Tiger Sharks vs. South Carolina Stingrays
(official) L 4-3
(should be) W 5-3
I have to say,I have NEVER seen such horrible officials in my LIFE! you know it's really bad when after the game several fans are talking to someone who works for the ECHL and even he says it was one-sided. as an example: late in the 3rd,Patrick was basically jumped (shoved hard enough to have been knocked off-balance) from behind,Baxter goes in to pull the guy away,another Stingray shoves Jim,but yet Tallahassee gets two penalties,and South Carolina received only one. how?? not only was the penalty on Gingras questionable (slashing that no one saw),but Baxter ("roughing") did nothing but try to break up the fight,and he got shoved (by a different player-who did not get a penalty-from the one who shoved Patrick). things like this were happening all night long. believe me,I understand that refs are human,and they cant possibly see everything that goes on,but laws of probability prevent what happened tonight from naturally happening. I agree certain things that were called on the T-sharks were deserved,but come on,when the other team is doing the exact same thing,and they dont get a penalty for it,that's just plain ridiculous. that's not good officiating; it's being one-sided.
the *only* reason I would be mad at the Stingrays during this entire night is because they were pulling some pretty cheap stuff (as were Tally players a few times),but honestly,if it had been called early in the game for both teams,it wouldnt have kept happening,and again,that's the ref's fault. there were several times the linesmen motioned like they saw something illegal going on,but the head ref would ignore it. it's like he refused to see anything bad from South Carolina.
the game started off fairly well. there were 3 quick goals at the beginning,then things pretty much went to sleep except when there was a penalty. by second period it was obvious this game was not going to be called fairly. the penalties that were not being called were adding up very fast. finally at the end when the score was tied 3-3,we draw a questionable penalty,play resumes,a penalty was missed,they scored with 28 left in the game,and Coach lost it,as did every fan in the arena. the crappy officials literally handed them the game. two seconds later,a water bottle flies from the bench toward the refs. that one was soon followed by another,and another,and another; each only a fraction of an inch away from hitting the three morons standing in front of the penalty boxes. this unleashed a reaction from the fans I havent seen in a long time in Tallahassee. as soon as that first water bottle hit the ice,cups of coke and beer started coming from *everywhere* over the glass and at the officials. I think the announcer said about 3 times that bit about "the officials have asked fans to refrain from throwing items onto the ice". oh,yeah,like THAT'S going to stop them. suuurrreee. what are they going to do,arrest 100 people? that's a joke. for every person out in Tallahassee tonight who didnt go to the game,you missed a night to remember. I for one am totally proud of our coach,and everyone I've talked to so far feels exactly the same way. wanna suspend and fine him for this? bring it on league office. doing that will in no way discourage this from happening. we fans are PROUD of him for sticking up for his players and showing how horrible the officiating was. while Coach's actions werent entirely appropriate for such a public audience,if the refs are going to have such a problem with listening to the players and coaches,they deserve to be bombed with bottles,cups,and sticks. the ONLY way to discourage this is to investigate WHY things like this happened,especially more than once to the same referee.
what makes it all the worse is coach told the news that Pee Dee's coach did the same thing to this guy...so obviously it's happened at *least* twice..when it shouldnt have even happened once. why has the league not investigated this? the coaches get suspended and fined,and the officials get praised. you'd think *someone* would get the clue that hey,this isnt normal behavior,something must have been happening for this to come about this often. but no,they're too busy sitting on their fat butts drinking their egg nog to pay attention to something that's paying their bills (that's *very* mild compared to what I've been saying tonight,trust me..I'm usually not that nice about this kind of crap).
by the way,Terry Wicklum: if I were you,I'd stay as far away as possible from Tallahassee,because if you come to work another game here,our coach and fans probably wont miss the second time around. that's not at all a threat,just the plain honest truth.
Goals: Thibeault (Gingras,Gaudet)(1st); Baxter (Dusablon,Long)(1st); Cullaton (Dusablon,Tremblay)(3rd)
Shots on Goal: Tallahassee: 28,South Carolina:27
Notes: JF Houle out with shoulder; Patrick Gingras received a game misconduct at the end of the game for mouthing at the officials; Coach Fleming also received a game misconduct and gross misconduct for actions at the end of the game (see above).
