Over the last few years, trips to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium have been a horror show for the Barrie Colts.
Last night’s stop on Friday the 13th turned out to be a real massacre.
Carson Rehkopf, with three goals and an assist, and Matthew Sop, with two goals and two helpers, each recorded four points and Jackson Parsons stopped all 18 shots he faced to lead the Kitchener Rangers to an ugly 8-0 thrashing of Barrie.
The Colts, who play at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium once a season, have now lost six out of the last seven games there.
“No fond memories of wins here,” said Colts head coach Marty Williamson, who had to deal with another rough blow in the game as if getting it handed to them wasn’t enough.
The Colts may be without Edmonton Oilers prospect Beau Akey for some time after the defenceman blocked a shot and was forced to leave the game in the first period.
“No idea,” said Williamson, when asked how long he expected his star blueliner to be out of the lineup. “I see him on crutches and with an icepack, so I imagine after we get the x-rays we’ll see what kind of news we get.”
Another tough blow on a tough night.
“Yeah, there’s no silver lining,” added the disappointed coach.
The Colts were never really in this one. They managed just 18 shots and their real lone chance to score came on a missed breakaway by Beau Jelsma who was robbed by Parson. It was the Kitchener goalie’s second career shutout.
“Obviously a tough place,” Colts captain Connor Punnett said of Kitchener. “At the end of the day, you’re going to have a bad game in this league. Every team is good. When you give up opportunities, teams are going to capitalize on them and tonight Kitchener just did a good job of capitalizing and they never let us in the game.”
Sop and Tanner Lam scored in the first and then Adrian Misaljevic and Hunter Brzustewicz added goals in the second to put Kitchener in command.
Rehkopf, who was born in Barrie, recorded a natural hat trick in the third to ice the win.
“They got frustrated and they got selfish,” said Williamson of his team. “They hung our goalie out to dry. (Ben) West was our best player tonight and it was unfair what happened to him in there.”
The poor play was somewhat a continuation from last Saturday’s 7-6 overtime win over the Niagara Ice Dogs when Barrie blew a three-goal lead in the third and needed an overtime goal from Jacob Frasca to salvage the night.
“There’s only one way to play the game and we got away from it against the IceDogs, and it bit us in the rear end again tonight,” said Williamson. “We were just on our own page and it’s either put guys in the stands or cut their ice time if they’re not going to play the right way.
“There’s only one way to play this game and you got to get to spots on the ice, you got to win battles, put the puck on net. All the things we talked about, and we used to do. It’s not easy to win in this league, but the recipe is not that difficult if you want to execute.”
The good news for the Colts is they get a chance to bury this right away when they host the Oshawa Generals on Saturday night at Sadlon Arena.
“That’s the good thing,” said Williamson. “Otherwise, there’s not much good that came out of tonight.”
Punnett knows he and his teammates must be better if they want to bounce back on Saturday.
“It’s a quick turnaround,” said Punnett. “We’re in Kitchener (Friday), quick bus ride home and be at the rink 10 a.m. (Saturday) morning. Sun rises tomorrow, it’s a new day. We just got to come to the ready-to-play.
“Think about this one a little bit. Learn off it, see what we did wrong and come back to the rink (Saturday). Every game is a new game and just try to get the win.”
Game time tonight is 7:30 p.m.
ICE CHIPS
Punnett praised Akey for trying to do what he could to help the team. “You never want to see a guy go out,” he said. “Obviously, he sacrificed his body making a play for the team blocking a shot there. All the respect for guys willing to do that.” . . . Grayson Tiller was handed a 10-minute unsportsmanlike conduct and kicked out of the game with 8:22 remaining after he jawed at a referee for a slashing penalty he received. The Colts finished the rest of the game with four blueliners after his departure. . . Kitchener outshot Barrie 39-18. . . Kitchener finished 2-for-6 with the power play, while Barrie was scoreless on its three chances. . . Barrie scratches were Endo Meier, Tai York, Jaiden Newton, Evan Passmore.
Banner image via Josh Kim/Barrie Colts - Barrie Colts Kashawn Aitcheson and Kitchener Rangers Simon Motew race down the ice.
