Even though I call this blog Rink Rat Rants, I very rarely “rant” on here about anything. After last night’s debacle, however, I feel a few things need to be said, so please excuse me just this one time. I should be good for the rest of the season after this one 
Port Colborne Pirates vs. Welland Jr. Canadians (8/24 Exhibition)
Those who believe that the third week of August is too early to begin playing hockey will clearly point to last night’s exhibition contest between the Port Colborne Pirates and the Welland Jr. B Canadians for proof of their argument.
Fans expecting to see even mildly entertaining hockey Sunday night were left clearly disappointed by this uneven contest, an 8-0 Pirates victory. I’m not sure whether to blame one side more than the other, or both sides equally, but one thing is certain – there was absolutely no entertainment value to last night’s contest, even if you happened to be a fan of the Port Colborne Pirates.
Besides the fans who were asked to shell out $5 each, I think the only others I feel sorry for were Welland’s two goaltenders, Ryan Dundas and Mike Choiniere, who were provided with virtually no support throughout the evening, either on defence or offence. Not that I blame the Welland players, many of whom I know are decent young players, but they simply were not given any chance to succeed with how things were handled last night.
Clearly better communication should have occurred between these two teams beforehand in order to provide a level of competition that was somewhat enjoyable for the paying customers. To play a game where the teams were so unevenly matched in skill level and size only risks injury to the younger players and is completely irresponsible. It should have been agreed prior to the game whether veterans would be played, so that both teams could try to put squads on the ice of equal calibre and then be able to take something away from this game. As it was, I don’t believe you can properly evaluate any players using last night’s action. Thumbs down to both sides for not using their heads on this one, and for the home side only only thinking of the extra gate revenue that could be earned. A decent crowd once again came out expecting to be given some value for their money, and unlike last week, were not provided with a decent on-ice product. The way things transpired, the players (and fans) would likely have been further ahead if this ice time would have simply been used as a practice instead.
I’m not sure what, if anything can be taken away from either team after playing this contest, which has me wondering why play this game at all? Port Colborne dressed several veterans last night, however, the average fan would not have realized this as no lineup for the Pirates was provided at the game (except for when goals were announced over the public address system, which can often not be heard clearly depending on your position inside the arena). Last night’s uneven result only serves to scare away potential Welland fans from returning to future games this season, as they will mistakenly believe that the team this season will not be very competitive, if they simply pre-judge based on last night’s action.
More enlightened fans, of course, will realize that this was not even a true exhbition game since the training camps have not even started, and will wait before making any judgements on the fates of either club seen last night.
Welland plays a pair of split-squad games on Wednesday, with half the team traveling to Thorold for a 7:30pm start, while the other half ventures to the Leisureplex in Fort Erie for an 8pm opening whistle. Thursday the Jr. Canadians return home to host the St. Catharines Falcons at 7:30pm, and then Fort Erie will visit the Rose City at 7:30pm on Friday evening for a rematch.
Last night’s winner of the 50/50 draw, from Port Colborne, took home a cash prize of $235, so perhaps one person last night did return happy afterall.
Welland’s lineup from last night was as follows:
Starting Goaltender: #30 Ryan Dundas, 3GA
Relief Goaltender: #31 Mike Choiniere
2 John Langel
3 Brandon Cassar
4 Robert Wormald
5 Emmett Beedom
6 Nick Aiello
7 Patrick Koudys
8 Adam Mataya
9 Jared Molnar
10 Brett Lustri
11 Anthony DeLisio
12 Justin Lafontaine
13 Joe Sacco
14 Nate Duliban
15 Jamie Dionne
16 Ethan Ranalli
17 Josh Nero
18 Jordan Daradick
19 Colton Ambrosio
Port Colborne did not fax their lineup to the Jr. Canadians in time to be printed out for the fans in attendance, and it therefore unavailable here.
Game-action photos here:
8/24 Port Colborne Pirates vs. Welland Jr. B Canadians (Exhibition)
1 Comment
August 25, 2008 at 10:34 am
Made it to the game last night, what a terrible display for the loyal fans, heard a lot of rumbling of people wanting their money back. Also feel bad for the goaltenders, they were thrown to the wolves by the coaching staff, hope it doesn’t end their chances for this season.