The distance from Abbotsford to Tucson is about 2,631 kilometres.
By car it鈥檚 about a 26 hour drive. In fact, Tucson is the furthest team from Abbotsford in the Pacific Division.
Despite all those obstacles, the Canucks and Roadrunners seem to have developed a deep hatred for each other and those feelings boiled over in a wild, fight-filled game inside the Abbotsford Centre on Friday (Feb. 10).
On a night billed as 鈥淐elebrating the Sedins鈥�, fans got more fisticuffs than Sedinery and the Canucks had an impressive 4-0 win.
Few unedited shots of the epic fight
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The violence started near the end of the first period when Abbotsford鈥檚 Vincent Arseneau and Tucson鈥檚 Bokondji Imama dropped the gloves at centre ice. The tilt saw both men land a number of shots to a roaring crowd. Arseneau ended the fight with a takedown and the players went to their respective corner, er, penalty boxes.
BIG VINNY DOING WHAT BIG VINNY DOES BEST 馃
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
But the first period wasn鈥檛 all physical play. Friday marked the home debut for newly acquired forward Aatu R盲ty had a pair of glorious opportunities early yet was unable to score. R盲ty was dangerous the entire game and had a team-high six shots.
The Canucks outshot Tucson 12-7 in the first period and had more quality chances, but Roadrunners goalie Ivan Prosvetov had a solid first period. He also drew the ire of the crowd when he drew a penalty after falling when Arseneau glided through his crease. A replay of the penalty shown to the crowd showed Prosvetov stick his leg out and then appear to fall on purpose.
As a result, Prosvetov was booed for the remainder of the game anytime he touched the puck. More on him later.
Noah gets us on the board first 馃憣
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The Canucks offence exploded in the second period, with defenceman Noah Juulsen opening the scoring at 4:38. Quinn Schmiemann then scored his first professional goal at 8:34 after an excellent set-up by Nils H枚glander. A few more fuses were lit when captain Chase Wouters dropped the gloves with Vladislav Kolyachonok after the latter hit Arshdeep Bains. The Tucson player decided not to fight. Both players were given unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
SOMEBODY GRAB THAT PUCK!
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Quinn Schmiemann buries his first career goal after taking the feed from Nils H枚glander 馃帀
Congrats Quinn! 馃コ
Matt Alfaro gets his first of the season on the redirect 馃挭
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Matt Alfaro then tipped an Arseneau shot from the point that erupted the crowd at 13:49. Tristen Neilsen added a power play goal at 16:16 to make it 4-0 after 40 minutes. Abbotsford dominated the second period and outshot Tucson 20-7.
Nielsen score and celly. Power play goal, 4-0 Abbotsford
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The third period is when the game went off the rails a bit. Both penalty boxes were filled for the majority of the third and it was highlighted by a large scrum that broke off into several different tussles.
A scrum in front of the net led to Wouters dropping the gloves with Tucson鈥檚 Nathan Smith behind the net. On the other side of the rink Schmiemann and Travis Barron got into it and Tucson goalie Prosvetov also got involved to the jeers of the crowd. Prosvetov received a 10-minute misconduct and was removed from the game, skating off the ice after the scrum was broken up. Tyler Parks played the last 3:20 for the Roadrunners.
More fights break out, Wouters lands a punch in front of me
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Prosvetov got involved in a fight and then just left lol. Mega heat from the crowd
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Wouters, Schmiemann, Smith and Barron all received fighting majors and because the penalties occurred in the final five minutes of the game they all receive an automatic game misconduct. Tucson was assessed with a total of 59 penalty minutes on the game, while Abbotsford was hit with 41.
"I liked our pace, the tempo of our game... certainly in the first two periods, we deserved what we got."
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Jeremy Colliton addressed the media following Abbotsford's 4-0 victory over Tucson on Friday night.
Juulsen and Christian Wolanin both had two point nights. Nielsen鈥檚 goal was his 10th on the season and the Canucks now have eight players who have scored 10 or more goals.
Despite all the chaos, Canucks head coach Jeremy Colliton said he liked his team鈥檚 game.
鈥淚 liked our pace and we played at the tempo of our game,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e advanced the puck really well and our forecheck and our pressure on the puck didn鈥檛 allow them to [advance the puck].鈥�
Colliton said he also appreciated his team鈥檚 response to some of the physicality that Tucson brought.
鈥淲e want to play hard 鈥� no question,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 important and you learn from those experiences. Learn how to handle it because there鈥檚 probably going to be more of the same tomorrow. 鈥�
He also praised the play of goalie Arturs Silovs, who made 21 saves to earn his third shutout this season. Silovs shut down the Roadrunners in the first period when they were at their most dangerous and was steady the rest of the game.
The fourth line of Arsneau-Alfaro-Gatcomb was also a key factor in the win. They produced a goal and were a physical presence. Colliton said it was a great game from that line.
鈥淭hey had some very good forechecking shifts and they got rewarded,鈥� he said. 鈥淔orechecking, puck protection, getting pucks to the net 鈥� they were very effective today.鈥�
The Sedins are welcomed to with a standing ovation
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Daniel and Henrik Sedin were honoured by the organization prior to the game and addressed the crowd. The brothers are active helping out the development of young players in Abbotsford and thanked the fans for their support.
The Canucks and Roadrunners renew their rivalry Saturday (Feb. 11) at 7 p.m.
