Gervais, Perkins Lead Bullfrogs Past the Blades

Things got rolling so fast in the first half for the Bullfrogs Friday night at the Pond, it was just a matter of time before Victor Gervais and Darren Perkins recorded hat tricks in a 10-1 victory over the Blades.

The question was who would do it first: Gervais, the team captain who had been struggling on offense, or Perkins, who wasn’t expected to play much because of a pulled leg muscle?

Gervais was the first to score three goals but by the time Perkins did the same, Anaheim was well on its way to a commanding eight-goal lead in the Roller Hockey International game.

Gervais and Perkins each had four assists and Todd Wetzel added a goal and three assists. Savo Mitrovic added two goals and rookie Glenn Stewart had a goal and two assists for Anaheim (11-2-1). The Bullfrogs scored on four of five power play chances and the Blades, last in the league with only 61 goals, were 0 for 5 with the man advantage.

“Our penalty killers did a great job tonight,” Bullfrog Coach Grant Sonier said. “That allowed our power play to take over from there.”

The announced crowd of 8,904 watched the Bullfrogs play one of their best halves of the season. It was Gervais’ first three-goal game of the year and moved him back into the league’s top 10 in scoring. Perkins, one of the highest scoring defensemen in RHI, recorded his second three-goal game of the season.

“I’ve had a tough time scoring goals,” Gervais said. “But tonight they went my way. When you get lots of chances in other games and they don’t go in, you know sooner or later you’re going to have a game like this.”

They needed it, too. As well as the Bullfrogs have been playing of late, they just can’t seem to shake Oklahoma in the Pacific Division race. The Coyotes, who play San Jose tonight in Tulsa, are only three points behind Anaheim and they meet again July 24 at the Pond.

Goaltender Rob Laurie made 33 saves and the Bullfrog defense, led by Perkins and rookie Sean O’Brien, continually frustrated the Blades.

“The best thing we can do is forget this one,” Blade Coach Mark Hardy said. “They took it to us. They outplayed us, they out-skated us, they outdid us in every aspect of the game. We just didn’t come to play.”

Bullfrog Notes

Lew Stowers, the voice of the Bullfrogs since 1994, has been fired by team owners. He was replaced on Friday’s KPLS radio broadcast by Rich Herrera, formerly of KMAX. Stowers refused to take a one-third pay cut mandated by the Silver family as part of the financially struggling club’s cost-cutting moves. His broadcast partner, Charlie Simmer, has been on leave for family reasons. Earlier, General Manager Bob Elder, who worked his last game Friday, was fired and the team’s assistant director of marketing, Vicki Louis, was dismissed.