Wild in tough in series against Richmond Hill Rams
By Bill Rea

The King Wild looked very good Saturday in the opening match of their bestof seven playoff series against the Richmond Hill Rams, and not so good in the second game Sunday.

The result is the teams are tied at a game apiece, and the Wild have surrendered home-ice advantage as a result.

They were victorious 6-4 Saturday, but lost the following day 5-3.

Things were complicated Sunday by a bench-clearing brawl at the end of the second period, which saw four Wild players tossed from the game, including goalie Craig Byford. Enough punches were thrown in and around the Richmond Hill bench for York Regional Police to pay a call on the arena in Nobleton.

One of the officers said no one had formally made criminal complaints, so no charges were anticipated at that point. Three officers stayed until the end of the game to keep the peace.

Trainer Brian Taylor and Assistant Coach Cerone Natale were both ejected from the game for their parts in the melee, and Club President Naz Marchese announced Marc Fortin, Matt Dickins and Ryan Williamson were tossed as well, and the trio were suspended for the third game of the series, scheduled for last night (Tuesday) in Richmond Hill (results not known at press time).

The fight did little to improve the mood of Head Coach Paul Hampton, who was less than pleased with the performance of his men.

"I'm disappointed at the whole effort," he said after the game. "We did not come to play at all."

The Wild never led in the match, as the two sides traded goal for goal, ending the second frame tied at two. The King goals came when Jordan Gidaro was perfectly set up with a pass from behind the net from Sean Pollard, then Dickins connected with help from Mike Bodley and Dan Douglas.

The Rams lucked out with two goals late in the third against Matthew Treadwell, who was pressed into service after Byford was excused, but it's hard to blame him on either play. He seemed to be screened on the first goal, and the second apparently deflected off a player and got by him.

The Wild played well the rest of the way, and had several great scoring chances. Bodley converted one of them, with help from Ryan Aikins and Marc Zanette, but they couldn't get the one they needed to tie things. The final Rams' goal went into the empty King net just as the final buzzer was sounding.

"We needed to win this," Hampton said. "As terrible as we played, we could have won from the third period on."

He added there was no particular reason for the let down.

"Hockey teams go through that," he observed. "That's why playoffs are series."

It was a much better outing for the club the day before. King was ahead 2-1 in the first period on the strength of power-play goals from Pollard and Bodley, with assists being notched by Kyle Baulne, Ryan Aikins, Zanette and Dickins.

The Rams briefly restored the tie early in the second, but King took back the lead with two quick goals a couple of minutes later, courtesy of Matt Marchese and Gidaro, with assists being gained by Alex Pozdrowski, Chris Martella, Pollard and Brendan Farrugia. The Rams were able to narrow things late in the frame, but the Wild took off with two more quick ones from the sticks of Farrugia and Bodley, with assists going to Baulne and Gidaro.

The Rams got aggressive in the late going, laying on some pretty stiff body checks, and it paid off in one more goal, but the Wild had no trouble holding on for the marbles.

Hampton later credited his men with the "best first period of the year."

But they ran into some penalty trouble in the second, taking several tripping citations in a row, but they tried to stay disciplined in the third.

He agreed the other team was trying to provoke his guys toward the end, but that's not very surprising.

"I'm not going to say I'd do anything different," he observed, noting he has a pretty young and fast team, so staying disciplined is key."That's my game plan."

The series is to resume with the fourth game tonight (Wednesday) at Ed Sackfield Arena at 311 Valleymede Dr., starting at 7:30 p.m., with the fifth game set for Friday at 6 p.m. Tom Graham Arena Complex at 1300 Elgin Mills Rd. East. If a sixth game is required, it will be at the arena in Nobleton Saturday, starting at 4 p.m., with the seventh match set for Sunday at Nobleton, starting at 3.