Rangers too much for Regals to handle

Mac Olsen
South Peace News

Cannon Cunningham did not have a good night in net for the High Prairie Regals Nov. 3, as the Spirit River Rangers put the puck passed him seven times, including three shorthanded goals. But Cunningham wasn’t the only one having troubles, as three other Regals players sustained injuries, and still others got into fights. Both teams suffered penalties early in the first period, but they killed them. Craig Venhola put the Rangers on the board near the nine-minute mark, skating to the doorstep and slipping it in. Matt Gorman assisted on the play. Three minutes later, during four-on-four play, Murray Willier suffered a left knee injury while trying to check a Rangers player. But he managed to play a couple of more shifts after this. Brad Kennedy put a goal in the top shelf for the Rangers at the 15-minute mark of play. Matt Gorman and Trevor Mazurek assisted. The Rangers were ahead 2-0 at the end of the first period. Brad Kennedy got his second goal of the game early in the second period. He approached the net, pulled the trigger and fired it past Cunningham. Mazrek and Gorman assisted on this play. The Rangers were now ahead 3-0. The Regals had a five-on-three opportunity just a couple of minutes later, and they moved the puck around and made a couple of shots. But they were stopped and the Rangers killed the penalties. Near the 12-minute mark, the Regals had to contend with another injury. Jay Ernst hit Rondy Gauchier and a Spirit River player. Gauchier suffered an injury to his right arm, and he was helped to the bench. Gauchier was out of the game, and Ernst received a two-minute penalty for charging. But the Regals killed the penalty, and started to make a comeback. In a two-on-one, Justin Paul passed the puck to Darin Konelsky, who slipped the puck in. However, the Rangers scored again with only five seconds remaining in the second period. Tim Blake skated to the doorstep and put the puck in during a delayed penalty. Donny Lloyd and Brad Kennedy assisted. The Rangers were ahead 4-1 at the end of the second period. Tempers flared on both teams in the third period, resulting in several fights and major penalties. Five minutes in, and with the Rangers shorthanded, Craig Venhola took the puck down on a breakaway opportunity and fired it into the net. He was unassisted on this play. Then the Regals briefly had another five-on-three opportunity, but they failed to capitalize on it and the Rangers killed both penalties. During this time, Jarod Okemow of the Regals went down on the ice with a Charlie Horse in his upper right leg, and he was out for the rest of the game. Rollie Gladue of the Regals and Trevor Mazurek of the Rangers got into a fight at the same time. Gladue received five minutes for fighting and a game misconduct. Mazurek received two minutes for instigating a fight, five minutes for fighting and a game misconduct. A short time later, during another shorthand situation for the Rangers, Colin Lefley took the puck on a breakaway opportunity, and he slipped it in the net. Mike Lefley and Donny Lloyd assisted on this play. Another fight broke out near the 14-minute mark, this time between Jay Ernst of the Regals and D.J. Barbarich of the Rangers. However, only Barbarich received penalties, including four minutes for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct. The Rangers were in another shorthanded situation again, and again they scored. Tim Blake got control of the puck following a face-off, and he fired a shot, but Cunningham stopped it. However, Blake was there for the rebound, and it went in. He was unassisted on this play. The Regals managed to score one power-play goal near the 15-minute mark. Lawrence Anderson passed the puck to Tyler Shantz, who put it in. Moments later, Colin Lefley of the Rangers received a 10-minute misconduct and he was sent to the dressing room. But this wasn’t the last of the major penalties. Justin Paul of the Regals and Brock Clement of the Rangers got into a fight in last 30 seconds of the game. Both players received five minutes for fighting and a game misconduct. The clock was allowed to run out, and the Rangers won the game by a score of 7-2. Shots on goal were 37-22 in favour of the Rangers. The Regals were one for 17 on the power play. The Regals’ coach, Brian Martinson, comments that what killed his team was the delayed penalty near the end of the second period. The team couldn’t recover after that. To deal with the injuries, Coach Martinson plans to call in Dave Baroldi and Shane Smith who played for the Regals last year, as well as Rocky Collins. The High Prairie Regals (1-1-0-0) will host the Falher Pirates (0-0-0-0) Nov. 8 and the Peace River Stampeders (1-2-0-0) Nov. 10.

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