Bad blood already in Neepawa/Cartwright series

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Published on Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Neepawa’s Cam Tibbett and Cartwright’s Conner Drewry ended game one of the best-of-seven series with a fight, as players look on.

The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

A hat trick, a penalty shot, an altercation between a player and a fan and a police presence to close out the evening. Welcome to playoff hockey in the Tiger Hills Hockey League.  While cooler heads ultimately prevailed, it’s still fair to say that if the entire best-of-seven series between the Neepawa Farmers and Cartwright Clippers is anything like game one, it’ll be one for the ages.

The opening game would see Neepawa come out on top on the scoreboard by a 4-1 margin.  Lance Nugent lead the way with a hat trick for the Farmers, while Ryan Menei closed out the night with a goal and an assist. But more importantly, this showdown may have set the tone for rest of the series, as it was a physical affair that has already created bad blood between the combatants. 

Perhaps getting a first round bye served more as a hinderance than a help to the Farmers, as they couldn’t get going in the first period. Cartwright, meanwhile, seemed a step ahead of their foe, as they had just completed a 3-1 series win over Gladstone and still had their game legs under them. Fortunately, those first 20 minutes remained deadlocked at 0-0.

In the second, Cartwright once again started strong. That eventually paid off, as they scored the first goal of the game at 14:06 with Drew Haight earning the marker. That deficit seemed to wake up Neepawa, as they started pressing for opportunities of their own. That work paid off, as Lance Nugent scored at the mid-way point of the game to tie things up at 1-1. Late in the period, another power-play for the Farmers offered them a shot at the lead. But instead, it was the Clippers who nearly took advantage as they had a breakaway attempt with just seconds left in the period. The Cartwright player was taken down and the referee accessed a penalty shot with no time remaining. On the chance, Farmers goaltender Curtis Nelson was able to stand tall and keep the biscuit out the basket, ensuring it stayed tied at 1-1 going into the third.

In the final 20 minutes of regulation, the intensity both on and off the ice got kicked up to another level. 

It all began with the Neepawa Farmers coming out and putting consistent pressure on the Cartwright defensive unit. That quickly paid off, as Nugent scored his second of the night, just 1:17 into the period to give the Neepawa a 2-1 edge. Cartwright tried to counter, but couldn’t create the chances they needed for the equalizer. Neepawa, meanwhile, kept pushing the pace. That soon lead to another chance for Nugent, who made it count with his third goal of the game. 

After that, things out on the ice got a bit intense, as an altercation with 7:56 remaining resulted in players from both team heading to the penalty box. The Cartwright player would then find himself thrown out of the game entirely after trying to start a fight on the way to the sin bin. As he left for the dressing room, that’s when things got interesting, as there was allegedly an altercation between him and a fan. Eyewitnesses did confirm to the Banner that there was a verbal incident, but that did not escalate into anything physical. A pair of fans also had a ‘discussion’ shortly thereafter but fortunately, it never moved beyond that point.

As for the action back on the ice, things broke down quickly, with each club getting into it and taking a few penalties. Then, with just over two minutes left, the first real fight of the night broke out, as Neepawa’s Cam Tibbett and Cartwright’s Conner Drewry decided to throw hands. Both players earned game misconducts for that. 

The game finally closed out with Neepawa adding one more goal with 5.3 seconds left on the clock, to secure the 4-1 win and the first game in this best-of-seven series. As the fans gathered in the lobby of the Yellowhead Centre after the game, a pair of RCMP officers arrived to simply ensure the post game activities remained civil. Fortunately, what happened on the ice, stayed on the ice…for the time being. If this Valentine’s Day melee is any indication, I’m sure there will be no love lost between these two clubs moving forward.

Game two is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 17 in Cartwright at 8:00 p.m., while game three will be played in Neepawa at the Yellowhead Centre on Saturday, Feb. 18.  Opening face-off for game three will be at 7:30 p.m.