The Renegades played our third game of the summer hockey season last night, May 13th. This was up at Castledowns Arena in north Edmonton, against the Raccoons. This team has been a challenge for us in the past. They only play summer hockey, and are not part of the league in the longer winter season, For some reason the league officials seeem to be convinced to spot this team into one of the lower divisions every season, despite the fact that they play above the level of most of the other teams. After winning their first few games they inevitably get moved up to a higher division. To make matters worse they are a really dirty team, that demonstrate poor sportsmanship. They take a lot of cheap shots behind the play, and when they get ahead, they tend to showboat and flaunt themselves. Needless to say, we are not thrilled to play against them.
Last night was no exception. We played pretty solid hockey for the first two periods and were actually clinging to a 3-2 lead late in the second. But, true to form, these guys took enough cheap shots that we eventually got agitated and upset and began to take some penalties. The referees that were assigned to this game were among the worst in the league, and their inability to manage the game only made matters worse. The game got out of hand and the Raccoons went on to score five unanwered goals. There was a bemch clearing "near-brawl" at the end of the game.
I filed a protest with the league over the poor officiating and the poor sportsmanship of our opponents. I have no issue with losing a game fair and square. After all, my team is playing for fun and for exercise. But there is no reason to have to put up with the kind of crap that we were faced with last night. The other teams in our division are pretty decent to play against, and I really have no issue with them. If we never play another game against the Raccoons, it will be too soon for me...
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