Steve Meadows recorded his 150th career point with the hockey club.

Ironmen Bulled Over

By Luc LaRouche
BURNABY, British Columbia (CP) ---- The Ironmen would take on an old rival Monday evening, as the men of metal would face off against the Bulldogs for the first of three meetings between the clubs this season.

Opportunity would knock for the Ironmen before the puck had even been dropped, as the Bulldogs would be forced to start the game without a goaltender. The Ironmen however were unable to capitalize on this golden opportunity. Not only did the Ironmen fail to register a shot on the open net, but it would be the Ironmen that would end up surrendering the first goal at 10:17 of the opening period. The Bulldogs would just simply outwork the Ironmen throughout the opening frame and with less then a minute on the clock the Bulldogs would go up by two.

The officials who would go on to call a total of ten penalties in the second period would dominate the second period spotlight. Seven of these ten penalties would be against the Ironmen who did very well to kill off all but one of these alleged infractions. The Ironmen played the majority of the middle frame down two men. They would escape the second period trailing the Bulldogs by three.

The Bulldogs would get their forth of the game just 2:15 into the third period. Three minutes and seven seconds later it would start to get ugly, as the Bulldogs would pot their fifth unanswered goal of the game. In an effort to try and shake things up and attempt to breathe some much needed life into the Ironmen, captains Brent Kelly and Steve Meadows would switch positions. Meadows would line-up on the right wing with Rick Makarowski and Craig Granter. Kelly would drop back to defense. It seemed to work, as seconds later with Meadows going hard into the offensive zone, Craig Granter would convert a Rick Makarowski offering to put the Ironmen on the board. However three minutes later the Bulldogs would take back their five-goal lead. Brent Kelly would attempt to restore some respectability for the Ironmen late in the contest when he would walk out from the corner and roof a beautiful goal with 1:15 left on the clock. However it was too little too late for the Ironmen. Steve Meadows and Rick Makarowski would get the assists on the Kelly goal.

The bottom line in this contest is that the Bulldogs outworked the Ironmen and played a much better team game. The Ironmen again did show heart by refusing to quit.

From my perspective the main problem for the Ironmen seems to be their unwillingness as a group to be putting in a solid effort for three periods of hockey. That combined with their inability to play or even understand how to play a team game, continues to be the main problem that haunts the Ironmen on most nights. The only difference between the Ironmen and most of the opposing teams they face is that the other teams (even teams much weaker then the Ironmen) are able to succeed in playing as a team where the Ironmen have failed. There is no question the officials have done the Ironmen few favors this season, however the Ironmen have to control the things they have the power to control. The Ironmen have the power to control how they play their game and how they react to adversity. They cannot control how the officials call a game and they cannot control what the opposing teams do. What the Ironmen can control is their work ethic and team play. There are only ten games left to start playing as a team as opposed to fourteen well intentioned individuals. For the Ironmen to turn things around heading into playoffs it will take much more then just five or six players attempting to play a team game. It will take everyone! The team is more then capable of doing this, but are they willing? It is gut check time. It is time for each player to be asking each other and themselves, Do I play a team game? What can I do better? Do I want to win? It is time to find out who are the real Ironmen!

The Ironmen will be back at it on Friday, February 20th at 10:00 pm when they play the Bolts on the Green 'B' rink.

Luc Trois Etoiles

La Première Etoile - Rick Makarowski

La Deuxième Etoile - Steve Meadows

La Troisième Etoile - Brent Kelly