Thunder/Officials Snap Generals Winning Streak

The Gens headed to Airdrie Friday night for a rematch against the Thunder. The Generals were looking to move to 15-0 on the season and extend their winning streak. The first period was full of end to end action with both teams firing plenty of shots at the opposing goalies but the opening period produced no scoring. The Generals found themselves short handed 3 times in the period but were able to kill all of them. The first period wrapped up with the Thunder outshooting the Generals 17-14.

The Generals finally opened the scoring 1:06 into the second. Mike Matlo one-timed his league leading 20th goal of the season on a great feed from Kris Keller. Only 1:11 later, Keller and Matlo hooked up again for a great chance in front and Jay Labelle was in perfect position to roof the rebound for his 11th of the season. The same culprits extended the lead to 3-0 when Labelle buried his second of the night with Matlo and Keller picking up the helpers. The Generals were taking the play to the Thunder when the Referees decided to put their stamp on this hockey game. With 18 seconds remaining in the second period, with the Generals on the powerplay, the Thunder cleared the puck into the Generals' zone directly at goaltender Kenny Quinn. The puck took an odd bounce just as it reached the net and rolled down Quinn's pad coming to rest right on the goal line. Quinn calmly swatted the puck away and the period came to an end. The Generals thought they had a 3 goal lead heading into the 3rd but the officiating crew had different ideas. One of the linesman claimed he saw the puck horseshoe around the back of the net, despite being 100 feet from the goal at the time. The referee decided to agree with this claim and award the Thunder their first goal of the game. This was only the beginning of the officiating debacle that this game turned out to be.  

The 3rd period, much to the chagrin of the Generals players and coaching staff, started 3-1. Only 2:21 into the period the Thunder reduced that lead to only one on a Ryan Russel point shot. The Generals kept pouring on the pressure but the Thunder, thanks to some exceptional goaltending, still remained down by one. At the 13:35 mark of the third period the same linesman who made the call on the first goal, missed yet another blatant call. The Generals made a clearing attempt from their defensive zone and the Thunder defensman tried keeping the puck in the zone. Despite his best efforts it was extremely obvious to everyone, except the linesman, that the puck had completely exited the Generals zone. The Thunder defenseman, seeing that the puck had cleared the zone, sheepishly threw the puck on net and the seeing eye shot found its way to the back of the net. Despite the pleas from the Generals players the referee once again sided with his painfully incompetent linesman. With the score now 3-3 the Generals still pressed on looking to regain their lead. In the final period they fired a staggering 17 shots on the Thunder goaltender but failed to find the net. With only 3:30 left in the 3rd the Thunder completed the comeback as another point shot found its way past a screened Kenny Quinn. The Generals pulled their goalie and did their best to equalize but the buzzer finally sounded putting an end to their perfect season. 

Often the claim of poor officiating is merely a feeble excuse for a poor effort, but in the case of Friday’s game the officials truly did cost the Generals the game. It’s frustrating for all involved in the game that every person is held responsible for their actions on the ice, except for referees. When players, coaches, and even fans break the rules or act inappropriately during a game, they are held accountable, but when referees do their job like they have blindfolds on there is no way for them to be held accountable. The Thunder may disagree with this claim, but even they know that they stole two points Friday Night. Final shots were Generals 46 - Thunder 36 The Gens went 1/3 on the PP, and 5/5 on the PK. The player of the game was Kris Keller who had 3 assists on the night.