The Tommies lost more than just the game against Saint Mary's this afternoon, falling 4 to 0. The first period saw three Tommies felled by injuries. Dave Crossman left the game with a reported upper body injury, Tyler Dietrich was knocked out with a possible rib injury, and Charles Lavigne had to be helped off the ice after an apparent groin pull late in the frame. No word on the severity of the injuries.
After a scoreless first period SMU took control scoring 2 goals in the second and another 2 goals in the third. The Huskies were 2 for 10 on the PP and STU was 0 for 7. There was no flow to the game but acknowledging the Tommies were out played, the referee Jeff Hopkins was the star attraction calling a total of 24 penalties including a bizarre hit to the head call to Corey Banfield over a minute after the so called infraction took place.
Ben MacFarlane did yeoman like duty replacing Lavigne in net facing 28 shots over 2 periods. Final shots on goal 39 to 21 for SMU. The Tommies remain in 6th spot in the AUS standings, three points up on Dalhousie and Moncton.
Daily Gleaner: Woeful weekend for STU
Hopefully all those injured are going to be Ok.This weekend just seem to go from bad to worse.I am glad it is November and not Feb.Although if it was Feb ,we would definitly be in the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteI would give back my share of the 50/50 draw I haveto get a couple of points this weekend.
The referees in this league are the worse.
Yankees win/Oilslick
i agree with the officiating. Both STU and SMU would get hit and the referee would call it off the reaction, and nothing else. Like Matt Eagles gets clipped, but the arm didnt go up until after he looked at the ref. Same with Hawes from SMU. He lost control of the game. Banfield gets a head check no one in the rink except for Trevor Steinberg sees and took them 5 minutes to call it.
ReplyDeleteAlmost got hit by a shard of glass from Erick Tremblay. To add insult to injury, he cuts himself on the play.
~Tommies Video Guy~
I'm not sure why the referee took so long to make the call, and I'm not sure how he can make the call so late, but Banfield drove Cody Thorton's head right into the glass and stanchion right in front of me, and Cory clearly deserved the penalty that he eventually got. I was surprised, because I've never seen Banfield do anything like that before, and I wouldn't of expected such a cheap shot from him.
ReplyDeleteDavid, SMU was in the middle of a change and there was a big crowd on the change and the referee nor did the linesmen saw it. I think you and Steinberg were the only ones that did. I just saw they were changing lines and I was following the puck.
ReplyDelete~Tommies Video Guy~
That is a very good point - SMU was making the line change so there were lots of bodies between the bench and the officials, while Bill Hunt and I were only a couple of rows back from the ice with no one in front of us. Now that I rethink it, I can understand better why the ref didn't see the hit.
ReplyDeleteNo...I was there too (sitting with David) and Banfield blindsided him with a high elbow...pretty tough to miss from where I was. There was a lot of traffic, but it was a legitimate call -- eventually.
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect, Corey Banfield is 160 pounds soaking wet and 5'10". The play happened right in front of the referee and Banfield skated the puck out. If Corey hit him you can rest assured that it was unintentional and had his arms up to protect himself in high traffic. If it is that bad the AUS will get the tape and something will be done.
ReplyDeleteSo if the Ref is standing right there, doesn't see it, why didn't the linesman (that supposedly did see it) call it right away?
Take away all the wins/loss talk, there have been some horribly refereed games...HORRIBLE.
Thornton is listed at five foot 10, 165, Banfield had momentun and intent, Thornton's body was relaxed as he was ending a shift on a line change. Not saying it malicious on Banfield's part, he's not that kind of player. But he had a chance to make a big hit and he took it. To infer that it couldn't hurt very much because he's five foot nine and 160 pounds is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteShould the Tommies have perhaps NOT played this weekend and re-scheduled if that many players had been sick with flu. Ever try to do anyhing that physical after suffering from the flu - your whole body is like jelly.
ReplyDelete^There wouldnt have been time to reschedule the two games in the season. You have to think about ice time with other groups and travel arrangements and stuff. They should play better next weekend after they get this week to heal up.
ReplyDelete~Tommies Video Guy~
I wondered about the wisdom of a team with 11 guys with various degrees of the flu playing two games in less than 24 hours. Tough turnaround time from 7 p.m. one night to 3 p.m. the next afternoon. I can appreciate how compressed the schedule would be, but that kind of turnaround is tough enough for a team in good health let alone a team -- or both teams -- dragging with the flu.
ReplyDeleteYou have concur with the flu issues. If teams are decimated with players out, the games should be rescheduled. Good God, do they really need to break from Dec. 4 to Jan 2? I appreciate mid-terms and the like, but why risk a person's health for the sake of a hockey game. As for what happened on the ice in the game between STU and SMU, Banfield's hit was totally uncalled for and characteristic of a team that has a tendency to 'hurt' people when they fall hopelessly behind. It's a reflection of coach Mike Eagles, who obviously has no control of his players. Happened to read his negative remarks about his players in the paper the next day. What kind of coach does that? Those words should be spoken in no uncertain terms in the dressing room. Make the point, but keep it internal. Eagles might have been a good player in his day and nobody questioned his work ethic, but as a coach dealing with 20 individuals, he's yet to measure up. And that's why his teams haven't been very successful. Reverting to cheap shots and using the term frustration to justify it is unacceptable. Grow up.
ReplyDeleteMike Eagles is in my view a good coach and doing a fine job.He is there to coach,what happens on the ice is up to his players.I am sure he doesn't coach them to go out and make bonehead plays to try and lose games. No player intentionally goes out to hurt someone.Corey Banfield is of no exception.
ReplyDeleteIt is a long break for Christmas and it would be a good time for make-up games.
If the referees were a little bit kinder to STU ,things like this may stop.
Yankees win,Ti-Cats fan,Oilslick
Eagles coaching has been in question for the past two years. Yes players are in control of themselves on the ice, but coaches are ultimately responsible. I have read several posts questioning him being both the AD and coach. I will leave that open for discussion, but the last coach to hold both positions at STU felt he was untouchable.....end of story.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that having both jobs is a problem.He is fine at both of them.I go to other STU sports and he is there alot.
ReplyDeleteThe coach is there to coach,how the players use what they are taught is up to them.They are not kids.I think there was more to the other AD story.
Yankees win/Tiger-cats fan/Oilslick
Say what you may, Oilslick, but the coach is responsible for the actions of his players. The Banfield incident and the undisciplined play that followed isn't just an isolated case. It seems to be a problem with the Tommies and has been for some time. I remember last year one of the worst offenders for taking stupid penalties was Justin Roy, and Eagles made him the team captain. The guy was a skating (barely) penalty waiting to be called. And he's the captain of the team. Eagles no doubt knows his hockey, but his job is to get his players to clue in. Look at the elite teams in the Atlantic Conference. You don't see players running all over the place taking cheap shots. Frustration is one thing and for an isolated incident, understandable. It's when it's game after game after game that you start to raise an eyebrow or two. The Dal Tigers are the same way. They take way too many stupid penalties. Read the newspaper story about their game with UNB last week and it seemed like they spent the whole third period in the penalty box. That looks bad on their coach (Belliveau) too. No wonder these teams finish near the bottom of the standings. They continually beat themselves.
ReplyDeleteSt. Thomas and UNB had almost identical penalty numbers last year except UNB had one more major and one less 10 minute misconduct.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to penalties for STU they get more calls for hooking and slashing then big penalties (last year) because by times they got out classed. By no means was it a huge problem. Using Corey Banifield as your poster boy for bad penalties is a tad ignorant. Banfield may have made a mistake against SMU, every player does, but he is a class player. Didn't Hunter Tremblay get kicked out of a finals game a few years back against SMU for checking from behind??? Must be a dirty player?? I'm not condoning anything but ripping by changing the focus of a few penalties to Mike should get control is a little much.
UNB fans proliferate the stupid perception of STU being dirty when in fact UNB has there own little problems.
People can believe whatever they want but your crap I ain't buying.
I love how it's always assumed that the only ones who rip STU and their players are UNB fans.
ReplyDelete^^Because mostly its true.
ReplyDeleteAbout Mike making negative comments in the paper about his team, they interview him after the game when he is at his most heated. They dont wait till hes sitting at home relaxing. And if my team did stupid stuff on ice, i would call them out too. Look at pro sports, coaches do it all the time.
"Look at the elite teams in the Atlantic Conference. You don't see players running all over the place taking cheap shots. Frustration is one thing and for an isolated incident, understandable"
Jon Harty much. All he does is take runs at people at takes cheap shots. I look at the game sheets when the games are over and i see Harty taking penalties at the end of the game or near the end when unb has a lead. THATS undisicplined hockey. Not Banfield being a one time offender.
~Tommies Video Guy~
The routine after the game is as follows: we usually go to the visitor's dressing room first to talk to coaches and players from that side (they're packing up, in a hurry to leave, etc). Then we go down to the Tommies' room.
ReplyDeleteWe wait outside the room until Brad Shephard or Doc Feeney come out and ask us who we'd like to talk to and they get the player out of the room for us.
The interview with Mike is done either just before we talk to players or just after. But he has plenty of time to cool off and collect his thoughts. We don't barge into his office. We're invited in.
I, for one, appreciate Mike's candor in his post game comments. He doesn't rant. He's usually very measured and very matter of fact. He gives an honest answer, not the cliches you get from many coaches.
I don't interpret it as "Calling his players out in the paper."
I don't think he says anything to the paper that he doesn't say to the players. Some coaches use the media to make their point -- Mike is not like that. He's an honest, candid man and coach. I respect him a great deal for that.
Banfield isn't the focal point here. For the most part, he's a decent, hard-working hockey player who is not prone to the cheap shot. Some of other Tommies are more inclined to get a little more rowdy, especially when the score gets out of hand. I've been a loyal Tommie follower for years and I've seen this team self-destruct more often than I would have liked. Al MacAdam also had a problem with it from time to time. The coaching needs to curb that kind of behaviour. If Mike Eagles doesn't want players out there running around, he can make sure they won't, simply, by reserving a spot on the bench if they do. But not Mike Eagles apparently. He made Justin Roy the captain last year and he WAS the poster boy for the undisciplined side of the Tommies. Don't you think that sends a pretty strong message about the kind of hockey he wants out there?
ReplyDeleteIs the insinuation here that Mike made Justin Captain because he took stupid penalties? It shouldn't be. He was made captain because he was the only 3rd, 4th, or 5th year guy on the team. Justin responded by playing the most disciplined hockey of his career.
ReplyDeleteOf course, not. But the fact of the matter, Justin had a tendency to take a lot of irresponsible penalties and a lot of times, they would come at inopportune times. That's not to say he wasn't a character player because he always seemed to be giving a pretty good effort out there. But the penalties were plentiful and damaging. I don't think a player who plays that way should be the team captain. Sure, there were a lot of young players on that team and perhaps Mike was rewarding Justin for his length of time with the team. If the previous post is reading into these comments that Mike named Justin captain "because he took stupid penalties,'' then he is misreading what is being said. Teams tend to reflect their coaches/captains. If the captain is prone to take penalties, others tend to follow that example. That's all. Eagles as a former NHL player should realize that. It was an error in judgement in this fan's opinion. Others may disagree. That's the beauty of watching and following this league. BTW, I notice that Mr. Hunt in his post might have felt that the media was being criticized for quoting Eagles. No reflection on the media in any way or form. They're just doing their job. I've followed university hockey for a long time and I really enjoy the Gleaner's writers. I always glean lots of information from Bruce Hallihan's pre-season assessment and I know Dave Ritchie has a great respect for university hockey because he's told me that several times. I used to play road hockey against Dave when the Social Services boys used to square off and we had several interesting chats about what was going on in university hockey. The Gleaner is a great supporter and both UNB and STU should feel fortunate for their coverage.
ReplyDeleteBack to Eagles holding both positions. My point with that is simply, who is he answerable to as a coach? Fans, alumni, STU money people? Simply stated if Mike feels it is a good idea as a coach, then mike as AD probably thinks it's a good idea too. One older pro coach who was between coaching jobs was asked he if was going to take a position that was on the table for him. He said that coaches are hired to be fired. He felt that he still had a few good years of coaching left, but he didn't know if he was prepared to be fired again. (Bill Hunt will probably give you the name of the coach) STU has been there before with a former coach and it took an uprising from "rum row" to make the change.
ReplyDeleteJustin Roy did not take alot of pentalies last season. Cory Banfield is not a cheap shot player,never has been. Sorry I will never agree that Mike is responsible for what happens on theice.He does not go around telling his players to do stupid things.
ReplyDeleteOilslick
I don't think that anyone is saying that Mike comes right out and literally tells his players to do stupid things but isn't he in a way condoning this type of behaviour by not punishing a player when something like this happens. Mike, or any other coach for that matter, is responsible for his player's actions on the ice, maybe not 100% but in part. Mike needs to send a very clear message that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated, not by a first-timer or a repeat-offender. If he doesn't, then incidents like this one will continue to occur. If you're of the opinion that they are already re-occurring, then what does that tell you?
ReplyDelete^^I think this is the first suspendable action taken by a Tommie player this season. So how is Mike responsible? Its not like he told Banny to hit Thornton's head
ReplyDelete~Tommies Video Guy~
TVG,
ReplyDeleteWould you agree that from this point forward, then, that Mike has a responsibility to do whatever he can to ensure that this type of incident doesn't happen again?
Fair or otherwise, Mike Eagles is the head coach. He is responsible for his players. He has to set the example. In this fan's opinion, he has failed to do so. His recruiting record is suspect at best, and the way his teams perform on the ice leaves a lot to be desired more often than not. As long as we get inconsistency on and off the ice which seems to be the case with this group, the Tommies will be a bottom-tier club in this conference. For a lot of fans, that might be enough. But not for this fan who remembers much better times at the LBR.
ReplyDelete