- Seattle 3, Helena 1. Penalty minutes: Seattle 14, Helena 12.
- Seattle 2, Helena 6. Penalty minutes: Seattle 57, Helena 33. Snider, Ballenger, & Prather all 10 minutes for 'unsportsmanlike'. The meltdown starts, the metamorphosis from player to goon is beginning.
- Seattle 4, Helena 6. Penalty minutes: Seattle 93, Helena 38. Beede - 15 min for 'Board Checking' (sucker checked a player like he did earlier in the season to the Wranglers), Reis, Seattle Asst. Coach - 10 minutes for 'unsportsmanlike', Seattle bench - 10 minutes for 'Abuse of Officials', Schulze - 15 min for 'Fighting', Galvin - 20 minutes (2 10 min. consecutive penalties) for 'Abuse of Officials'. Apes and goons rule! It's Seattle Totems Hockey at its finest. The pride of the Pacific Division.
If you analyze playoff and season PIM stats: Seattle, 323 playoff penalty minutes and 1,451 regular season penalty minutes - 3rd in the Pacific Divsion (1st River City, 2nd CDA). Helena, 173 playoff penalty minutes and 1,017 regular season penalty minutes - lowest in the America West Division. The stats tell the story - "apes and goons" versus "skilled hockey players."
As the recently departed Paul Harvey would say, "Here's the rest of the story..." Friday night's game between the Totems and Bighorns started off nasty, very nasty with Beede cross-checking Bighorns leading defensive scorer Zack Maxwell after just 10 seconds of starting the game. The Helena Independent Record newspaper said in their Saturday, March 14th edition, "...referee Thomas Williams ejected the first player of the game when Chris Beede deliberately and obviously cross-checked Helena defender Zack Maxwell from behind and head-first into the boards. The game only grew worse from there." Typical Seattle goon hockey. Don't win by skill and talent, rather cheap-shot the other team. However, in fitting justice Maxwell scored later in the game (2:58 left in the 3rd) a game winning goal for the Bighorns from just inside the blue line. The Bighorns scored a few minutes later on an empty net to definitely seal the win. Even the classless Seattle fans got into the act with a scuffle, extra security had to be called in. Again, Totems Hockey at its finest.
The Bighorns can finish the Totems off and capture the Cascade Cup with a win tonight. I personally am hoping for that. Last night's game probably resulted in some scratches for the Totems so they'll be playing "goon short" tonight - probably Beede and Galvin, and maybe even Schulze. Hope you enjoy the game from the stands boys. I'm sure NorPac will have extra officials and Helena will have extra security for tonight's game. Again, go Bighorns! The Totems don't deserve anything for the style of hockey they play.
