Brett Hopfe, head coach of the Olds Grizzlys, was unhappy with the officiating following a lopsided 10-2 loss at the hands of the Spruce Grove Saints on Nov. 23 in Alberta Junior Hockey League play.
The Saints went four for 11 on the power play and added a short-handed goal during a game in which they outshot the Grizzlys 54-28. There were 11 misconduct penalties combined against both teams. The Grizzlys were down two players four times during the game.
“Reffing ruined the game totally. You can tell when a guy has lost control when he calls all these 10-minute misconducts,” Hopfe said.
It took the Grizzlys until 2:16 of the third period when Dustin Gorgi scored to make the game 7-1.
“I think our guys, for the situation they were in, battled hard and I think that we feel very confident playing against (the Saints) five-on-five. We played extremely well (at even strength) and we did a great job killing (penalties). I think we can carry a lot of confidence into the next time we meet them because of that,” Hopfe said.
The next game against the Saints is on Jan. 11 in Spruce Grove.
The Grizzlys were down 2-0 after the first period, with the Saints holding a four-shot advantage (17-13) after 20 minutes.
“(After) the first period I thought we deserved to be up, or at least tied with them. I thought we played extremely well (and) I thought we did a great job killing (penalties). I thought it was a fair period,” Hopfe said, adding that the game was a learning experience, especially for the younger players.
In other games during the week, the Grizzlys defeated the Lloydminster Bobcats 3-2 on Nov. 22, despite being outshot 39-21. On Nov. 19, the Grizzlys lost 4-3 to the Drumheller Dragons in overtime, but managed to send the game to extra time on a Gorgi goal with 2:45 remaining in the third period.
“(On Nov. 22) I thought we competed hard to get the two points and against Drumheller we were down by a goal with four minutes left in the game and ended up tying it up to get the one point (for an overtime loss),” he said.
Following weekend games the Grizzlys were in seventh place in the south division with 28 points, but were only five points behind the second-place Okotoks Oilers.
