What happened tonight for the Braves? You think that the team could step it up just one night. You know you could the most dominate plyers if you wanted to. There was a comment in the first intermision made by Matt Matus in the player profile and he said, and i quote (its gonna be a war out there) well who was ready for war? The Luckies sure were. Come on guys get your head outta your asses. You guys need to win these games. Well get yourself ready for the next one.

back away from the edge...its ok....easy...dont do anything rash...easy now...The Braves are a good team, and like the Luckies are loaded with character...a little adversity throughout the season can prove very beneficial in the post season, I am sure your braves are not like Steelheads and fold like a cheap tent anytime the going gets tough...and I can guarantee you one thing...if the braves and luckies meet again...the braves will bring their 'A' game...and I am sure their heads will be firmly planted on their shoulders, not stuck in a posterior orifice...cmon towelboy step off the ledge??? (you are sounding a bit like one of them fickle lower mainland canucks fans, where a win means plan the parade, or a loss means trade Luongo, or fire Vigneault)

This game was a big game for thr Braves. They wanted this game.They should have brought there A game last night.Houston is there biggest rivals and they cant go down 3-1 in the series. These are games that they need to win. There is no excuse, they need to beat Houston.

ya the braves officially blew it. its true they do need to beat the luckies... hopefully they can rebound from this unfortunate event

I think the season series actually ended 4-1 Luckies which is pretty surprising considering the beating they handed the Luckies early in the season. I'm looking forward to the games in Williams Lake to end the regular season. With Houstons schedule they should have 1st in the bag which means the Stamps and Braves will be battling for home ice against each other in the first round.

slow down...in the bag...wait a minute rusty...nothing is in the bag...possible yes, but it is still gonna take three wins to guarantee that first place...Three wins are not in the bag...terrace willbe a tough game, they will be looking to play spoiler, and probably looking to fight, so no easy win there...you know as well as evryone else Omenica is no slouch, they dont have the greatest record this year but if they can put together a solid lineup and continue to get good goaltending the Luckies will be hard pressed to get two wins in ole hooterville...in the bag...sounds like your playing mental games with the luckies trying to get them to look past these next three games...one at time there Rusty..and if they take care of the things they need to take care of, then first can be theirs, look past terrace or Omenica down to second or even third...no way is this thing in the bag!!

No mind games here... you give too much credit Sandlak.

Houston holds the tie breaker on the Stamps with more wins, which means they only need to gain 4 of 6 points in those final 3 games. Now I know every game is it's own challenge, but I think your being extremely conservative to even suggest that is not going to happen against those opponents.

The Luckies also hold the tie breaker on the Braves. Wins would be even... taking it to head to head (Luckies lead 4-1). I know WL is gonna have thier best line-up on jan 9/10th at home and throw in another game against Smithers and the Braves will be very hard pressed to win out. If they even drop one game in regulation the Luckies can win the div by going 2-1 in thier final 3 games, which again should happen. It's very possible the Braves could end the season at 8-8 which nobody would have guessed after leading the division a week ago at 8-4.

So although anything is possible, I think it's safe to say the East is the Luckies to lose. Then the playoffs start and it's anyones game again.

Go Stamps Go!

I travelled to Burns to take in the Game Last night and I don't beleive the Braves blew it, lost yes but blew it may be a little harsh. You've got to give credit where credit is due and that is the best game I've seen the Luckies play all season. They didn't look like the team that was relying on Kenzel to steal them one but rather were agressive, offensive and confident. They knew what was on the line and when they got behind they didn't become dejected, they became determined and deserved to win. I was little disapointed in the ref however. What could have been a much more exciting back and forth playoff type game with both teams aware of what was at stake got turned into a "look at me I want to be the center of attention" gong show at times. After the game was tied with about 7mins to go in the third he called a border line hooking infraction on Braves captain Jarrett Anderson that hadn't been a penalty for the first 53mins of the game. When Houston capitalized on the opportunity he glared over to see Anderson's reaction and upon "catching him" clapping at the houston marker he gave Jarrett a misconduct, ejecting him from the game. I hope this ref who shall remain unnamed, was looking for a reaction because he was insecure about his call and not because he is insecure about his position or because his ego had taken over. Then after the game when one of the Braves coaches skipped shaking his hand (a bush league move if you ask me) he got into a shouting match with coaching staff for all to see as everyone exited the ice. Not very professional from a ref with these kind of credentials. Refs to certain degree are held to a higher standard as they are the police in our rinks and shouldn't let themselves be drug into the slums for all to see. We need to have respect for one another out there, even if someone is having a horrible off night, and deal with these issues behind closed doors. Refs are our embassadors and it undermines everyone that works so hard to ligitimize the CIHL when one of them is acting like a spoiled child at center ice, not to mention the coaches (but everyone already knows they're spoiled children). On a side note there was a good tilt near the end of the game that saw one of the Weber brothers absolutely destroy Dallas Anderson. I don't think Anderson got a punch off never mind land anything and needed reminding exactly where he was afterwords. Anyway if these teams meet in the playoffs book the trip, it'll be worth it.

Mr Hardy I was the ref at this game on Saturday night. I disagree with your comment on the hooking call. From my view it was a scoring chance in front of the net that was denied by a hook.
I do agree however that I should have handled the coach situation with more professionalism. We teach and are taught to handle disrespect with respect and in the heat of the moment I dropped my gaurd and fired back. It was not my intent to disresect the CIHL in any way. To the fans that were offended I am sorry I should have delt with it behind closed doors.
With exception of the last 4 minutes I felt the game was not a gong show. It had hard hits, break away goals, penalty shot and a couple of fights if you like that kind of stuff.
In closing I would to wish both the Braves and the Luckies luck in their chase for a birth in the Coy Cup.

Everyone has an off night, but without a doubt, Korey is one of the best this league has to offer. He does get heated with coaches and players sometimes, but usually in defence of his linesmen. He takes the verbal abuse better then any other official in the league. This league is extremely lucky to have the Korey Martins, Eric Martins and Jim Storeys. Next time you go west you'll be reminded of how good these guys really are.

Having said all that, I'm not suggesting this weekends game was one of his best, I wasn't there to see it, but generally speaking nobody in the CIHL comes close to these three.

Mr. Martens perhaps I was a little harsh. I would agree most of the game was not a gong show and the way that it was called would not have changed the eventual outcome. My point about the hooking call was less about the minor penalty and more about the ejection. Anyone who knows Jarrett would be surprised to hear he landed a misconduct and it may be his first one ever. We all have bad days at work, the difference is that yours are on display for all to see (a proposition I do not envy) and they are set in a heated emotional environment. With the reputation you've established I'm sure that this was just an off night and I'm glad to see you have an open mind and a good atitude. We can all learn from this kind of situation and going forword hopefully treat each other with the kind of respect we deserve. I look forword to seeing you in the rink again some day.

Well done Korey!!!
Referees continually get sh!t rammed down their throats in this league and it's about time someone shows that they've had enough. Korey is the best official in the league, one who has tons of experience from several hundred junior games that he has been involved in. I have worked several games with Korey over the years and he is the ultimate professional both on and off the ice, the training and mentoring he does with the younger officials is unreal. It's funny how the players can act like complete retards (not talking about Anderson in this case) and flip out and treat the officials like absolute sh!t, and when an official stands up for himself, he's the bad guy..and gets sh!t on even more. I know, as Korey mentions, that they're trained to be the better man in those situations, but they can only do it for so long before they say enough with the bullsh!t

Good job Korey....Brother!!!!