Rolling..
The Seaforth Centenaires remain atop the standings of the Sr AA OEHL after last night's tense match-up with the Creemore Coyotes on home ice.
Written By Dave Scott
This game was Good, Bad, and Ugly.
Final score was 3-2 for the Cents. The game and action picked up steam like a locomotive. By the time the third period rolled in, it had gone from storm clouds to a Category 4 Hurricane.
Seaforth scored single goals in each period with less than 5 minutes on the clock. Creemore saved their two for a 3rd-period shocker to tie things up with markers just 2 minutes apart.
The packed arena and Blue Line Club upstairs enjoyed this nailbiter.
The Cents thought they'd iced things with a tie-breaking goal late in the third. But it was called off without a real explanation by officials. This photographer was in a prime spot behind the visitor net to capture the play. No net off its post. Don't entirely know why it was a "no goal."
Things got worse when Cents second goal scorer of the game, #71 Cohen Adair, had a great opportunity but his shot was knocked away Creemore netminder Mason Kameka, #29.
There was a minor battle for the puck behind the net and the puck was definitely out before a late deliberate hit by the Coyote's #18 Kyle Linney. Things tanked after this. I share a picture-by-picture replay of what happened. For the life of me, I do not know why Referee Orr did not blow his whistle. You will see by the photos he had a better view than me.
Yes, fighting majors, game misconducts and head contact penalties were assessed and handed out. I am not a referee or an official and I can appreciate the game unfolds quickly. But there were more than a few moments to diffuse the situation before a player was lying bleeding on the ice.
If you look at the photos, you know this is a late hit -- interference at the very least. But it is also a pretty good case for slew-footing by Linney. Again, I'm not an official. You can make your own conclusion from the pictures.
I had an up-close/mostly unobstructed view of what unfolded which contributed to my blood pressure going through the roof and the unleashing of a lot of foul-mouthed highly audible blue air as I stormed out of the ice surface area.
My apologies for losing my cool, especially for all the kids present. Who knows how yelling, swearing, threats, and name-calling will influence young fans? It could lead to one of them someday being elected President of the USA!
I gave myself a time out in the coaches' room to review my photos and take my temperature down a few degrees.
The hometown fans eruption of cheers got me back out to see that they hadn't let the foot off the gas in spite of everything that happened. Once again, the Cents outshot their opponents, this time 33-22.
#79 Ray Heuther had a great night scoring Seaforth's first goal (unassisted) at 4:18 of the first period. And with just 18 seconds left in the 3rd, Heuther drew an assist along with #27 Sheldon Pryce on the game-winning goal by #17 Camden Daigle.
As mentioned previously, Adair picked up Seaforth's 2nd goal in the 2nd period with helpers from Pryce and #14 Carter Collinson.
Cents are on the road the next few weeks and not back at home until Saturday, November 30 when they face the Mapleton Minto 81's.