ROLLER HOCKEY : Bullfrogs Maintain Upper Hand in Rivalry With Blades

INGLEWOOD — So much for heated rivalries.

After a few brief scuffles early at the Forum Thursday, the Bullfrogs turned to a methodical display of well-timed passes and adept shooting to beat the Blades, 10-4, before an announced crowd of 4,389.

There has been much talk for the past few weeks about the expected intensity of this rematch between geographic rivals, what with four former Bullfrogs playing for the Blades.

But it was anything but tense. The Bullfrogs thoroughly dominated, sending the Blades to their ninth loss in their last 11 games. Nine Bullfrog players scored, and Anaheim outshot the Blades, 47-32. Daniel Shank had four assists for the Bullfrogs.

So, there wasn’t much to do afterward but talk about the rivalry, which resumes Monday at The Pond.

“There’s been no love lost between these teams,” Blade Coach Bobby Hull Jr. said. “The two teams didn’t like each other when the league was formed and they still don’t. We don’t like to lose to this team.”

Such comments were common on both sides of the bench.

“A lot of the guys have been talking about that all week and that kind of talk gets you going,” Shank said.

The Bullfrogs beat the Blades, 7-5, in their season opener, too. Thursday night they upped their mark to the best record in Roller Hockey International at 15-2-1. They are running away with the Pacific Division and in the driver’s seat for the top seeding in the playoffs.

The Blades, on the other hand, are in a three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff spot, 15 points behind the Bullfrogs.

The Bullfrogs broke a 3-3 tie by scoring five consecutive goals during a 10 1/2-minute span of the second and third quarters.

The score see-sawed in the first period, with the Blades taking a 3-2 advantage into the second period following a back-handed goal by Steve Wilson as the first quarter ended.

But then, as they have done so many times this season, the Bullfrogs scored a series of unanswered goals.

Savo Mitrovic’s backhander tied the score, 3-3, with 2:22 gone in the second quarter. Shank hit the pipe two minutes later, but he rebounded and fed Joe Cook, who fired a shot that caught the tip of Mark Oimet’s stick and slipped past goaltender Sean Gauthier.

Victor Gervais made it 5-3 on a goal that was set up by passes from Cook and B.J. Macpherson and the Bullfrogs were off on another run.