Sailors battle with Ice Dogs

In keeping with the tradition of great interstate rivalries, the last matchup of the regular season between the Mat Su Sailors and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs proved to be something special as the Dogs doubled the Sailors 6-3 in Junior B hockey Saturday night at the Brett Arena.

Unlike the game Friday night, the unruly Ice Dogs were looking to make their final meeting of the regular season a memorable one.

Ben Goodman drew first blood for the Sailors, scoring on a feed from defenseman Corey Dean, but the frothing Dogs got back in the game with three straight tallies in the first period by Ralph Wease, Rob Goral and Peterri Pitko.

Then the game got interesting.

We proved that we will go to war together, Sailors coach Trent Makousky said. Win or lose, we wanted to make a point that we came ready to play these guys.

Late in the first period, referees watched in amazement as five fights broke out, triggered by an illegal Ice Dog crosscheck. When Sailors Nick Vicuna and Patrick Gregory retaliated, gloves and fists went flying, stalling the game for 25 minutes until the referees could sort things out.

Due to the conglomeration of penalties, the first intermission started at 17:07 of the first period so referees and scoring officials could sort out the paperwork.

I told the teams to go to their locker rooms, referee Stephen Wright said, Its going to take 15 minutes to figure out all the penalties.

By the end of the game 154 minutes in penalties had accumulated, including 16 five-minute majors and four game ejections. Penalty boxes bulged with as many as five players at a time.

In the second period, a hockey game broke out.

They are a disciplined group, Makousky said. Both teams match-up pretty good. We are two coaches that play the same system.

Much of the period was played cleanly, because officials warned both teams to keep things under control. But the visiting Dogs had already altered Sailors momentum by intimidation. Fairbanks knew the Sailors were coming off a 5-4 heart-breaking loss Friday night, with the confidence to overtake the pack from Fairbanks. The Sailors have only beat the Dogs once out of eight games played this year.

All but two of those games could have gone either way, Makousky said. We were playing catch-up all night with them, but we gave up a soft goal late in the game (last night) from the top of the circle.

Reminiscent of the old Fairbanks Gold Kings style of play, an eager Ice Dogs coach Rob Proffitt was anxious to break the Sailors backs as soon as possible.

Finish off the checks, he yelled to his players on the ice, Dont circle around.

The Ice Dogs, excited by the smell of Gregorys bloodied face in the first period, forgot the Sailors came to play hockey.

Travis Ludy brought Mat-Su back to a one-goal deficit going into the third period on a pass across the crease from Brad Rigdon.

Fearing the Sailors were rekindling their momentum, the Dogs forced more dropping of the gloves just five minutes into the final period.

After more mayhem, the Dogs netted three goals in less than two minutes to put the fire out of the tired Sailors faces.

Fairbanks303 6

Mat-Su 111 3

First period 1, Mat-Su, Goodman (Dean, Miller), 12:06; 2, Fairbanks, Neace (Jucszak, Ward), 13:16; 3, Fairbanks, Goral (Engles, Johnson), 13:50; 4, Fairbanks, Pitko (Goral, Lennox), 16:29. Penalties Fairbanks 9 for 36 minutes, Mat-Su 16 for 46. Game ejections Fairbanks 1 (Boldt), Mat-Su 3 (McAlpine, Urban, Vicuna).

Second period 5, Mat-Su, Ludy (Rigdon, Pohl), 4:44. Penalties Fairbanks 3 for 6, Mat-Su 2 for 4.

Third period 6, Fairbanks, Lennox (unassisted), 4:21; 7, Fairbanks, Ward (Rochelea, Engles), 4:56; 8, Fairbanks, Saltz (unassisted), 6:09; 9, Mat-Su, Dean (Underwood, Miller), 15:44. Penalties Fairbanks 9 for 28, Mat-Su 9 for 35.

Ice Dogs 5, Sailors 4

Fairbanks 122 5

Mat-Su 022 4

First period 1, Fairbanks, Anderson (Jucszak, Vert), 14:10. Penalties Fairbanks 2 for 4 minutes, Mat-Su 3 for 6.

Second period 2, Mat-Su, Rigdon (Miller Riggs), 9:59; 3, Mat-Su, Duffy (Vicuna, Dahlstrom), 12:26; 4, Fairbanks, Anderson (Bennett), 13:37; 5, Fairbanks, Engles (Wease, Horne), 18:35. Penalties Fairbanks 3 for 8, Mat-Su 3 for 9.

Third period 6, Mat-Su, Swanson (Pohl, Deniger), 8:14; 7, Fairbanks, Goral (Pitro, Boldt), 14:22; 8, Mat-Su, Miller (Riggs, Pohl), 17:58; 9, Fairbanks, Pitro (Goral), 19:53. Penalties Fairbanks 4 for 8, Mat-Su 2 for 4.Photo: Sailors defenseman Corey Dean tries to escape from Ice Dog Petteri Pitko Saturday at the Brett Arena.Photo by GENE JANSEN/Frontiersman.