their way led to cursing and complaining, even though after the first it was a fairly evenly called game. Late in the third though, the Dragons players began to believe that anything they did would get called, so they did anything, and got called.

Suspensions. Possibly Drum's goalie for trying to make a bad situation worse. Possibly the forward who hit the referee with the puck, assuming the ref still felt it was intentional after the game. Possibly nothing at all.