Vipers drop fourth straight

 

by Rob Benneian

A chorus of boos rained down as the LaSalle Vipers left the ice Nov. 28 following their fourth straight defeat, a 5-4 loss at the hands of the St. Thomas Stars.

However, the crowd wasn’t upset with the 18 young hockey players clad in white, gold and black.

The objects of their scorn were the two men in black and white.

Vipers assistant captain Scott Prier tapped his stick sarcastically on the ice in mock appreciation of the referees and said, “Good game, guys.”

Most of his teammates weren’t quite so polite. There was an abundance of language not fit for print and door-slamming galore.

Ironically, it was a slammed door which sparked the powder-keg in the first place.

Stars forward Drew Collinson, who had four points on the night, scored in the third period to tie the game at four goals apiece and send the contest to overtime.

In overtime, Vipers defenceman Chris Pignanelli tripped up a Stars forward driving to the net, drawing a hooking penalty. Vipers captain Eric Noel, who along with the rest of his teammates was visibly upset with the call, slammed the door to the LaSalle players’ bench.

It was enough to earn him a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, putting his team down two men. This proved to be all the opening the Stars needed, as leading scorer Martin Kudla scored his second of the night to win the game for St. Thomas.

Cue the boos from the estimated 660 in attendance.

Cue Prier derisively tapping his stick on the ice.

Cue Vipers forward Brendan McCann launching into a tirade that netted him a game misconduct for abuse of an official.

“It’s a hard-fought game between two teams and at the end of the day the refereeing played too much of a factor,” said Vipers head coach Ryan Donally, clearly struggling to put into politically correct terms what he had just witnessed happen to his squad. “We have to have a better third period so we’re not putting ourselves in that position. It’s disappointing that it ended like that … this is the most frustrated I’ve been with the officiating, bar none.”

Noel, who assisted on a first period goal by Dylan Denomme, took the heat after the game for possibly costing his team a point in the standings.

“I closed the bench and I think (the referee) thought I closed it a little too hard. If anything, give me a 10 (minute misconduct), I’d rather take a 10 instead of getting a two and bringing our guys down an extra man,” Noel said. “It’s frustrating, I definitely don’t want to do that to the guys. Next time I’ll make sure not to do anything so that doesn’t happen.”

Donally said Stars coach Ron Horvat was “chirping the referee throughout the entire game” and thought his own bench remained calm until the final eruption. Horvat said he was looking for consistency from the officials. He said he was surprised to be afforded a two-man advantage opportunity in overtime, because “the refs usually put their whistles away late in the game.” He took advantage by calling a timeout to allow his top players to rest and it paid off with Kudla’s game-winner.

The extra point gained via their overtime victory allowed the Stars to catch the Vipers for fifth place in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Western Conference.