Mariners hopes of advancing to Fred Page Cup final crushed by 4-2 loss

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

The Mariners’ hopes of making it to the final game of the Fred Page Cup were crushed in the semi-final match of the eastern Canadian junior A championship with a 4-2 loss to the host Pictou team.

Yarmouth played a strong first period and the scoring was kept tight until the end of the second, where Yarmouth held a 2-1 lead. But sloppy possession of the puck by the Mariners in the third, and a recharged Crushers after the second intermission, resulted in a different story with Pictou scoring three unanswered goals.

The Mariners suffered from many turnovers, and the players looked tired on the ice in the third. Yet if you asked the hundreds of Yarmouth fans in the stands they were also pointing the finger at another factor in their team’s demise.

Simply put, there was a lot of anger in the stands.

Danny Anger, who was given a major and ejected from the game for checking from behind in the first 25 seconds of play, sat in the stands with his family as the Mariners battled for the win. The fans sat in the stands, angry over the officiating that they felt appeared to favour Pictou.

When a Pictou player checked Ryan Penney, leaving Penney down on the ice – a penalty that looked similar to the one that got Anger ejected – Pictou was only give two minutes in the box.

But what really irked the fans was a call in the second period, with a penalty pending against Pictou. Yarmouth was in control of the puck and was allowed to carry it the full length of the ice, but when the whistle blew at the Pictou net, it was Yarmouth’s Matt Rhymer that was sent to the box for cross checking. There was no Pictou penalty. The fans were dumbfounded.

And throughout the game there were many calls that the fans and Mariners felt should have been made against Pictou, but weren’t.

Which might explain why late in the third period, when a penalty was called again in what was an obvious infraction committed by Pictou, a Yarmouth fan said out loud, “Who’s gonna get that penalty, “ to which another, with a hint of frustration responded, “Probably Klie, it’s anybody’s guess.” Pictou did get sent to the box.

Still, when Jordan Scott got sent to the box for holding an opponent’s stick with 3:41 left in the game – and Pictou up by one goal – Ryan Penney skated to the bench calling it a joke (although adding an adjective ahead of that.) In the ensuing power play in front of the Yarmouth net, Dallas Ungurian came too far out during the shots’ melee and wasn’t able to scramble back to cover the open net that the Crushers took full advantage of.

Pictou scored their insurance goal and Penney, who was on the bench when the goal was scored, was ejected from the game with a 10-minute misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Itan Chavira scored Yarmouth’s two goals of the night, one in the first, assisted by Steve Pearson and Cody Lefrancois, and one in the secondassisted by Scott and Penney.

Ungurian blocked 26 of 30 shots on net, while Alexandre Quessy, in net for the Crushers, blocked 34 of 36 shots. He was named Pictou's player of the game, an honour even the Yarmouth fans couldn't dispute. He made some key saves for his Pictou team.

And to Pictou's credit, they played strong when they needed to, when a needed win was on the line.

With the win, Pictou advances to Sunday’s 2 p.m. championship game against the Pembroke Lumber Kings, last year's Fred Page Cup champions, with the winner going on to the national junior A Royal Bank Cup championship.

Meanwhile earlier in the day the MJAHL handed out its Fred Page Cup awards with Penney and Alexandre Soucy named to the all-star team.

This was the most successful season for the Yarmouth Mariners in the club’s six-year history, with the franchise winning the Kent Cup and the MJAHL championship for the first time.

A successful season that, unfortunately for the team and their fans in New Glasgow on Saturday evening, came to an unsuccessful Fred Page Cup conclusion.