The rivalry boiled over as the Nanaimo Clippers lost to the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
The Caps came back and beat the Clips 4-2 in B.C. Hockey League action on Wednesday night at Frank Crane Arena. There were fights and misconducts and afterwards, shouting between the coaching staffs.
Mike Vandekamp, Clippers coach, lamented all the yapping on the ice.
"That's what the game has come down to?" he asked. "Put the two-fight rule back into the game of hockey, because what happened tonight is embarrassing. That's not hockey … If that's what the game's become, it's ridiculous."
As for the loss on the ice, the coach said "it was our own undoing" as Nanaimo gave up a 2-0 lead.
Vandekamp said his team didn't recover the opponent's dump-ins very well.
"I thought our D played soft, didn't get to pucks first. We didn't do a very good job at the end of the game. We turned over the puck, stopped dumping in pucks ourselves and turned it over too many times," he said. "It was a close game, obviously, but we handed it back to them in the second half."
Will Reilly and Matt Hoover scored for the Clippers and Jakob Walter suffered the loss in goal as his team outshot the opposition 35-28.
GAME ON … The Nanaimo Clippers play the Prince George Spruce Kings on Friday (Dec. 18) at 7 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena, then visit the Victoria Grizzlies the next night. A rematch against the Caps will follow after the holiday break, on Dec. 30 in Duncan.
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