Bullfrogs Come Out Flying, Roll Over Blades

The Bullfrogs humbled the injury-riddled Blades, 7-2, in the opening round of the Roller Hockey International Western Conference playoff series Wednesday night at the Forum.

From the start, it was clear to Bullfrog Coach Brad McCaughey and the announced crowd of 3,816 that the Blades, who were 0-4-2 in the last two weeks, were not ready to face red-hot Anaheim.

“The way they played tonight doesn’t resemble the hockey team I saw all year,” McCaughey said. “I expect a much better game at our rink. They’ll be a different team.”

Blades’ Coach Mark Hardy could only agree.

“This is our building and we should have come out flying,” he said. “We didn’t come out flying and they did and you can’t beat a team that way.”

Missing from the Blades’ lineup was leading scorer Doug Ast, who has an injured knee. Kevin St. Jacques is still recovering from a broken hand. And forward Ian McIntyre is out because of a bad back. All three are listed as day to day, according to Hardy. However, it’s possible Ast could play Monday in the second game, which will be played at the Pond.

And the Blades will need him, if they have any hope of stopping the Bullfrogs.

Anaheim had no trouble putting pressure on the Blades, as Los Angeles goaltender Jeff Ferguson faced 38 shots. And the Blades were 0 for 3 with a man advantage.

“We played solid and didn’t give them anything much,” Bullfrog defender Bob Woods said.

The Bullfrogs, who lead RHI in power-play percentage, showed why, converting four of five attempts. They got a power-play goal from Todd Wetzel and a goal from Hugo Belanger for a 2-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.

Forty seconds into the second quarter, Victor Gervais took a nice drop pass from Belanger at the top of the faceoff circle and scored.

Blade forward Ryan Harrison gave the crowd something to hope for, however, scoring his 13th goal of the season with 10:58 left in the second quarter to make it 3-1.

But that was the last goal the Blades would get for nearly 26 minutes.

Wetzel’s second power-play goal, a rebound off Ferguson from Sean Whyte’s stick, made it 4-1 with 6:05 left in the second quarter. Whyte opened the scoring in the third quarter with another goal on the power play.

The Bullfrogs led, 7-1, early in the fourth quarter.

“I hope we’re ready to play Monday,” Hardy said. “Defensively, we have to work harder. That’s what films are for. We have to try something different.”