First Period
Phoenix started the period well and with just over two minutes gone, Cingel had a chance to give Phoenix the early lead following a great pass from Hand, but the puck was clipped just over the top of the net and out of play. A minute later, Duggan and Long paired up and went on the breakaway but their hard work didn't pay off and the game remained goalless. It didn't take long for the Steeldogs to find their "usual" form and at 3:24 Harabin and Elliot found themselves sitting out for 2 minutes in the penalty box following a few handbags. The 4 on 4 play didn't help Phoenix and after 3 seconds, Steeldogs took the lead courtesy of ex-Phoenix player, Greg Wood. Things started to go from bad to worse for Phoenix and at 4:15, following an error in the defence, Steeldogs extended the lead following a shot from Ozolins which went straight through Fone legs and into the back of the net. At 5:12, much to the Phoenix fans delight, Payette got a 10 minute penalty for misconduct, which I can only assume was for mouthing off at the referee. Whilst Payette was out of the game, Phoenix decided to take advantage of the situation and stormed the Steeldogs net. Unfortunately Bowns was playing to his usual high standard and stopped pretty much anything that came at him. Faith had a great chance to score Phoenix's first goal of the night, but he couldn't get his stick to it fast enough and yet again Bowns covered the puck up to get the whistle. At 15:34, Long landed a sneaky slash to Gomeniuk and as there was a small matter of that kneeing incident at the beginning of the season, both players dropped the gloves. Following a couple of punches, both coming from Long, Gomeniuk hung on to him and they both ended up on the ice. Not really a "hulk smash" but good enough for me!
Not a great start for Phoenix, we started well but as soon as there was an incident it seemed to knock the momentum out of the players. It was obvious that the Phoenix defence was still struggling without Spelda and a couple of errors had resulted in the Steeldogs goals. Bowns, as always. was looking very good in net and no matter what the Phoenix forwards did there didn't seem to be anyway past him. Payette was his usual self and getting under the skin of the Phoenix players causing tempers to flare, which is exactly what he wants and gets me very frustrated! I have seen Phoenix comes back from more than 2 goals down before and I was hopeful that the second period would see at least two Phoenix goals to tie the game.
Goals - Steeldogs 3:27 - Wood - Assists - Payette, Gomeniuk, Steeldogs 4:15 - Ozolins - Assists - Bebris, Gomeniuk
Second Period
The second period started pretty much where the first left off with Steeldogs still frustrating Phoenix and getting under their skin. Unfortunately the hockey took a back seat in this period as the dirty play started to appear from the Steeldogs (mainly Payette) and some controversial decisions by the referee resulting in a lot of angry Phoenix fans (including myself!) The first came after Johnson was brought down on a breakaway after he had become one on one with Bowns. The referee didn't call anything! I wasn't expecting a penalty shot but the Steeldogs' player definitely deserved to take a seat for it. The next came from what I can only describe as the most disgusting and dangerous play I have ever seen in my time watching hockey. Payette's "hit" to Boothroyd was more like a wrestling move and Boothroyd was clothes-lined to the ice! To be honest it knocked me sick. I thought that Boothroyd would be taken off on a stretcher with a broken neck. What made it worse is that he got away with it! It just shows that he has absolutely no respect for anyone apart from himself. Payette used to play with Boothroyd and he still thinks that this is an "acceptable" move to pull on anyone, never mind an ex-team mate. Despite all this there was a Phoenix goal in this period (a power play one at that!) and after a lot of complaining from Bowns and the rest of the Steeldogs (no surprise there!) the goal was finally awarded to Harabin. Unfortunately not long after this the Steeldogs extended their lead and Greg Wood scored his second of the night.
End of the second and the Steeldogs were still leading 3-1. Phoenix were looking tired and as much as I hate to say it the Steeldogs defence was making it very difficult for Phoenix to string any passes together in their zone. Steeldogs looked hungry for the win but they will get no respect or praise for the way they were going about it. I personally think that Payette should have been suspended/banned for the clothes-line to Boothroyd. If Boothroyd had been seriously injured I have no doubt that Payette would have been marched off the ice but just because he wasn't hurt doesn't mean that he shouldn't be penalised for it. If he keeps getting away with it, he'll keep doing it until someone has the balls to do something about it. Ok...rant over!
Goals - Phoenix 34:27 - Harabin, Assist - Hand (powerplay), Steeldogs 35:38 - Wood, Assists - Ozolins, Payette
Third Period
Phoenix appeared to come out fighting for this period and created some good chances which, yet again, we were unable to finish. The best chance came from Cingel but the puck couldn't find it's way past Bowns toe and Faith couldn't get his stick on the rebound. A breakaway from Hand gave Phoenix their next chance. This time Hand was tripped by Gomuniuk and a penalty shot was awarded. Unfortunately he just missed and Steeldogs still had the lead. At 54:33, Steeldogs again extended their lead when Ozolins managed to slide the puck into the back of the net for his second of the night. With 20 seconds left of the game the phrase "if you can't win the game, have a fight" sprang to mind and Hand and Elliot dropped the gloves. If there is one thing I have learnt since watching Phoenix is that you do not mess with Tony when he's angry and this was no different as he was the clear winner! Once Tony had put Elliot on his arse, Elliot resisted the linesmen when they were trying to break them up and so got himself a nice match penalty! Oh dear!
So at the end of the game, the Steeldogs get their first ever win against Phoenix. Phoenix looked tired and were completely off the pace tonight. Phoenix know that the Steeldogs play a physical game and we just weren't up for the fight. To be honest the Steeldogs team has been getting better so it is no surprise that they finally managed a win against us. The Steeldogs deserved the win. However there was absolutely no need for the disgraceful way they went about their game. If they concentrated more on the hockey than "attacking" their opponent they have a decent team. They have some great players, Ozolins is their stand out player for me, but he doesn't need his Payette bodyguard for people to recognise him for his hockey. However with Payette in charge I cannot see their "style" of play changing anytime soon. Greg Wood has become a mini Payette which is such a waste of talent. To be honest I feel sorry for the decent players that actually try and play hockey that have been dragged down with the Payette mentality.
Goals - Steeldogs 54:55 - Ozolins, Assists - Payette, Wood
Final Score - Phoenix 1 - Steeldogs 4
MOM - Phoenix - Harabin, Steeldogs - Wood
Second Period
The second period started pretty much where the first left off with Steeldogs still frustrating Phoenix and getting under their skin. Unfortunately the hockey took a back seat in this period as the dirty play started to appear from the Steeldogs (mainly Payette) and some controversial decisions by the referee resulting in a lot of angry Phoenix fans (including myself!) The first came after Johnson was brought down on a breakaway after he had become one on one with Bowns. The referee didn't call anything! I wasn't expecting a penalty shot but the Steeldogs' player definitely deserved to take a seat for it. The next came from what I can only describe as the most disgusting and dangerous play I have ever seen in my time watching hockey. Payette's "hit" to Boothroyd was more like a wrestling move and Boothroyd was clothes-lined to the ice! To be honest it knocked me sick. I thought that Boothroyd would be taken off on a stretcher with a broken neck. What made it worse is that he got away with it! It just shows that he has absolutely no respect for anyone apart from himself. Payette used to play with Boothroyd and he still thinks that this is an "acceptable" move to pull on anyone, never mind an ex-team mate. Despite all this there was a Phoenix goal in this period (a power play one at that!) and after a lot of complaining from Bowns and the rest of the Steeldogs (no surprise there!) the goal was finally awarded to Harabin. Unfortunately not long after this the Steeldogs extended their lead and Greg Wood scored his second of the night.
End of the second and the Steeldogs were still leading 3-1. Phoenix were looking tired and as much as I hate to say it the Steeldogs defence was making it very difficult for Phoenix to string any passes together in their zone. Steeldogs looked hungry for the win but they will get no respect or praise for the way they were going about it. I personally think that Payette should have been suspended/banned for the clothes-line to Boothroyd. If Boothroyd had been seriously injured I have no doubt that Payette would have been marched off the ice but just because he wasn't hurt doesn't mean that he shouldn't be penalised for it. If he keeps getting away with it, he'll keep doing it until someone has the balls to do something about it. Ok...rant over!
Goals - Phoenix 34:27 - Harabin, Assist - Hand (powerplay), Steeldogs 35:38 - Wood, Assists - Ozolins, Payette
Third Period
Phoenix appeared to come out fighting for this period and created some good chances which, yet again, we were unable to finish. The best chance came from Cingel but the puck couldn't find it's way past Bowns toe and Faith couldn't get his stick on the rebound. A breakaway from Hand gave Phoenix their next chance. This time Hand was tripped by Gomuniuk and a penalty shot was awarded. Unfortunately he just missed and Steeldogs still had the lead. At 54:33, Steeldogs again extended their lead when Ozolins managed to slide the puck into the back of the net for his second of the night. With 20 seconds left of the game the phrase "if you can't win the game, have a fight" sprang to mind and Hand and Elliot dropped the gloves. If there is one thing I have learnt since watching Phoenix is that you do not mess with Tony when he's angry and this was no different as he was the clear winner! Once Tony had put Elliot on his arse, Elliot resisted the linesmen when they were trying to break them up and so got himself a nice match penalty! Oh dear!
So at the end of the game, the Steeldogs get their first ever win against Phoenix. Phoenix looked tired and were completely off the pace tonight. Phoenix know that the Steeldogs play a physical game and we just weren't up for the fight. To be honest the Steeldogs team has been getting better so it is no surprise that they finally managed a win against us. The Steeldogs deserved the win. However there was absolutely no need for the disgraceful way they went about their game. If they concentrated more on the hockey than "attacking" their opponent they have a decent team. They have some great players, Ozolins is their stand out player for me, but he doesn't need his Payette bodyguard for people to recognise him for his hockey. However with Payette in charge I cannot see their "style" of play changing anytime soon. Greg Wood has become a mini Payette which is such a waste of talent. To be honest I feel sorry for the decent players that actually try and play hockey that have been dragged down with the Payette mentality.
Goals - Steeldogs 54:55 - Ozolins, Assists - Payette, Wood
Final Score - Phoenix 1 - Steeldogs 4
MOM - Phoenix - Harabin, Steeldogs - Wood
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