Bullfrogs Fight Their Way Past Sting

Bullfrog captain B.J. MacPherson said he and his teammates decided before Saturday night’s game with the Philadelphia Sting to start some fights because attendance at the first three games at Arrowhead Pond has been well below last year’s average of 10,000.

Saturday’s announced crowd of 8,577 appeared to be half that at best but did have plenty to watch as the Bullfrogs accumulated 32 penalty minutes and had three players ejected in a 15-2 victory.

“It was a boring game and everyone decided to get into it,” MacPherson said.

Several Bullfrogs, including assistant coach Richard Ropchan, who coached Team Canada last season, would not comment specifically on MacPherson’s statement, but Ropchan said that the fighting likely would heat up because of the great disparity in the quality of players from team to team in the Major League Roller Hockey, which is in its second season.

Veteran defenseman Darren Perkins agreed.

“They weren’t very good,” he said. “It’s pretty tough to be good when you have only eight or nine players and have to pick up seven or eight guys from here just to play.”

The Bullfrogs, who have outscored opponents, 35-7, outshot the Sting, 57-21.

It has been a rough start, if that is what you call it, for the Sting (0-1). They had to move from New Jersey two weeks before the season to find a rink. Their first two games were postponed because of schedule conflicts. As late as Thursday, the Sting only had nine players.

Just how weak was the Sting? The Bullfrogs’ former scrimmage goalie, 20-year-old Steve Sinclair of Yorba Linda, suited up for the Sting in a one-game deal and got into the game in the fourth quarter. He gave up three goals.

Sinclair, who was on the Bullfrogs’ reserve roster last season but broke his collarbone, says he might sign another one-game deal with the Washington Power when it visits the Pond on Friday.

Bullfrog forward Bill Lund scored five goals, two short of the team record set by Brad McCaughey in 1994, but Lund added three assists to set a Bullfrog record for most points scored in a game.

Darren Colbourne had a hat trick before halftime as the Bullfrogs raised their MLRH record to 3-0, matching Virginia for the best record in the league.

Frog Notes

The Bullfrogs released forward Jason Courtemanche, who had one assist in one game. . . . Forward Tom Menicci remains on the Major League Roller Hockey suspended list because of complications with a trade that brought him from Tampa Bay to the Bullfrogs for goaltender David Goverde. Menicci might not play this season, team spokesman Bruce Hammill said.