Fists were flying, and so were the sticks and the clipboard Tuesday night at the Civic Centre,as the Battlefords North Stars dropped a 5-4 decision on home ice to the Kindersley Klippers.
Costly penalties to the North Stars in the second and third periods put the team behind the 8-ball against the Klippers, who scored three third-period goals including two powerplay markers to complete their comeback. The turning point was the goal scored by the Klippers' Johnny Calkins on the two-man advantage, to make the score 3-3 early in the third period.
It was downhill from that point on for the North Stars during what proved to be a tense and fight-filled game at the Civic Centre - one that North Stars' coaches and players felt was marred by one-sided officiating. Twenty penalties were called against the Stars compared to eight for Kindersley, and the Klippers also enjoyed 10 powerplay opportunities compared to two for the North Stars.
The North Stars' frustrations boiled over after Blake Tatchell was apparently tripped by the Klippers while on a breakaway in the third period. No penalty call was made, though, and that set off the North Stars' bench.
With 3:51 remaining and the scoreboard reading 5-3 for Kindersley, a furious coach Ken Pearson yelled at the officials and hurled water bottles and his clipboard far across the ice from the bench. He then hoisted up several hockey sticks and hurled them onto the ice, and tossed some other items before leaving the playing area.
The frustrations of others over the officiating were evident as well at this point, as one North Stars' player was heard yelling at the officials. It was one of several similar confrontations between the players and the officials in the game.
Pearson's ejection, gross misconduct, may have fired up his team, as Blake Tatchell scored with 1:46 left while the North Stars once again had a player sitting in the penalty box. Cody Folstad was in the box for unsportsmanlike conduct, the North Stars' 19th penalty of the game.
Despite chances in the closing seconds the home team was unable to get the tying goal. Not surprisingly, when the final horn sounded emotions boiled over again and officials were again restraining players from fighting. Colin Phaneuf was called for roughing with no time on the clock to wrap up a rough night for the North Stars, still mired in fifth place in the Bauer Conference with a 15-20-1-1 record.
Assistant coach Blair Atcheynum, who was left to coach the remainder of the third period after Pearson was tossed, said one-sided officiating was the reason why the North Stars' emotions boiled over.
"We felt that (referee Alan) Smith wasn't giving our kids the opportunity to compete," said Atcheynum. "It gets a little frustrating. I thought for the most part we worked hard. It was a 5-4 game - really, we still had a chance to win. But for the most part it was out of our hands tonight."
The end of the game overshadowed the storylines and circumstances surrounding the start of it, as the Klippers came into North Battleford fresh off of coaching and management turmoil. Larry Wintoneak had parted ways with the Klippers after serving as the head coach, and Rockie Zinger was behind the bench in his first game as Klippers coach Tuesday.
The changes might have had an unsettling effect on the Klippers early in Tuesday's game, as the North Stars scored 14 seconds in on a Tim Rollins goal from Travis Cech. But the Klippers got better as the game went on and finally tied the game on Andrew Dommett's goal at 11:51 of the first period.
Kyle Hall then seemed to take the game over for the North Stars in the second period, scoring two goals to lead the North Stars to a 3-1 lead. One was scored on the powerplay.
But Dommett scored from Braeden Adamyk and Calkins to make it 3-2 late in the second, and then two penalties put the North Stars in a deep hole at the end of the period. Hall was sent to the box for hooking at the 19:19 mark and goaltender Graham Hildebrand got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with one second left in the period.
The penalties carried over into the third period when Calkins tied the score at 3-3 on the powerplay from Sanfred King and Kurt Leedahl just 34 seconds in. It ended up being a four-point night for Calkins overall.
Ryan Benn then beat Hildebrand at the 2:08 mark to give the Klippers a 4-3 lead. It was downhill from there for the Battlefords, as they seemed to lose their composure and temper.
Brody Luhning of the Stars got a two-minute instigator penalty, five minutes for fighting and a ten-minute misconduct penalty at the 5:51 mark for his tilt with the Klippers' Cody Lund, who also got five minutes for fighting and a ten-minute misconduct. It was the second fighting major of the game, coming on the heels of a tilt between Boyd Wakelin and Tanner Kissick of the Klippers in the second period.
Another penalty, this time to Chris Neurauter of the North Stars, led to Dommett's hat trick goal to make it 5-3 at the 8:54 mark of the period. It was after this goal that coach Pearson called a time out to try and calm things down.
No dice, as players seemed increasingly frustrated in the third period. Woody Klassen went off at 14:11 for another 10-minute misconduct penalty, leading up to the Pearson stick-throwing incident and ejection.
Tatchell's shorthanded goal gave the North Stars a momentary lift, but Klippers goaltender Sean Cahill snuffed out the last remaining North Stars' chances to preserve the victory. In total, the Klippers out shot the North Stars 39-35.
Atcheynum agreed that the two-man disadvantage situation was a turning point of sorts. "It got the ball rolling for Kindersley, that's for sure," he said, noting the North Stars were still able to rebound after that. "We got one late and made a game of it again."
As for the possibility that the SJHL league office would levy suspensions as a result of what transpired, Atcheynum said it remained to be seen. "It's out of our hands, I don't know."
In addition to Pearson, who could receive a suspension, Tony Oak faced possible suspension for goaltender interference and game misconduct penalties called against him shortly after.
Atcheynum said despite the loss the team needs to put it behind them and look forward to the two remaining games on the schedule before Christmas. They were scheduled to play Flin Flon Thursday and Nipawin Saturday.
"Tomorrow's a new day and we need to go back to work," said Atcheynum.
