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Sports: Pirates dominate Regals on the road with a 9–1 win
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Falher Pirates forward Keith Reade tries to get past Regals Jon Giroux in the first period of the game on Oct. 29. Also pictured is Regals goalie Chris Prpich.
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Emily Plihal
for Smoky River Express
The Falher Pirates brought their A-game, despite a wicked road trip required to make their first appearance in High Prairie this hockey season.
The fog and snow outside did not deter the Pirates as they man-handled the High Prairie Regals in a 9–1 victory.
Playing their first game of the season last Thursday, the Pirates visited the Regals with a list of new players on the roster.
“It was a pretty good start to the season,” says Pirates captain Jason Bouchard. “We played really hard in the first game. We play Fairview tonight and they will be a true test to our game.”
In the first period alone, the Pirates managed to out-shoot the Regals 22 to 5, putting the pressure on High Prairie’s goalie Chris Prpich.
Capitalizing twice in the first period, the Pirates were confident heading into the dressing room after the first 20 minutes.
Power forward Keith Reade opened up the scoring at 7:55 with a power play goal assisted by Ryan Hicks.
Forward Daniel Aubin also capitalized on a man-advantage at 9:45, with assists from assistant captain Shawn Gervais and newly-appointed Pirate Matts Maisonneuve.
In the second period, goals from Matts Maisonneuve, two from Keith Reade, and one from Denis Rochon, sealed the deal for the Pirates on their first road trip of the season.
High Prairie answered with one goal in the second by Vern Cunningham Jr.
The final period of play capped off the Pirates victory with goals from Jason Bouchard, Jared Zawacki, and new Pirate Blake Myatt.
Final score in the game was 9–1, with the Pirates marking a historical record.
This is the first time since 1989 that the Pirates out scored the Regals by such a big margin. In 27 games played in High Prairie, NPHL statistician Chris Clegg says the Pirates have won games, however; by not such a large margin.
Pirates are under the direction of a new head coach in former hockey player Michel Maisonneuve.
Maisonneuve explains the guys have been working hard in the off-season to maintain strength training and to bring their best game to the ice this NPHL season.
“The guys haven’t been on the ice much yet this year, so the game was a true test of their abilities,” says Maisonneuve. “They played a really good team game and were standing up for one another on the ice.”
This game marks Maisonneuve’s first win as head coach of the Falher Pirates. He took over the reigns from former head coach and current general manager Dan Bouchard.
Pirates out-shot the Regals by a margin of 64 to 30 in their first game of the year.
A total of 10 penalties were handed out to each team, four to the pirates and six to the Regals.
The Pirates managed to score on four of the extra man opportunities, while Pirates goalie Todd Rodgers (new to the team) shut the door on the Regals man-advantage opportunities.
The complete NPHL schedule is listed on page 11.
A new schedule was released after Spirit River folded as an NPHL team. There will now be a partially interlocking league, where teams from the East and West Division play against each other three times.
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