Yaks and Kodiaks rack up over 200 PIMs in 6-1 win

It was a long night at the RJ Lalonde for the referee. And the scorekeeper. And the fans. And the players, too.

The Pontiacs hosted a rambunctious Camrose Kodiaks team Tuesday night, who seemed to make it their mission to bully the 2nd place team in the North division.

The Yaks won 6-1. But there was a total of 228 penalty minutes, and a lot of suspect plays.

“I know at times I was frustrated, and I know Boris Rybalka [Kodiaks head coach] was frustrated on his end. They played a game to try and intimidate us, and tried to run us out of the rink,” said coach Rick Swan.

“I’m really proud of our guys, with the number of penalties out there. How sensational our penalty killing was, not to get frustrated by the confusion on the standard out there…”

“We lose our captain Grayson Constable who gets pushed headfirst into the boards. A valuable player – no call there. There’s instigator fights going on all over the place. I was really confused with respect to that. But as coaches we have to make sure we keep a cool head.”

The game was marred by penalties, but no team scored on the combined 16 power plays.

Trey Thomas’s second period goal assisted by Daine Dubois and Noah Lugli stood up as the game-winner.

Luke Albert chimed in with his fifth goal of the season seven minutes into the third to make it 3-1 and the floodgates opened up from there.

The Yaks pulled away in the third period thanks to the Benoit, Dubois, Thomas line who cashed in on five of the team’s six markers.

The Yaks finished the ruckus affair with 51 shots on Kodiaks netminder Roddy Ross.

Moving forward the status of captain Grayson Constable is uncertain after he left the game in the first period with what appears to be a head injury, especially ahead of Friday night’s tilt against the Sherwood Park Crusaders on the road.

It’s been a long time since the Pontiacs saw Sherwood Park. They played a home-and-home in late September (which they split) and since then both North division leaders have acquired new players and watched their confidence grow.

Newly acquired Matt Monk with Husband Chad during the second intermission