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StumbleECHL suspends Wranglers goalie for misconduct
Stephen Sylvanie / Special to the Sun
As players continue to fight in the background, ECHL linesman Todd Owen escorts Wranglers goaltender Michael Ouzas from a scrum that began when Ouzas was run into by Aces forward Scott Burt late in the third period at the Orleans Arena on Saturday.
Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 | 11:32 p.m.
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Las Vegas Sun reporter Steve Silver sits down with Las Vegas Wranglers head coach and general manager Ryan Mougenel to discuss the colder weather, the team's upcoming road trip to Ontario and every Canadian's favorite coffee -- Tim Horton's.
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The Las Vegas Wranglers' fight-filled and penalty-laden victory over the Alaska Aces Saturday night has officially resulted in two suspensions.
The ECHL announced Monday it suspended Las Vegas goalie Michael Ouzas and Alaska defenseman B.J. Crum one game each after both players received game misconducts at the Orleans Arena on Saturday. The league also fined each player an undisclosed amount.
Crum received a major penalty and game misconduct for charging after he barreled into Ouzas in the third period. The collision was the second time in the game that an Aces player had run into Ouzas.
Crum's charge popped Ouzas's helmet off and cut his lip.
Less than 10 minutes later, Alaska captain Scott Burt charged into Ouzas again.
That time, though, Ouzas responded by throwing punches, which led to his ejection and subsequent suspension for attempt to deliberately injure an opponent.
"It's the rule," said Wranglers head coach Ryan Mougenel. "If you're a goaltender you can't swing your blocker and Ouzas did. Am I disappointed? Yeah, but I'm also proud of him for standing up for himself because he was blatantly run three times."
Ouzas will now miss Thursday's game against the Utah Grizzlies (1-2) at 7:05 p.m. at the Orleans Arena.
Rookie Joel Gistedt, who allowed five goals in a loss to Alaska on Thursday, will start in Ouzas' place.
"I'm glad Ouzas stuck up for himself and stuck up for his teammates," Mougenel said. "It's an unfortunate situation where you have a team resorting to 1960s style hockey of running goalies, which doesn't accomplish much, but we'll take the decision like men. I have all the faith in Gistedt on Thursday night. He is a good, young goalie that can have plenty of success here."
The ECHL also announced on Monday a one-game suspension for Las Vegas forward Shay Stephenson for a boarding penalty on Friday night. Stephenson did not play on Saturday and he will miss an undetermined amount of time on bereavement leave due to a death in his family.
Steve Silver can be reached at 948-7822 or steve.silver@lasvegassun.com.
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That's BS!!!! He's standing up for himself, and he gets suspended? Look at the photo, the Aces player skate is in quite the dangerous position to whatever Wranglers player is standing to the side of the net, neck exposed to that skate! I witnessed Clint Malarchuk's throat slashing back in Buffalo, and it was the most horrifying sight I have ever seen. If players are continuously going to run at goaltenders, jugular vein injuries are going to continue. Protect the goalies!
In spite of it being the rule, I feel that Ouzas did the right thing in defending himself. Dang, it was the third time. Okay he could have taking of the pad before he hit the guy and it might have ended up differently, but he didn't. The other guys on the team stood up for him after each hit he took and I was happy to see that. It is a shame that once again Alaska has resorted to dirty hockey. Our guys did their best and a good job of rising above that and the horrible officiating that took place both Friday and Saturday nights.
Good luck to Gistedt.
P S Condolences to Shay and his family.
For all the grief I (we) gave 213 recently, I have to say that the Alaska fans are posting on other boards and giving it to their players and coach for the lack of discipline and goonery. I think maybe they have seen the light.
I'll believe it for today vagman, but I'm skeptical.
Buttercup, you are correct. Also, look at the photo on the right side. Check out how Ouzas' helmet went flying because he was hit so hard. I can't wait until the next series with the Aces.
Although I'm not sure how the Malarchuk incident is related, as Richard Zednik suffered a similar injury from unintentional contact with a teammates' skate several seasons ago (also in Buffalo), Ouzas should have just pulled a Billy Smith, dropped the gloves, and start punching. Buttercup, correct me if I'm wrong, although the Malarchuk indicient was over 20 years ago and maybe my memory has faded (I was watching the game at the Buffalo airport waiting to board my flight), I do not recall Malarchuk's incident from someone running the goalie - it was just a freak accident like Zednik.
If anyone puts a collection basket in the Wranglers room Thursday, I'll put in 20 to go towards the fine.
Blackcat, kind of sort of....Our big DOH defenseman Uwe Krupp at the time, pushed the opposing player into the goalie, but instead of the player falling head first, he went skate first and clipped Malarchuk's jugular. I was only saying, it's extremely dangerous for skaters to crash the goal like that. The photo shows a player to the left of the goalie who could very well have received a skate to the neck region as it's showing perfect height. It may seem like a grand idea to distract the goalie for a split second by not stopping, but how would the player feel after if he did severely, or fatally injure the goalie?
I played ice hockey for 8 years, and that's the first thing my father taught me...protect your goalie! Anyone goes in that crease, you take them down hard so they'll think twice next time. Low and behold, I held the team record for penalty minutes 6 of 8 years, and most in a game! I think I'm permanently barred from Olmstead Heights Ohio!
Buttercup: You're point is well taken, not trying to discount what you were saying just wanted to clarify that the Malarchuk incident, as was Zednik's was just a freak accident. I do not recall if goalies wore the throat protectors back then. If you consider all the hockey played over the years, I can only recall those 2 incidents. BTW, although I'm from Buffalo where most of us played ice when we were younger, I'm always amazyed how many people from Cleveland play too considering the 2 years of horrible hockey brought about by the NHL Barons, and the revolving doors of minor pro teams over the years, althought the AHL Baron's enjoyed some success until that was destroyed by the WHA's Crusaders.
No worries Blackcat, definitely freak accidents and something you don't hear of often. I don't believe they wore throat protectors back then, but after Malarchuk's injury, I believe they were invented quite quickly. Yes, there are many women's teams in the Cleveland area actually. Many top notch girls programs as well. PA is similar. I just wish there was a women's team here in the valley! :(
Hey buttercup, I had to dig deep into the archives to find this story about women's hockey in Las Vegas:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/oct...
Looks like there is only one. I'm from Pittsburgh then went to school in Chicago so living here is a bit of a shock hockey-wise for me too.
On another note Wranglers fans...here is a new podcast with Coach Mougenel:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/podcasts/hock...
Yep, I saw that article Steve, but unfortunately, I need a women's 19+ team. I just replaced some of my older equipment with newer stuff, in hopes of playing coed someday out here. Once I get my new place and pay less a month, I can make that happen. Until then, I guess I have to resort to watching the LA Kings and Anaheim on the local CA stations! BOOOORRRRRINGGG!!! Go Sabres!!!
Lots of Sabres fans I notice live here. Sabres season ticket alumni here from 83-92 in Memorial Aud. Go Sabres indeed.
From Hershey, remember seeing Buffalo when they were in the AHL and had the Pepsi logo on the front of the jersey. Thats when Cleveland and Pittsburg were in the AHL also. Yea, I guess I am that old.
That Pepsi logo was cool. I used to like that - I'm old too, but young at heart. Ask Steve, ha.
I guarantee if all these bloggers here got together before a game or in between periods, many of us would recognize each other from the games, lol.
And I remember the Malarchuk incident vividly. Fortunately my seats were derectly behind the opposite net where it happened, but even at that distance it was very gruesome and something I hope I never see again. Good old, section one, Reds, in the Aud.
Winthorpe: My season tickets were Section 303, Row 3, Seat 3-4 in Oranges. My season tickets were from 1990-91 thru 92-93. When I bought my house in Cheektowaga in 1993 I had to give them up as the prices for tickets seemed to be going up about 35% per year. Didn't have the luxury of a dual salary as I was single then. Again, that was 17+ years ago, so maybe my #'s aren't exactly right, but each season there was a definate substantial increase. This was during the time the player salaries were really starting to take off - I think Lafontaine was the Sabres first Million Dollar guy.
Winthorpe: One other item for laughs: former Amherst town supervisor Mr. Sharpe (Jack?) sat right in front of me - they had 3 seats - one for him, one for her, and one..drum role..for their coats!! They bought a seat just to place their coats on. This killed me. Lots of pennies from those drunk Toronto fans would land there! Ah, memories of The Aud. I see Mr. Sharpe passed away recently. He was a true fan, always friendly to me.
Da Da Dadada..Lets Go Buffalo!!
Great memories BlackCat for sure and great story about the Sharpes. I moved all over in those years. Started in oranges, moved to upper blues, reds and finally upper golds for Mogilny's 76 goal season. My last season as well as I had a house built on Grand Island and could not justify the costs of the tickets (as I didn't split tickets and went to every game for all those seasons). I loved the Aud, it was a great place to see a game. My last 2 years of high school (76/77), I used to sleep outside overnight in front of the Aud to get tickets. Go Sabres, Wranglers and Thirsty Thursday here I come.
Winthorpe: Tucks and Pucks on New Year's Eve, Sunday and Wednesday night home games, Canadian at Par night, the dead end cooridors in the Aud, standing room only crowds leaning over to watch the action while not trying not to spill their OV's, Sabre dance when the teams hit the ice, drunk fans from north of the border, Garcia's Irish Pub after the game, Peace Bridge traffic tie ups when the game was over, Buffalo keystone cops trying to direct traffic onto the 190 and the Skyway, the peanut guy outside the entrance, snail rail construction hazards in the mid 80's, another first round loss to Quebec, the Knoxes keeping the purse closed at trade deadline (except the time we got Tony Tanti)...the good olde days that HSBC will never know. Was there a better atmosphere in the U.S. for NHL hockey?
That's a real trip down memory lane BlackCat. How about the Conehead and Earl Of Bud selling beers and Earls' Tequila dance on the railing at center ice. How about Jim Schoenfeld fighting Wayne Cashman in the zamboni opening. Bob Sauves' back to back shutouts in the sweep on Montreal in the playoffs. Danny Gare scoring in his first NHL shift vs the Bruins. The spin of the wheel for the first draft and the commisioner reading it wrong and having to change the first pick to Buffalo after declaring Vancouver had it. Gibert's 500th in the Aud vs. Jersey. The fans at the Falls airport greeting the team in 75 after beating Canadians in semi finals. We can go on and on and on. It was the best.
Winthorpe: Great calls, like Jeanerette! I was in 5th grade during the 75 drive, but I do remember the stories. I was away at college (SUNY Fredonia) during Gilbert's 500th against Jersey, but still remember the pic in the Buffalo News the next day. I think we are boring all the bloggers out there not from the Queen City. The Wranglers need transplanted WNY night at the Orleans. We'd probably get 5,000 for that one!! They would need to serve Sahlen's hotdogs, OV, and Peery's Ice Cream at the tailgate. OK I'd settle for Ted's hotdogs.
Steve Silver: Not to bore you with Buffalo stuff, however the Buffalo News had a great hockey writer named Dick Johnston who recently passed away. I wish you could have read his stuff. He really captured the game, much the way you do. He was replaced by another writer, Jim Kelley (no, not the Bills QB), who I thought was horrible.
BlackCat, if I can be half as good as a Hall-of-Famer like Dick Johnston I'll be happy.
My favorite Buffalo/Rochester memory is drinking loganberry pop when I was a little kid up in that area for hockey tournaments... that and the insane snow storms that nearly killed us on the drives home.
I'm going to sound like an old-time Pittsburgher soon when I start reminiscing about the Civic/Mellon Arena after this season. My dad was skating back in the old Duquesne Gardens before that.
Ok, I have you all beat! I have my parrot beeping the Da Da Dadada, Let's go Buf-fa-lo! He also clicks it! Sooo friggin cool!! I miss the Sabres games and Jeanerette! I hate the Versus guys, they're so stupid!
buttercup, watch out or winthorpe might propose to you
If this message board does lead to Buffalo-based love, I better get an invitation to the wedding.
I'll see you all Thursday night for $1 beers. I'm usually around the top row of 118, stop by and say hello.
Absolutely Steve! lol
Winthorpe and Buttercup: you're awesome. Remember the old city slogan..."Buffalo's got the spirit talkin' proud talkin proud", and the billboard near the foot of the Skyway if you were driving in from the southtowns "will the last worker in Buffalo please turn off the lights?".
Buttercup: Buffalo could use that parrot now. That is sooo cool.
Steve: would I be responsible for bringing them together, or should we credit our Alaska Ace foes and their tactics for getting the chatter going?
I won't be at the game tonight but I will be back next week. Winthrope, maybe we can get together around Drew's beer stand between periods. Steve, I will look for you around 118. Cheer loud tonight...
Vagman, Drew is my beer guy so yes we can meet there on Friday the 6th. Drew told me last game he is taking most of the Thirsty Thursdays off because of lack of sales for the beer guys. Can't say I blame him. So if that is where you get your beers, you obviously have seen me there.
Talkin' proud and the running Buffalo logo! My father has that bumper sticker in the basement of our old house in NY. I don't remember the "turn off the lights one" though, never really traveled on the Skyway much. I do remember walking up and down the ramps of the Aud though. We had upper blues seats, and my father always had to run down to the gold level to get ice cream for my brother. lol