OHA reviewing Blues complaint
Ontario Hockey Association officials are reviewing officiating concerns expressed by Dundas Blues staff after the team was handed 74 minutes in penalties Friday night, giving Grimsby 20 powerplay chances, and an 8-2 win. Six of Grimsby's goals came on powerplays.
Brent Ladds, president of the OHA, said Monday morning complaints of this sort are usually first shared with the official himself. Then the association tries to contact a neutral party who was at the game. Usually, an association director or referee supervisor attends playoff games but Mr. Ladds wasn't sure this morning exactly who might have been at Friday's controversial match in Grimsby. But he said he was investigating the complaint and hoped to have some kind of update later in the day.
The 74 penalty minutes handed to Dundas, and 14 penalty minutes for Grimsby, appear inconsistent with the previous two playoff games between the teams. Grimsby's 20 powerplays and Dundas' six powerplays also were a big variation from Games One and Two.
In Game One, played in Grimsby, both teams went scoreless in eight powerplay chances. Dundas had 20 penalty minutes on eleven infractions while Grimsby had 28 minutes on 12 infractions.
Game Two showed comparable penalty-related statistics. With both teams coming up basically even again. Dundas scored once on nine powerplays, while Grimsby was shut out in eight powerplays. Dundas had 19 penalty minutes, Grimsby 2. Dundas had nine infractions, Grimsby 10.
Of the eleven Dundas players penalized Friday night, league Rookie of the Year Cole McNeil lead the Blues with 14 minutes. During the regular season, he received 38 penalty minutes in 36 games. Nick Bazinet, one of the league's least penalized defencemen in the regular season, was handed 12 minutes Friday night, after picking up only 31 minutes all season in 35 games. Several other Blues not used to sitting in the box were among those handed penalties Friday night.
Dundas was the sixth most penalized team in the regular season, finishing right in the middle of the 10 team league, averaging about 25 minutes per game. Grimsby was among the least penalized teams in the regular season, but averaged about 21 minutes a game.
Grimsby returns to Dundas for Game Four of the best of seven division final, up two games to one, Thursday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. It's likely to be another exciting contest as the Blues try to put Friday's game behind them and even the series before heading back to Grimsby the next night.
Dundas Blues coaching hope local fans aren't turned off by Friday night's aberration in what has been a very tight, competitive and well-played playoff series between two evenly matched teams.
