Knopp's Pops Overshadow Roadrunners' Win

by Andrew Nordmeier
October 30, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners


On what should have been a wonderful night for the 3-2 Phoenix Roadrunners, a gruesome display of savagery ruined Phoenix's 7-1 win over the visiting San Diego Gulls (1-4).

Things started innocently enough as Roadrunner forward Ben Knopp was looking down at the ice in front of the penalty boxes when Doug MacIver decided to create a spark for his team that was trailing 6-1 midway through the third period. Of course, the Gulls defenseman who towers at 6-5 and 223 pounds came straight off the bench and made a beeline for the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Knopp.

What happened next was disgusting and sparked a line brawl. MacIver left his feet and crushed Knopp under his frame, dropping Knopp to the ice and causing his teammates retaliate. Roadrunner defenseman Paul Ballantyne ripped MacIver off of Knopp and that helped to spark the five-on-five melee in front of the penalty boxes When the dust settled, Knopp was being helped off by the trainer and didn't return.

"I'm not too sure what happened. Better asking the other guy because I obviously didn't see him coming," Knopp said with a distant look on his face, "Then I was on the ice and felt both my knees pop. That's what I saw. You're better off to ask him (MacIver)."

Roadrunners' Head Coach Ron Filion was livid about MacIver's hit.

"Right now I'm sending the paper (a league incident report) to the league. Those kind of players shouldn't be in our league," Filion said, "They can't play the game and all they can do is fight they shouldn't be in the league. The level of play in the ECHL is too good and too high for guys like this."

This wasn't first time that MacIver has shown bad blood towards the Roadrunners.

"This was a gentleman that did the same thing when we were in San Diego," Filion said, He left the bench, crossed the ice and jumped one of our players. And today he did the same thing. He is supposed to be recognized as a tough guy but everything I've seen so far he's a chicken (expletive) player."

Knopp's status is unknown but he was seen after the game on crutches and with large ice bags on his knees. He will be evaluated Monday.

"Right now, we don't know exactly he has," Filion said, "It could be six months for a 25-year-old guy coming off an AHL contract."

Phoenix took an early lead on goals by Dave Cousineau and Sean Snider in the first period to start out up by a pair. BJ Gaustad put Phoenix up 3-0 before Steve Hildebrand scored San Diego's lone goal.

Ballantyne started the first of four unanswered goals for the Roadrunners that moved the game into the rout category. Snyder picked up his second of the night and Dean Tiltgen scored a pair of late goals to make the final margin 7-1.

Phoenix will have to recover from this incident and get focused as they have a busy week ahead. They host the Idaho Steelheads Thursday and Saturday night. Phoenix also travels to Las Vegas to battle the Wranglers in their first meeting of the year. Phoenix and San Diego next meet November 13th in San Diego.

"The beauty about this game is we get to play them many times this year and the boys aren't going to forget what happened," Knopp said.

Three Stars

3.Chouinard-PHX Another strong outing in goal; has all three Phoenix wins.

2.Tiltgen-PHX A pair of late goals to erase any shadow of a doubt

1. Snider-PHX Two goals early in the game to get Phoenix rolling

Notes: Lost in the game after the scrum broke out was the fact that Phoenix finished 5-of-6 on the power play and shut down the Gulls on all eight of their power plays for the night... San Diego finished 0-for-17 this weekend on the power play and is averaging just two goals per game offensively...Roadrunner goaltender Mathieu Chouinard stopped 35 of 36 San Diego shots for the win; Tyler Weiman took the loss after allowing six goals on 24 Phoenix shots...Phoenix has its first ECHL sweep and first winning streak which stands at two games. Attendance was around 3,200 for the second straight night.



ECHL Stories from October 30, 2005


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