Monday, April 16, 2007
Staff photo by Derek Davis
Portland's Matt Christie, right, tries to spin away from Brandon Dubinsky of Hartford during their game Sunday at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Pirates scored three goals in the second period to take control and finished their season with a 5-2 victory.
Staff photo by Derek Davis
Hartford goalie Al Montoya blocks a shot from close range by Portland's Charlie Kronsch- nabel. The Pirates finished sixth in their division and failed to make the playoffs.
The final game of the American Hockey League's regular season may not have meant much to the Hartford Wolf Pack, but it meant a lot to the Portland Pirates.
The Pirates finished their season with a 5-2 victory against playoff-bound Hartford before 5,753 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
"That game meant more to a lot of the guys than what people realize," said forward Ryan Carter, who had two goals. "We had something to prove to the fans and to ourselves that we're not a write-off, that we can contend."
It was an exciting game filled with plenty of scoring and fights.
"There wasn't too much we didn't have in that game," Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said. "There was a lot of offense, and we were obviously aggressive."
"(The fans) showed up on Sunday afternoon, braved the storm and bad weather to watch us play," Carter said. "The least we could do is to go out and play hard."
Portland, which came within a goal of playing in the Calder Cup final last season, finished 37-31-3-9 and in sixth place in the Atlantic Division.
The Wolf Pack, who finished second in the division, open a best-of-seven series against No. 3 Providence at the Hartford Civic Center Tuesday night. No. 4 Worcester will play top-seeded Manchester in the other division semifinal series.
The Pirates led 2-1 at the end of the first period.
Hartford opened the scoring when Nigel Dawes finished off a rush by lifting a shot into the left side of the net for his team-high 27th goal, nine seconds into the game.
Portland defenseman Greg Amadio tied the score at 5:02 with a hard shot from center point for his third goal.
With less than minute left in the period, Carter broke the tie when his hard shot from the top of the right circle flipped in off goalie Al Montoya's glove for a power-play goal.
Portland increased its lead by three goals during the second period.
Matt Christie, playing in his fifth AHL game since wrapping up his career at Alaska-Anchorage, scored his second goal in two games at 11:57 on a breakaway set up by defenseman Doug O'Brien's steal in the neutral zone.
At 12:34, Carter directed defenseman Sean Blanchard's pass from the top of the left circle into the right side of the net for his 16th goal at 12:34.
At 13:06 while the Pirates were skating short-handed, Clay Wilson scored his ninth on a breakaway set up by defenseman Brian Salcido's steal near the Portland blue line.
With 6:51 left in the game, Hartford's Alex Bourret, who played for the Lewiston Maineiacs, lifted his 16th goal into the right side of the net while the Wolf Pack had a two-man advantage.
NOTES: Before the second period started, Hartford's Francis Lessard jumped Trevor Gillies of the Pirates in front of the Portland bench. All of the players from both teams went onto the ice, grabbing and clutching each other as Gillies pounded Lessard. Lessard, who made obscene gestures to the fans as he was escorted off the ice, received a gross game misconduct. Hartford's Craig Weller received a game misconduct penalty for being the third man in, and Gillies also was ejected.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be
contacted at 725-8795 or at:
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Actually Kevin came close again to losing his cool... Several shouting matches ensued across the scorekeepers box between Shoenfeld and Dineen... Kevin was irate about Lessard's actions, while Shoenfeld was angry about what Trevor did to Francis...
I can't believe I didn't include this tidbit though (I thought I did...), but Francis had to be restrained by a teammate and an on-ice official as they brought him to the penalty box area for his ejection... His teammate had him in a bearhug, but that didn't stop Francis Lessard from giving the crowd a two-bird salute from the center ice logo all the way to the penalty box... That right there sums up this individual, as nothing says class like flicking off the crowd...
I still haven't seen any suspension issued against Francis, but I'm confident we'll see one issued today as the Hartford/Providence series starts up tomorrow.report abuse
KUDOS to Bruce for getting involved for the first time this year and KUDOS to Kevin for keeping his cool. I am sure it wasn't easy.
Great game guys!
I LOVE THE PIRATES!
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Trevor was circling around in front of the bench and Francis Lessard was skating from the other direction. Francis chose a path that put him right in front of Trevor, and at some point contact occured... I'm not sure who initiated it first, but Francis reacted with a shove, and Trevor returned the shove...
The guys tied up near the scorekeepers table, and that is when everyone started to jump in... Bruce Crowder was the nearest coach, he tried to pull Trevor away. I have a feeling he must have said something negative, because that is when Francis spit towards Bruce... Trevor became livid and he started throwing punches... They got wrapped up again and Francis managed to bite Trevor, I think in the arm but I'm not sure...
The fight was broken up twice but the two continued to go at it. After the second break that was when Craig Weller jumped into the middle of it...
I waited in the back as one of the Shirts Off Their Backs recipients, and saw Francis walk by on his way to the bus... He must be in a lot of pain today, or pumped full of drugs, because he face looked like it had been through a car crash... The right side of his jaw was swollen, the area around the right side of his eye was also black and swollen, and he was slurring words as he talked to someone on his cell phone...
I have to admit I'm thankful no one got hurt, because the game could have gotten a lot uglier and a whole lot worse, much worse than the Portland-Providence hockey-game-turned-fight... I have to admit I'm thankful that Dale Purington wasn't suited for the 'Pack, because he has an even worse hatred for Trevor than Francis...
He did receive two gross game misconducts (should have been called match penalties instead) he will be referred to the AHL's VP of hockey operations for what will be a suspension, and in Lessard's case it is well deserved...
A total lack of class all the way around by Francis, for shame...report abuse
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