For the second year in a row, a controversial call, by the same referee, in the same rink has affected the Kingston KIMCO Voyageurs chances in the Eastern Conference Finals.
A year ago in the deciding fifth game, the Vees had a goal called back by referee Sean McQuigge midway through the second period after a Wellington defender went barreling into the net knocking it off it’s pegs, in a game the Vees went on to lose by just one goal.
Tonight was eerily similar, as midway through the second period, Cole Weedmark broke free on a breakaway and slid the puck through the legs of Dukes goaltender Paul Karpowich, while being hooked by Dukes defenseman Kyle Crawford, which would have tied the game at two.
McQuigge went to confer with the Dukes goal judge, a former Duke, who said the puck had gone in the net and that he didn’t know if the puck had crossed the line before the net came off. McQuigge then made his decision to disallow the goal and award Weedmark a penalty shot, which pretty much contradicted his original call, but non the less the penalty shot was granted and Karpowich made the save and minutes later the Dukes scored the third goal and it was all down hill from there for the Vees, as they were embarrassed 7-1 by their arch rivals.
The Vees started the game strong and were battling neck and neck with the Dukes throughout the opening period. An early defensive zone miscue led to the Dukes opening goal by Crawford on a point shot through traffic that beat Vees goaltender Matt Hache.
The lead was short lived, as Andrew Marcoux fired a shot of his own through traffic on the power play just 48 seconds later to tie the game.
Late in the period, Vick Schlueter broke in on a 2 on 1 and fed a beautiful pass to Marcoux, who was stopped by Karpowich and Crawford then blindly cleared the puck from the Dukes zone and onto the stick of Dukes co-captain Chris Brown on a clear cut breakaway and his perfect shot off the post, just over the pad of Hache gave the Dukes a 2-1 lead after the opening frame.
The Weedmark incident occurred midway through the period and at the 10:11 mark, a short while after the penalty shot, Marc Senecal one-timed a shot from the slot past Hache for the 3-1 lead.
Chris Smith then slipped past the Vees defense and beat Hache to give the Dukes a 4-1 lead and chase Hache from the second straight game.
Trailing 4-1 heading into the third period, the Vees had hopes of a valiant comeback attempt, but that was thwarted early in the period, when Marty O’Grady’s power play beat Mackenzie Ball and the route was on. Jeremy Franklin and Matt Pereira added third period goals to seal the deal and put the Vees in a very tough predicament.
It’s now do or die for the Vees, who will first and foremost have to find a way to recover from being embarrassed by their most bitter rival and then find a way to win four straight games in the process. It’s a daunting task and it starts with one game on Thursday night, but it has been done before and will be done again, it’s just a question if the Vees to the man, are the team to do it.
Brett Jendra was the Vees first star and never once faded from his work ethic. Even with the score 7-1, Jendra was battling and leaving it all on the ice.
Ben Munroe was the second star competing hard all game long creating some of the Vees best scoring chances.
Andrew Marcoux was the third star with the Vees loan goal.
Game Four goes Thursday night in Kingston at 7:30PM with Game 5 back in Wellington on Friday night, if necessary.
DUKES BLAST VEES 7-1; LEAD SERIES 3-0
March 11th, 2008
Kyle Crawford of the Dukes opened the scoring early in the first period only to see the Vees tie it up less then a minute later on the powerplay. Late in the period, Dukes goaltender Paul Karpowich made an outstanding save and the puck bounced out of the zone where Chris Brown chased it down and skated the length of the ice on a breakaway to score what turned out to be the winning goal.
Early in the second period, Karpowich made another great stop on a Vees penalty shot attempt and the Dukes followed up with two more goals by Marc Senecal and Chris Smith. The fourth goal chased the Vees starting goaltender for the second game in a row. The third period was all Dukes as Marty OGrady scored to make it 5-1 followed by a goal from Jeremy Franklin who bunted the puck that was waist high past the Vees tender. The final goal was the TSN Highlight of the Night as Matt Pereira, who hadn't scored since joining the Dukes late in the season, put on a Bobby Orr display as he deked several Vees defenders before drilling his shot into the net.
As can be seen, the Dukes scoring was well spread out with 7 different players each getting a goal while Brown also chipped in with 3 assists and Tony Rizzi and Zach Morbeck each chipped in with 2 helpers. Karpowich made several high-light reel saves to improve his playoff won/loss record to 7 and 0.
Game four will be played Thursday night in Kingston with a 7:30 PM puck drop.
I'm just curious as to why it had to be pointed out that the goal judge was an ex-Duke? He said the puck went in, but wasn't sure if before the net was off. Who was the goal judge?
Not too often you hear a fan complain about getting a penalty shot. Not too often you hear a fan say that their team being awarded a penalty shot was the turning point in a 7-1 blowout. I wonder how the fan got the words of the goal judge relayed to the ref? Really weird stuff in that post. A team down 3-0 and outscored 14-4 needs to look within rather than throwing blame at a ref.
This has been a live report from just outside the Dukedome.
Naw! I like golf and I am just fortunate because when the Dukes usually get done playing the course is just getting ready to go. Look's like I won't be disappointed this year either.LOL
Dukes dump Vees; Wellington takes 3-0 series lead
Posted By Brock Harrison
Posted 16 hours ago
The worst defeat of the season for the Kingston Voyageurs came at the worst possible time.
Down two games to none in their Ontario Hockey Association Provincial junior A East division final with the Wellington Dukes, the Vees walked into a packed Wellington Community Centre last night and were handed a thorough 7-1 beating, allowing the Dukes to take a chokehold on the series.
As if it won't be enough for the Vees to climb back into a series with the powerful Dukes, they'll have to do it coming off the heels of their most lopsided loss of the year.
"I don't know. We just fell apart," said Vees assistant coach Casey Torres after the game.
The largest margin of defeat the Voyageurs faced in the regular season was four goals, in a 4-0 loss to Wellington Jan. 10.
Last night, a relentless Dukes team smothered a Kingston attack that struggled to find prime goal-scoring real estate all night long and used its speed to roast the Vees on transition.
The few times Kingston did manage to break through Wellington's defence, the Dukes rangy goaltender, Paul Karpowich, stymied their shooters in tight and kept rebounds at a premium.
The Vees will most likely look back to a disallowed goal in the second period as the point where it all turned sour.
With the score 2-1 Wellington, and after the Dukes' Tony Rizzi clanged a bullet off the goal post on a Wellington power play, Cole Weedmark of the Vees chased down the rebound to centre ice and broke in alone on Karpowich.
Going to his backhand while being harassed by a pack of trailing Dukes, Weedmark was hooked and plowed himself, Karpowich and the puck into the net, blasting it off its anchors in the process.
After a lengthy review, the officials ruled the net was dislodged before the puck crossed the goal-line, but they awarded Weedmark a penalty shot for being harassed on the way in.
He missed, and the Dukes promptly embarked on an offensive barrage that buried Kingston.
Torres agreed the disallowed goal and subsequent missed penalty shot was the decisive point of the game, but he also said the Vees didn't have to fold like they did.
"We really thought we had a goal there and that we had made it 2-2, but if we're going to let one incident like that tear us apart, then we deserve to lose," Torres said.
Dukes coach Marty Abrams elected to sit his top two lines in the last half of the third period to let up on Kingston goaltender Mackenzie Ball, who replaced starter Matt Hache after Wellington's fourth goal.
Abrams said his team "got every bounce possible" and credited Karpowich for helping to tilt the scoreboard so much in Wellington's favour.
Centreville's Chris Brown had a goal and three assists for the Dukes, who got their other goals from Marty O'Grady, Chris Smith, Bath's Jeremy Franklin, Marc Senecal, Kyle Crawford and Matt Pereira. Andrew Marcoux scored the only Kingston goal on a power play in the game's seventh minute, briefly tying the game 1-1.
Game 4 of the series will be played tomorrow night at Cataraqui Community Centre.
"6-1.....will it get worse is the only question left? Let's just hope Kingston doesn't get dirty."
Kingston managed to contain themselves, DJ.In spite of getting thoroughly shellacked on the scoreboard,the only ugly incident was by Wellington late in the game.
When the game was close in the first period, it was the Dukes who crossed the line.
First period;
Wellington - Corey Bureau - (Checking from Behind Game Misconduct) (GM50/51), 0 min, 13:57
Wellington - Corey Bureau - (Checking from Behind) (GM50), 2 min, 13:57
You say the only dirty play of the game was when Mahoney checked Jendra into the boards near the end of the game.
Jendra is definitely no tower in height and Jake Mahoney went in and laid a body check that was clean but because of the size mismatch it seemed that he went straight for the head, not the case though.
I think because Jendra's helmet came off because of the hit, the ref made the correct call in calling a head checking penalty, but in no way was it a dirty play.
There was a sizeable difference in the size of the players involved, I agree. But it was the right call, as you say.
But the point is, there was some concern over the possibility of Kingston cheap shots,as the score escalated. It clearly did not materialize.
Respect has to be earned. As I see it, the Vees took another step towards the discipline required of potential champions by resisting that temptation. It isn't easy to get humbled on the scoreboard and show that kind of restraint.
Even the most ferverent of Duke fans would have to agree, in this case.
I said that I hope it wouldn't get dirty because sometimes teams can lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel. Case in point, check out our (North Bay Skyhawks) game sheet from Game 3 versus the Manitoulin Islanders. 11-1 Final. These are just the penalties. In total, 395 PIM and 25 10 minute misconducts. My first thought at the game was that Reggie Leach has his club (the Isles) playing like his old squad, the Broadstreet Bullies.
Definitely agree Wayjoy. The Vee's showed a lot of class and didn't start taking cheap shots. It shows the quality of the organization to lose like champions even if the final result doesn't end with your team as a champion.
