Feature Article March 20, 2002
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Nasty
scene at North Frontenac Arenaby
Bill CuthillThe
good, bad,
and the ugly have all happened this past week. The Flyers coming back in the
series and winning the Empire League in front of a packed crowd in
Napanee was the good.
Beating the Raiders after an eleven-year drought was something the
players and coaches should be very proud of, as it was a very
difficult feat to accomplish.The
third game in the series with the Uxbridge Bruins will have been
played by the time of this write up. The officiating has been bad
in both games; whether it is because we are east of Oshawa or what,
Im not sure. The Raiders experienced the same thing last year when
they played Uxbridge as well.
The ugly was what happened at the arena at the second game this past
Sunday. It is called fan rage and is something that cannot be
tolerated. I did not see how it started. The players started to fight
on the ice. This is to be expected; players protect each other, and it
won't be the first or the last time, as you see it pretty much every
weekend. But then fist fights broke out among the fans in the stands,
and five police cars had to respond to the disturbance.One
part of the game that is extremely upsetting was the verbal abuse to
the officials. Two of the Flyers players continued to harass the
officials to the point that they were kicked out of the game and given
hefty fines for being so foolish. It is my belief that some players
cannot handle the pressure of the game, and this is their method of
removing themselves from the game. They are not team players and only
think of themselves. I'm proud of the ones who hung in there; and,
with a little more effort, we could easily be tied in
this series.
The final score was Uxbridge 5 3. It would have been even higher,
had it not been for the superb work of Kyle King.
The fourth game is on Thursday March 21 at 8:15 p.m. at North
Frontenac Arena. See you at the arena!!
