There’s a saying for a hockey game with more than a few fights in one night; “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.” To use this expression for today’s encounter between Canada and Czech Republic would be a drastic understatement. It was more of a gong show. It was a western bar brawl. Quite frankly, it was anything but a hockey game
A combined total of 30 penalties were called, totaling 97 minutes of penalties. Half of the time, roughing penalties were assessed after scrums ensued. The referees warned both benches after the first period but unfortunately those demands went unheard. The parade to the box became comical among the crowd and some jeers were heard after each call was made to Team Canada. When the Czechs were penalized, the crowd applauded the decision and the Canadian players serving their time in the box would let their appreciation known as they knocked their sticks on the glass.
The referees had lost control of the game, that much was clear but before getting to that, some actual hockey occurred in the first period. The Canadians limited the Czechs to just 10 shots on goal, their first coming at the 6 minute mark. In that time, Canada had already taken 5 shots. Robby Fabbri came the closest to scoring for Canada in the first period, hitting the post and Brendan Perlini left for some time after a fall left him clutching his left arm. He did return. The Czechs struck first when Patrik Zdrahal tucked a puck past Eric Comrie after David Pastrnak set him up perfectly on their 2-on-1. Nearing the end of the first, Canada got into some early penalty trouble thanks to a bit of indiscipline on their part and Tomas Dvorak’s wrist shot from the point beat Comrie five-hole. The goal came on a 5-on-3 powerplay. The Czechs left to the lockeroom with a 2-0 lead despite being out-shot 12-10. Miroslav Svoboda was simply spectacular for his team.
The second period didn’t look any more promising out of the gates as David Kampf’s wrist shot from the point also beat Comrie, giving the Czechs a 3-0 lead and their second goal on the powerplay. The goal looked to have crippled the Canadians, as they begun to hang their heads low on the bench but coach Benoit Groulx wasn’t prepared to give up without a fight and it was the youngster Connor McDavid that came up with a response. After taking a crisp pass from Nick Ritchie, McDavid streaked into the offensive zone, split the defense (Lukas Klok and David Nemecek) before beating Svoboda on the right side. After that play, Groulx leaned on the young gun and the game suddenly turned into the McDavid show. His linemates alternated between Fabbri, Ritchie and Sam Bennett, each time McDavid was on the ice he was a threat. The line also got some powerplay opportunities but could not solve Svoboda, despite the offensive brilliance of McDavid.
Ugliness reared its head once again in the second, only this time in the form of an injury. As Sebastian Gorcik dropped to the ice to block a point shot, the puck caught him square on the forehead. The Karlovy Vary native spent some time on the ice before being helped back to the dressing room, however there was no blood drawn and Gorcik would return mid-way into the same period.
Before the half-way mark of the second, Pastrnak scored his first of the game after knocking in a rebound from Jan Mandat, beating Comrie for a 4th time on 16 shots. At the 10:40 mark, Comrie was replaced by Phil Desrosiers. Not because Comrie was having a bad night but because Groulx alternates his goaltenders and lets them play for half the game each. Unfortunately for Desrosiers, the damage had already been done. The duo of Nic Petan and Bo Horvat struck on the powerplay late into the second period when Horvat completed a tic-tac-toe play started by Fabbri. Ritchie finished the period in grand form after running over Klok in the Czech end but the Canadians would end the period down by two, with just one period left to get back into it.
Boy, did things go sour from there. The little hockey there was to make note of was Pastrnak scoring his second of the game to give the Czechs a 5-2 lead. Six roughing minors alone, one to McDavid who is not known for being an aggressive kid that goes after people. Ritchie served a major penalty for a hit to the head, as did Domi — who also received a ten minute misconduct for his troubles. The Czechs were not innocent by a longshot, as they served a few roughing minors as well for engaging in the post-whistle scrums. No Czech looked worst than defenseman Roman Baranek. As Fabbri skated through the neutral zone with the puck, Baranek hit Fabbri hard and high, dropping Fabbri to the ice. As the crowd let Baranek have it, the damage had been done as Fabbri was done on the ice for several moments while trainers tended to him. Once Fabbri was up, it was evident that he injured his left leg because he could not put any weight on it. Fabbri did not return and neither did the game of hockey.
Continued messiness after each whistle, goonery every chance there was, the crowd became clearly bothered by the amount of dirt filling the ice. In the first five minutes of the third period, the shots were 30-20 for Canada… 15 minutes into the third, the shots were 33-23. That’s how bad it got. The game became less about hockey and more about one-upping the opponent with fists and shoulders. It wasn’t about hockey and scoring goals, it was about having the last laugh and getting back at those who did wrong. What had turned into a battle of entertaining stick-handling, passing plays and scoring was traded in for slashes that broke sticks, shoulders that put down players and constant bickering while the linesmen attempted to separate the two sides.
While it was clear the officiating had lost control entirely, they lost control even after the game ended. When the final horn went, Nick Ritchie went right after Klok and drilled him into the boards, proceeding to drop the gloves, rip off Klok’s helmet and attempt to fight him. For his body of work, Ritchie received a two, a five and a ten minute misconduct for attempting to fight. As Klok skated back to the bench, he gave the Canadian bench two thumbs up before turning to Ritchie to do the same to him personally. It was his way of saying, “Good job, buddy. You sure showed us.”
For one afternoon, the game of hockey became a complete joke. A farce. An embarrassment. The game wasn’t for a medal. It wasn’t even an exhibition game. This is summer training camp, where coaches and management are still deciding who sticks with the big team for the start of the actual tournament. Even if it was for the gold medal, this isn’t how you win nor is it the way you play the game of hockey. It’s how you show kids NOT to play. You use your sticks to score goals and your bodies to block shots and separate players from pucks. Friday afternoon, they were used for nothing more but to hurt someone.
That’s wrong and that’s NOT hockey.
After the game, I had a chance to catch up with Zachary Fucale (who was not dressed for competition), Connor McDavid, Zac Petan and head coach Benoit Groulx. The hot topic that everyone wanted to touch on was the hit to Fabbri and the way the game shaped up in the third period. In closing, I would personally like to thank Concordia University, the Stingers staff and Hockey Canada for their hospitality and kindness throughout the week.
Zach Fucale
Zach Fucale Interview by Cmd Beaker on Mixcloud
Benoit Groulx
Benoit Groulx Interview by Cmd Beaker on Mixcloud
Nic Petan
Nic Petan Interview by Cmd Beaker on Mixcloud
Connor McDavid
Connor McDavid Interview by Cmd Beaker on Mixcloud
Phillipe Desrosiers
Phillipe Desrosiers Interview by Cmd Beaker on Mixcloud
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