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Frustrations boil over after P.A.’s Johnson’s hit vs. ‘Tips

Feb 17, 2017 | 9:28 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders could be down another forward for the foreseeable future after Friday’s 3-1 defeat to the Everett Silvertips at the Art Hauser Centre.

Raiders’ fan favourite forward Kolby Johnson was levied a five-minute major and ejected from the game after he tried to rally his team with a heavy hit on with ‘Tips forward Orrin Centazzo on a backcheck in the second period.

Although Johnson was sent to the showers early, he emerged to the Ches Leach Lounge after the game for post-game interviews and was greeted to chants of ‘Kolby, Kolby’ and a warm ovation from the Raider crowd.

“I think it was clean. I was just finishing my check, you know?” Johnson said on the hit. “When something like that happens, there’s a golden opportunity. You make eye contact with him a couple times like ‘you really want to get that puck?’ I play hard and I’m not going to start playing hard. I’m not going to stop hitting people…” he said before being cut off by applause.

The referees Jonathan Spurgeon and Cody Rude didn’t give the major penalty right away however. A two-minute minor was up on the clock for at least three real-time minutes while the officials talked to the Raiders bench first, and then the Silvertips bench. After talking to both head coaches, Spurgeon and Rude then conferred in front of the scorer’s table amongst themselves and changed the call from a minor to a major offence.

“You know what? I’ve been in this game a long time. [Associate coach] Dave Manson’s been in the game, and [skills coach] Mark Odnokon and [assistant coach] Brandin Cote, and not one of us has seen that before,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “It’s one thing to make a call, but I’ve never seen a call made, then go to the bench with a foul, and then go back and change the call. I’ve never seen that. I’ve never seen that in my life.”

This is Johnson’s second major penalty (not including fighting majors) of the season. He previously served a four-game suspension after a checking to the head major on Chase Harrison of the Regina Pats on Dec. 3.

Prior to the Johnson hit, the Silvertips had already piled on three goals in the second period, two of which on the man advantage.

Eetu Tuulola opened the scoring five minutes into the second period, and took a high stick while celebrating the goal from Raiders defenceman Max Martin. Riley Sutter scored on the ensuing power play, while Patrick Bajkov made it 3-0 with the man advantage later in the frame.

“Max Martin goes by and the guy falls like he almost got knocked out. Marty hardly even touched him,” Habscheid. “They’ve known to embellish, that team is known for that. That’s just the way it is.”

Everett’s Carter Hart was close to a shutout, which would have been his second career clean sheet at the Art Hauser Centre. But with 1:49 left in the game, Curtis Miske beat him and extended his point scoring streak to five games and his goal scoring streak to four. Hart made 26 stops for his 24th victory. Raiders’ goaltender Nicholas Sanders made 33 saves in the defeat.

Looking ahead

The Raiders will take on the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday on the road. They beat the Wheaties 5-3 on Wednesday at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders will play on Family Day Monday, taking on the Regina Pats at 4 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders will close out the month of February with a home-and-home series against the Saskatoon Blades.

 

Jeff D’Andrea is paNOW’s sports reporter. He can be reached at jdandrea@jpbg.ca or tweet him @jeff_paNOW.