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The Last time the New Westminster Salmonbellies hosted the Mann Cup was in 1995 and that series was made memorable for a bench clearing brawl. Well wouldn’t you know it, 14 years later, the Bellies found themselves involved in another one!

When the game started, as per the rules, both team started with 18 runners and 2 goalies. By the time the final whistle has been blown, both teams ended the game with 10 runners and ONE goalie! Oh yeah, there were also half a dozen black and white cars in attendance by game’s end.

 The home squad, looking for some redemption after falling in four straight to these same Brampton Excelsiors, started off hot. Racing to a 4-1 lead just eight minutes into the game. After gaining some composure the Excels were able to get within one, 5-4, after the first 20.

 Then all hell broke loose. Throughout the game you could sense something was about to boil over as the choppiness was building with both teams taking advantage of some very lackluster refereeing. I don’t like placing blame, but when talking to a few fans, they all felt the refereeing was a huge part of why the game got out of hand. And out of hand is an understatement. With just 4:30 left in the second, Colin Doyle was the recipient of a very high hit from Bobby Snider, which sent Doyle to the ground and knocked him from the game.  While Doyle was on the ground a few players gathered around and exchanged a few not-so friendly hellos. New West’s Rory Smith and Brampton’s Paul Dawson renewed their NLL Eastern Conference acquaintances and as they grabbed a hold of each other both benches slowly started to filter onto the parkay at Queens Park. Immediately it was everyman for himself and every one in attendance was on their feet.

  The setting off point was when Excels back-up goalie Patty Campbell grabbed Smith and took him to the ground and everyone started to pair off. You had no idea where to look as all over the floor there were dog piles, equipment and toe to toe stand-offs. All the while, Doyle was still on the ground being looked after by team doctors. Once the referees had both teams to their respective sides, they decided it was best to end the period there and let the teams cool off.

When all was said and done, Matt Roil, Peter McFetridge, Cliff Smith, Ilija Gajic and Smith all received game misconducts for the Bellies. Add onto that the high sticking match penalty to Snider. For the visitors, Brodie Merrill, Jon Harasym, Bill Greer, Campbell, and Dawson also received game misconducts. I don’t foresee any suspensions although the hit by Snider will be reviewed and both Roik and Campbell were assessed leaving the bench misconducts so that could result in a suspension as well. (Side note, the third string goalies for both teams: Alex Coutts for Brampton and Matt Disher for New West.)

After the 10 minute break the final 4:30 of the second was played and the third was started right away. Now you’d think things would have simmered down but with the way this game had been played it was no surprise that both teams lost two more players near the end of the game.

 As the final seconds wound down, the 3000+ fans were all buzzing about what they had seen. Some were pumped others disgusted but that’s to be expected when a night that was supposed to kick off the 100th anniversary of the Mann ended the way it did.

 Lost by all this was the outstanding game played by Bellies tender Tyler Richards. Stopping 45 of 54 shots he faced, he was the best player on the floor all night and rightfully earned game MVP honors. Josh Sanderson was the Excels MVP with his four point night.

 The 2009 Mann Cup kicked off with an unexpected bang and game two is less than 24 hours away. I doubt we will see the events like we saw tonight but you never know; Strangers things have happened. For the sake of the game let’s hope the actual skill of these players is on display.

 For those that tried to tune into the game on the box rocks, got to apologize for the issues tonight. I know it happened at the worst possible time but they are doing all they can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Email them at feedback@grumpmedia.com and they will either refund you money from the game or they will give you game 2 free of charge.

Jenner is a two-time Mann Cup champion with six years of NLL experience. Email him at ted.jenner@nllinsider.com also follow the Coquitlam Jr. A Adanacs and the Intermediate A Adanacs live, as Teddy brings you color commentary with Brad Challoner for the Jr's and play by play with Brody Allen for the Intermediates -- http://www.junioradanacs.com/multimedia.php

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