Tasers have recently been scrutinized by agencies around the world for their lethal potential, but perhaps Hockey BC should be taking a look at the equally potent hockey sticks of the Powell River Regals.
Certainly the graphite weapons were just as deadly last Saturday night when the Regals used them eight times to down Sunshine Coast Hitmen 8-0.
As lopsided as the score was, it was the Hitmen who had the first good scoring chance of the game. Right off the opening faceoff they broke in on an odd-man rush where Regal goalie Rene Holmgren had to make his biggest save of the night.
"He came around on my right side and I usually do a bad job in the first period," said Holmgren, "but I threw out the glove and I got it. It gave me confidence for the rest of the game."
As it turned out, the save also lifted the Regals as they scored early and often throughout the remainder of the contest.
Randall Smisko opened the scoring at 18:10 on the power play, but after that it was all even strength goals that powered the Regals to the win.
Andy Welsh made it 2-0 at 18:36 when he flew down the left wing deep, cut for the net, took the goalie down and swept the puck in.
"It's something I've probably missed a hundred times in practice, but I finally cashed one in," he said after the game.
Regals cashed in six more times before the game was over as they added three more goals in each of the two remaining periods to get the job done.
Tyler Labree, Eric Albertson and Jordy Smith made it 5-0 after two periods with Blake Rice adding one and Welsh and Smith getting their second goals in the third.
While the score was a big one for the team, not all of the players were in uniform to celebrate the victory in the dressing room.
Will Malcolm, who has been extremely instrumental in a couple of Regals' wins this year, was ejected midway through the middle period.
Hitmen's Brad Wingfield had taunted Malcolm to the point where tempers boiled over. With Malcolm out of the game, Wingfield then turned his sights onto a few other Regals, and after a brief exchange, chased Regal Stu Kunaman all the way to the Regals' bench for one last Hitmen low light. He and Chris Hamilton took turns pounding Kunaman as several other players from both teams flew into the pile late in the third period.
Cooler heads eventually prevailed, but messages have been sent by both teams that the round-robin games starting this week will be contentious ones.
"The score did not indicate how close the game was," said Hitmen goalie Keith McKenzie. "If we score that first goal 10 seconds in, it's a different game for sure. It was just one of those nights where we didn't get any bounces and a couple of goals kind of snowballed and the score was a lot larger than it probably should have been."
McKenzie said the Hitmen have two weeks of good practice time to prepare for the final push in the season.
A round-robin format between the Hitmen, Regals and Mid Island Blazers to determine the two finalists for the Andy McCallum trophy begins Saturday as the Regals host the Blazers.
On Friday night, Feb. 4, the Hitmen host the Regals in Sechelt then play host to the Blazers on Saturday night, Feb. 5, also in Sechelt.
