When you take your hand off of the stick and smash someone's head into the glass with your elbow: that's a penalty. When
you hit someone from behind and send them head first into the boards: that's a penalty. When you palm the back of someone's
head and make them eat the crossbar: that's a penalty. All of the above is true until you cross into the officiating Twilight
Zone known as San Diego County.
Sunday morning, the Ventura Mariners Killer Bees kicked off the pre-season
with a crack-of-dawn match against the Jr. Gulls. Early on it became apparent it was going to be one of "those kind of games".
Josh Kuchinski bumped into a Gull and got called for charging. He didn't knock the kid over. He didn't change his direction.
It was incidental contact. After the whistle, one of the Jr. Gulls hammered a Mariner and whacked him on the head with his
stick. No call. Moments later, Killian Anderson got nailed from behind and was sent violently into the half-boards. He didn't
even have the puck. No call. I can't even tell you how many times Blake Burlew got punched and elbowed in the head. I left
my abacus at home.
Despite all of this nonsense, the Mariners held tough in the first period. They
traded chances with the Gulls and put some serious offensive pressure on. Luke Tickle and Jason Hart had some glorious scoring
opportunities. Cheating in from the blueline, Patrick Dalton unleashed a monster slapshot that the goalie just got a piece
of. Gianluca Allen was peppered with shots, but stood tall in the net. The Jr. Gulls put up two in the period, but the Mariners
were still in the game.
The second period was a different story. All of the head contact and cheapshots
started to take their toll. The Mariners got tentative. They started to concede the pucks in the corner because they didn't
want to kiss the glass. They got rid of the puck carelessly rather than take a shot to the chops. Consequently, the Jr. Gulls
ran wild putting up three more goals. As the period came to a close, the officiating reared it's ugly head again. A Jr. Gull
player, obliterated Jason Hart away from the play. They actually called it, but unfortunately Jason retaliated with a slash.
Here's where it gets kind of weird. It looked to me like Jason whacked the kid on the butt. The kid didn't react to the slash
for several seconds. He looked at the ref and when he realized they got the retaliation he slowly went down to the ice clutching
either his hand or his leg. After a while the player then looked like he was holding his neck. This kid may have been legitimately
hurt, but it certainly looked suspicious. The officials got together and ended up tossing Jason from the game. I'm not defending
the slash. It was wrong, but it should have been a double minor: one for the retaliation and one for the injury. I've never
heard of a kid getting the gate for a slash below the waist.
Coach Sergey, unhappy with his team's
effort, had the kids skate boards during the intermission. I guess they got the message. Conor Gleason got the puck in front
of the Gull's net. He was in prime scoring position and nobody in their right mind would have blamed him for taking the shot.
Somehow, he had the vision to see Brian Zacchia at the side of the crease with an open net. He popped the puck over and Brian
chipped it in. It was such a pretty goal that some of the San Diego parents were cheering. I thought they were just being
good sports, but it turns out they thought their team scored. Somebody should tell them teams change sides every period.
With
the shutout broken, the Mariners finally started playing with a sense of urgency. Corey Werden had a nice chance, and Killian
just missed on the wrap-around. Shane Heller started fore-checking like a madman. Niko Utash (he dropped the "V" for political reasons)
created some turnovers and JB Lovelace led the rush up ice. Goalie Mark Becica, coming in relief, was nothing short of brilliant.
He stopped break-aways, stoned two-on-ones, and stood on his head to keep the puck out. As great as the boys played in the
third, it was a little too late. The Gulls won 6-1.
Sure, the reffing was bad, but we've come to
expect that. It probably didn't matter. The Jr. Gulls played better and deserved to win. I just hate the inconsistency in
calls, and it disturbs me when the officials don't take every step possible to protect the kids. As time was winding down
in the game, a Jr. Gull player completely jacked Tom Dobrokhot head-first into the corner. I believe that because the Gulls
were getting away with stuff like that all game long, their player thought nothing of it. It was unnecessary and dangerous.
Not long after, Cameron Torres was tying up a stick in front of his net and went off for hooking. That's the way these jokers
called the game.
This was only the first preseason game. The Mariners had their moments and we have
all season to catch these guys. The biggest problem I saw was lack of physical play. Killian knocked the stuffing out of a
kid with an open-ice hit and Patrick was laying the smackdown all over the place, but that was about it. Everyone else was
just poking at the puck with their stick. We can't have a team where the smallest guys are the biggest hitters. Hitting opens
the ice up. Hitting wins puck battles and creates turnovers. Absorbing a hit keeps the play alive.
I
opened with a statement that it was just going to be one of "those" games. Nothing sums it up more than TJ Samuel's day. Due
to a "wardrobe malfunction" #00 missed the entire first period. As soon as he stepped on the ice, a Gulls player lost an edge
and TJ got called for tripping. When he got back on the ice, he had to serve Jason's 5 minute major. As if that wasn't bad
enough he got chased out of the parking lot at the hotel for skateboarding.
