Week 26: Sentinels Season Review

The Indiana Sentinels have battled through their inaugural season. They have come a long way after a rocky start(rocky to say the least). They are coming off of their biggest win of the season over a top contending Athens team. Coach Everett Thompson played a major part in the stabilization and forward progression of the team. He joins the pod to discuss the journey with @swancommander; a journey from where they started to where they are now. Dave Jackson gives the jammed packed suspension and fines report.

The conversation continues in the Discord — join free here: https://discord.gg/7UVWaJyR4d

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Testing the right speaker. Right. Testing the left speaker. Left. Sound successfully recovered. Swan commander. Connected. And now, and now the countdown has begun. Has it begun? And now, and now. Are you ready for a journey that goes beyond the norms? The Federal Prospect Hockey League just celebrated its 15th anniversary. With the footprint and file base rapidly expanding. One hockey is now bringing you behind the scenes. Beyond the arenas. This is FPHL. Beyond the glass.

SPEAKER_04 1:13

What's going on, everyone? Welcome back to another episode of FPHL Beyond the Glass. I'm your host, Eric Swannick, Swan Commander on social media. This is the official podcast of the Federal Prospects Hockey League, and we have a jam-packed episode for you this week. We are going to sit down with Everett Thompson, the head coach and general manager of the Indiana Sentinels. They've had a big turnaround this season. Um, from the way they started to where they are now, very impressive. Big turnaround. They pulled off a massive upset this past weekend against Athens. So we're gonna check in with Everett and we're gonna sit down with Dave Jackson to go over suspensions. He's been pretty busy this week. A lot of suspensions to go over. Let's get into it. Everett, what's going on? Welcome back to the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:58

Swan, how are we doing?

SPEAKER_04 2:00

Doing great, doing great. Uh, seasons, you know, winding down here. You guys are a massive story. I mean, the the finish that you guys are having, just you know, the way things started, and now you coming in. I mean, you know, you've done a tremendous job with that team. And like, I think that's kind of you know, you guys obviously had the big upset win this weekend, which is kind of like a nice cherry on top. Um, you guys have come a long way.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Yeah, no, I mean, from the first weekend going to Topeka, playing them uh late in October after kind of you know, obviously the start they had before I came in. Uh, they saw this team that we played this past weekend, and uh pretty sure they got like 10 shots on goal. It was uh it was a massacre. And you know, it was uh one of those games that you look back on now from where that was in the beginning to where we are now, it's uh it's leaps, bounds, it's it's a trajectory that you'd like to see from your first year teams. You don't, I feel like just not to say historically, you don't see last place teams this time of year usually beating a team that's gonna generally be competing for a championship. But I mean, kudos to the guys, man. They bought in this week and they've been buying in the last few weekends, and this is kind of uh just what can happen if you know a couple of their guys obviously big pieces weren't in, and you know, that's just one of those things where the right things come in place in the right time, and we took advantage.

SPEAKER_04 3:25

Yeah, for sure. And you guys should be proud, and I'm sure, you know, I'm sure they are, and it's you know, kind of a massive. I mean, you know, we hear different um, you know, you hear about teams playing spoiler and stuff, right? Like you guys aren't you know in playoff position, and you hear about teams playing spoiler. Okay, how can we mess up, you know, teams that are in playoff position? I mean, you guys did that, like this, you know, Athens games against Monroe that series this weekend is going to be super, super important. And you know, you guys obviously played a massive part in that.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

Yeah, no, it's uh like you said, we're we're proud of the group here, we're proud of the fellas here. Um, it was it is one of those, it's one of those times of years where teams can kind of disappear, they can stop doing the right things, but um, our guys really do kind of buy into the concept of we're building something here, maybe not for now, but for the future, and including their careers here. I mean, if you look at like some of the individual stories that we have, we really are just kind of a rag tag put-together team here throughout the season. And a lot of guys with uh, you know, teams maybe folded midseason over in Europe or like, you know, didn't have the big season that they thought they were gonna have with their team and something happened, or you know, just a lot of weird bounces for individual guys here. And yeah, for them to end up here and to buy in together is a you know huge win for us, but it's also for them individually, like uh just for them, it's gonna be a huge feeling going into summer, knowing they can accomplish something that big.

SPEAKER_04 4:47

Yeah, absolutely. And you got you guys have big games coming up as well. I mean, like you guys are you know neck and neck with Watertown right now in the standings. I mean, I'm sure that's a goal of your guys to overtake that spot in the standings. Um, you know, again, like it's it's been a crazy turnaround this year for you guys.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

Yeah, no, definitely. That is our next big step is to not finish last. Um, I think that's uh something that you can really hang your hat on from where we were. Like, obviously, I think we were like inherited, like when me, when I first got here, it was like already looking like it was gonna be a team that might not make it compared to now, where you know, obviously just getting out of the basement's a huge step, but also showing with our new ownership group and everything that's kind of going on in the behind the scenes where we were to now, it's just kind of blossomed beautifully. And I think it's one of those things for years to come that is gonna be a successful operation here.

SPEAKER_04 5:40

Yeah, absolutely. And like you won't finish last in the league, and now you're you know, going for that, you know, not last in the division. Um, you know, so you came on in the early days to the podcast when uh when you had first taken over, and then you told me, Hey, when we get our first win, I want to come back on, right? And then like that next week you're back on, and we started talking about you know, kind of the changes and stuff that you were implementing. Now that a lot more time has gone past, looking back at it all now, like what were those changes that you that you implemented and that you feel made the difference there in terms of you know, either just day to day or with certain bringing certain players in or whatnot. Um, if you could even share maybe was there certain things that maybe you adjusted that it's like okay, this is what needs to change, change it like okay, nope, that's not right, we gotta change it again. Um, you know, walk us through what you can about how you like how you actually got there. Like bring us behind the scenes, like you as a coach, okay, how did we get from where you were to where you are to where you are now?

SPEAKER_03 6:35

Um, so yeah, I don't think there's any secret. If you look at our transaction list, we've had to go through a lot of guys this year. It's one of those things where at this level, um, I just genuinely believe if you want to get better, you got to have some change. And unfortunately, um, you know, going through a lot of guys is one thing, but I think it's finding the right people. And it's really hard when you don't get training camp. It's something you usually do over the summer, right? Finding your type of people. And I think throughout the year we found them. You know, it's just we keep having to keep reinventing the sauce a little bit here and spicing it up a bit, um, to where now, you know, it's the consistency, doing the same things over and over, continuously learning little things. It's not about this massive reinvention of anything. It's just taking little things about guys' games, especially defensively. I think if you can change stick diction, how they angle, um, little things like that, it can really change how you just interpret and how you can play the game. Because uh, I think a lot of teams and a lot of individuals, like when you're going through the motions or when you're struggling, you just find yourself chasing the game and you have to kind of go back to your little things. And that's what we really do, I think, well. Um, it's hard every single day in this league. Um, you know, you're hit with some sort of obstacle, it feels like, sometimes where you know, some teams don't go through that. We were one of those teams that had to go through some obstacles, but the guys were very optimistic, they were very flexible. Um, you know, there was some times where things would get a little discouraging, but at the end of the day, they came together and were always there for each other. And that's, you know, something that when you're bringing a program into this league, you're gonna have some issues, you're gonna have some turbulence, you're gonna have things to go through. If you can get through those things and you can find a core or nucleus of guys that can go through those things, you can really establish something that can uh it's similar to on the ice. On the ice, the success can be had, but then it kind of goes into off the ice too. If we're doing the right things for them, they're gonna have a they're gonna have the chance to compete. And that's all they're asking for is a fair chance to compete with everyone.

SPEAKER_04 8:41

Yeah, and it's you know, I'm happy you mentioned that because it is so important, like the actual the guys in the locker room. It does take a special person to be a part of somebody's situations, expansion situations, or when things, you know, when things aren't going, you know, when things aren't great, right? Like it's easy, it's easy to be Mr. Positive and do everything when everything's going great, right? Like when things are rough, that's where you know it's easy the other way to fold up real quick. So it really takes a special person to be in that locker room and to and to battle every day and to you know take the strides and have you know those forward that forward progress that you guys have had throughout the season.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

It's a ton of perspective too. You know, I think a lot of guys, um, even the guys that have had some success in other programs, like in good junior programs, if you look at where some of the guys have come from, we've got some guys that have won hockey games. But sometimes when you uh, you know, maybe you just find the wrong coach or you don't get the opportunity on a team that you thought you were going to, and it doesn't really go your way, and all of a sudden, you know, your confidence is really sliding. Um, one thing I do think that we and my staff with Yarwood and Wright have done really well is um building guys up. You know, we we're not doing drills that are gonna make you think seven different ways. They're pretty simple. You got two passes to make generally and then skate. Um and then one more decision. And that's what the game really is. If you break it down to making it simple for them, like hey man, you have your A and B read, and then if not, our you know, one of the assets if you look at a lot of the guys that we recruit are is skating. We don't generally look at maybe how big or fast you are. The first thing we ask is uh can he skate? Because that's 90% of the game at this level nowadays. If you look at the NHL now, it's a fast game because guys can skate. Oh, yeah, the puck's always gonna be able to move quick. So if you can move and uh get to spots, you're gonna be successful. And that's what I think we're priding ourselves on finding is guys that are the right fit, but also can skate.

SPEAKER_04 10:38

Yeah, and I want to switch gears here a little bit. So like take us behind the scenes of the neutral site trip, right? So like we've all seen neutral site games over the years in this league and everything. Like, what was that like to be you know to be part of one? And like what like what did that entail? Like, walk us through like that road trip.

SPEAKER_03 10:53

So, yeah, um, Minnesota's obviously this obviously Topeka is now the furthest west we go, but the first game in Minnesota, um, we stopped in Minneapolis on the way up there, um, skated with John Chiavo and his group up there in Burnsville, Minnesota. It's a great group. They do great stuff there. So, you know, it's one of those things where we really made it a cool little trip for the guys. We uh took off two days early, got there early. We stayed in a casino resort that was near when we got there. Um, the facilities there is fantastic. It's uh it's built just like the Ralph Ingolstadt in North Dakota, but it's obviously a little bit smaller. Um, but it's the facility's phenomenal. It's just uh it's definitely uh got some historic stuff going on in there with the high school team. It's uh it's a cool place. Uh it's there'll be some interesting things to see when they pop up how it'll all work out there. Um, like after Saturday, I can say there wasn't a ton of places to go. Um Friday, there's a few places to go. It wasn't necessarily like a metropolis compared to like you know, a lot of the southern teams when you go to Athens, Baton Rouge, Biloxi, um, even Columbus, they there's a lot of stuff going on. So it'll be interesting to see um the type of players they can recruit there.

SPEAKER_04 12:13

Yeah, was it was it pretty similar to just any other road trip, or was there anything like different about it? Or I mean obviously a little special about it, but like was there anything different in terms of I don't know, just like the whole game day process or anything, like of what you guys were, you know, any pregame stuff or what I know they did some pregame stuff there or whatever. Was it pretty much just similar to any other road trip, or was it you know, more like prepping for an event?

SPEAKER_03 12:38

Um I think it was like the hard part for that is generally just how far away it is. So I think that's one of the things that kind of you gotta prepare for leaving really early. And you know, when you get to a place, um we had a guy here that was in the army that was here for a while with us, and he'd always say, you know, sometimes you hurry up and wait. And that's kind of what it was like at the office. All right, now we gotta wait for this game to happen. Like, because you know, it's just one of those things where you go to some of these places and there's a lot of stuff to do. No, not that there's not a lot to do there, it's just you get exhausted from these trips. Um, we're on the third week now of uh every single trip we're taking, it starts with a one and then has another number behind it. It's not like a six, five, these are 10, 12, 16-hour journeys that we're on back to back to back. Yeah, so I think it's just kind of taxing, like um, we already have to take off tomorrow for Topeka again. And it just seems like you know, it's just one of those mental games. So I think the guys, the best part is is they come together. Spending this much time together, generally, I kind of wish we had something like this earlier in the year because um you bring your group together on these trips, they they have nowhere to go, but there's nowhere to hide, you know, they're together all the time. And I think personally, um, escaping home, kind of getting away from your regular routine is really good for them, especially when it comes to coming together and getting to know someone and becoming true teammates that are gonna battle. Some of these teams have been together for years, they know each other really well. When you're an expansion team, you need some of these types of trips to come together so you can get to know your guy that you've maybe been next to for three months, and you've only maybe talked to him about, hey man, can I get that clear tape? Like becomes one of those things after a while, right? So I think it just it's a good change of pace for the guys to kind of slow it down, hang out in the hotel together a lot, be on the bus together a lot, hitting up different truck stops, seeing what everyone likes to eat. Um, at the end of the day, once you get there, it's kind of to get into your routine, though. So that part doesn't change for them. Um, thankfully, but yeah, it was definitely uh experience having to plan to travel that far away and having to plan out like a stop for practice in between. I think that's all fun though, at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_04 14:56

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, like road trips are so great, but like you said, such a grind at the same time. Like it's like a different kind of exhausting, but like they're you know, like some of the best times are on the road, but then again, you know, just completely exhausting and you know, grind in a battle and loading, unloading, and all like just all the different things, and you know, you know, wind up missing some time, you know, time markers or whatever. It's like all right, well, can't do that pre-game meal. I gotta go over here, like you know, whatever, just a lot to coordinate on road trips and everything. What's some of the biggest things that you want to do? Yeah, for sure. For sure. What's what are some of the like the biggest goals or biggest things you're like that you have planned or looking forward to like heading into the summer and then for for next year? Like obviously you mentioned that, like, hey, like it might not be a one-year thing, it could be a two-year thing or three-year thing. Um, you know, in terms of you know, assembling a team and getting them to where you need to be, especially where you guys were. What's like looking ahead, what you know, what's on your mind right now?

SPEAKER_03 15:51

Um, I think it kind of goes into that Nick Saban thing of like if you if you if you're done early, you you get to recruit early, which is good. Um, you get to get your nose to the grindstone in that. Where if you go all the way, you know, if you look historically back, he wasn't celebrating too hard. He's like, well, man, I'm three weeks behind already. So I think it's just one of those things where you've got a as a coach and GM, um you're constantly trying to make your team better, make your group better by seeking what's out there, especially at this level, you have to keep your finger on the pulse of what's being released above you, who maybe is coming out of college, who's maybe coming out of retirement, you just never know. So it's uh especially going into summertime, it's really exciting because you can really kind of one A with the end of the year how it's going, you can generate some momentum, but then um, you know, getting into the you things kind of happen quickly. We'll have the expansion teams announced probably a couple weeks right after the championship game, and then you'll have a draft, and uh it'll kind of like it seems like there's a lot of time, but it also seems like there's not. So you've got to really kind of get your plans in motion for whatever the team needs. You kind of identify those where your weak points are, and you try to, you know, get stronger even at your strong points, and really try to get better at your weak points.

SPEAKER_04 17:07

Yeah, absolutely. Um, anything you want to end off with?

SPEAKER_03 17:12

Um, you know, they I'm thankful for the Indiana Sentinel fans here that we've had all year here. They've been behind us from day one. Um, they've been in our little fan base has grown. Um, obviously, we're still trying to work on something here to build something really uh great for them to have an amazing experience. Um, but for now, right now, where we're at, we're really proud of, and I'm really proud of the group that uh we've assembled here and where we've came from with uh from the coaching staff to the front office of the ownership now. Um everyone is kind of um anyone that's been involved in it from the beginning, honestly. Um it's taken everyone, it's taken a village to kind of get this off the ground, but I'm thankful for everyone.

SPEAKER_04 17:51

Yeah, that's awesome. Um, Everett, congratulations on everything you guys are achieving and all the forward progress and um everything really impressive. You know, the way you've come in and you know, right the you know, is it write the ship, written the ship? I don't know, or writed the ship. That sounds right, right at the ship. Um, you know, like you know, for you and you know, not only you, but you know, the players, the other staff, like you know, and you know, and especially you. Um, so yeah, no, congratulations on everything and best of luck going forward here. And I appreciate you coming back on.

SPEAKER_03 18:18

Thanks, Sean. Appreciate it. I'm sure we'll talk over the summer again. So, man, best of luck to you too.

SPEAKER_04 18:23

Sounds great. I appreciate it. Have a great day, Everett.

SPEAKER_03 18:26

You too.

SPEAKER_04 18:29

Dave, what's going on?

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Eric, how are you?

SPEAKER_04 18:32

Doing good, doing good. No Maytag repair, man, for you this week.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Not this weekend. I don't know what it is. I think maybe we've got Hobbs and Havnots. We've got teams going on to the playoffs, we got teams that are, you know, the light at the end of the tunnel. They can see uh end of the season approaching, uh some frustration. Um, you know, yeah. I think it was a full moon this past weekend because we had uh I had my hands full.

SPEAKER_04 18:55

Yeah, well, what do you got?

SPEAKER_01 18:57

Well, let's start with uh the game between Athens and Indiana. Uh Indiana pulled off a uh major upset Saturday night, defeating uh Athens. And uh, you know, I'm not sure what transpired during the game. We didn't have any any discipline issues per se during the game. But uh at the final horn, final buzzer, we had we had quite a bit. We had uh Malik Johnson go after a player well after the whistle. Um he jumped him, unwilling combatant, uh jumped him, started feeding him. So uh he was assessed an instigator by uh supplementary discipline. I changed that to an aggressor penalty. That's a textbook aggressor. You jump somebody and start punching him who doesn't want to fight, who doesn't fight back. Um so we got a one-game suspension for being aggressor, and then happened in the last five minutes of play. So talked on another game. We got two games. Uh they got him off the ice, everything had kind of calmed down, and then uh Mr. Virgili for Athens decided to do the exact same thing. He jumped the player, started feeding him. He got the exact same suspension. One game for the aggressor, one game for the last five minutes. Uh, it should have ended there. That should have been it, the only penalties. Uh, but then we had um Romeo Torain, who uh received a six-game suspension. Now, I've been looking on uh coming across certain internet, um Facebook, TikTok things, explaining that he got six games for leaving the bench, and that is completely false. That's the entire team was off the bench. The game was over, they were congratulating their goaltender. He got six games for violating two FPHL executive board policies. First one was after he got jumped. I understand it. You get jumped, you're not happy, but he took an Athens player's helmet and without even looking, just fired it into the crowd. Um we had an incident this year in Port Huron where a spectator was hit with a puck and it was a big deal. Uh, it caused an injury, and the the league itself, that not me, but the board of governors brought in a very, very strict policy preventing anybody from shooting the puck or equipment, anything into the stands while the play is not going on, because that's just it's right for somebody to be injured. So he fired that um helmet into the crowd, and I'll read you uh this is again FPHL executive board rule uh any player who intentionally directs, propels, flips, throws, or otherwise sends any object, including but not limited to a puck or any equipment from the playing surface into the spectator area after play has stopped or outside of normal hockey play shall be deemed to have committed a serious spectator safety violation. That is textbook as to what he did. And for the player, the first offense is a four game suspension. A fine of $250, and it's non-appealable. That is not me, that is the league policy right here, written in black and white. Um there's also speculation that his coach, Everett Thompson, got put on probation for a year. Nothing to do with his behavior, strictly to do with the spectator uh policy. Uh it's a one-year probation for the coach of the player who does that. If anybody else that Mr. Thompson is coaching, whether he changes teams or whatever, if anybody else under his control does it again within a calendar year, then he gets suspended as a coach for four games. That's what the probation is.

SPEAKER_04 22:48

Okay. And then that $250 fine, who does that go to the player or the coach?

SPEAKER_01 22:52

That is the player. The player gets fined $250. I'm not sure who pays it. Um, that's a little gray area, but the player's fine $250. Mr. Thompson also got a $250 fine. That was independent of any of that. It was for his um behavior on the ice. He was chirping at opponents, things like that. Um, so that's a $250 fine for inciting. Uh, Mr. Torain, who got six games, so that's four for throwing it into the crowd. He's also on tape committing a lewd gesture twice to the crowd. Again, it's an automatic. It's not me picking on some guy. It says right here in our policies a lewd gesture, first offense is a two-game suspension. If he does it again within a year, it's a four-game. Third offense is a one-year suspension. So, so his six games is four for throwing something into the crowd, two for a lewd gesture, no appeal to either. They're automatics. That's that's on him. Um teams or fans can complain about it, but it's totally on him. Yeah, that was that was that game. All totally unnecessary. Game was over, big win by the underdog, and it should have ended there, but it didn't. So uh Athens was also fined $250 as a team for their lack of discipline.

SPEAKER_04 24:11

Okay, and that's interesting. The player fine, the $250 player fine. That's first time a player's been fined, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:17

That's the only uh only instance that I'm aware of in our FPHL rule book that the fine is directed directly at the player.

SPEAKER_04 24:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Uh but then we had uh we had a game in Danbury where we had a celebrity player, Dave McIsaac, um an older guy, not as old as me, but uh quite a good hockey DB pedigree, a good hockey player, played some really high-level hockey. Uh, I believe he coached in the league as well. But uh from the drop of the puck, it looked like he was out for uh he was out for all the smoke. Uh he wanted some, he wanted to give some. Uh the game, uh the game throughout the game, um, he wasn't uh he wasn't shying away from any um any physical contact. And then later in the game, uh delivered a pretty good body check, a clean body check, got knocked down, and then he got jumped by uh Mr. Millette from Port Huron. Uh a couple of cross checks and a couple punches. They ended up throwing punches. That all could have been dealt with just penalties right then and there. Um the reason for the suspensions, they both got two-game suspensions, is once the linesmen entered the fray, they both got to their feet, and instead of listening to the linesman, they resisted the linesman. Both linesmen took punches to the side of the head. Uh, not intentional, obviously, uh deflections, but uh, you can't have that. You can't have that. Once linesmen are in there doing their job, you got to stop punching. You you can't be jeopardizing linesmen's safety. Uh so they got two games each for resisting the linesmen and continuing an altercation. Entertaining, but you know, at some point when the officials are in there, it's imperative that we stop for the safety of everybody involved.

SPEAKER_04 26:01

Yeah, I was just gonna say everything you're doing, it's for safety all around, player safety, official safety, you know, fan safety. Um, yeah, you know, obviously very important role.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

Yeah. Then we move over to um Baloxy, where uh Matt Stoya got a three-game suspension for abusive officials. Uh, again, completely needless. Uh, the situation was over. The linesman, in my opinion, was was very um calm and um you know not overreacting. He wasn't manhandling the player whatsoever. He was standing there talking to him. Uh the player knocked his hands away, then he shoved them, and then he physically uh chest butted him while threatening to assault him. So totally unacceptable. Uh our officials, you know, they don't make a lot of money. They were out there trying to do their best to get the players safe, and they they don't deserve that kind of treatment. So he got a three-game suspension. Go to PD, which was uh that made a lot of internet uh video. Uh player got a penalty for the visiting team. Uh fans around the penalty bench were just they were rocking the glass. Do you remember back in the NHL when the glass came down and the fan fell on top of Taidomi?

SPEAKER_04 27:19

Taidomi, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Yeah. Well, it was very similar to that. Um I'm surprised the glass didn't give way, but uh there was just no security. Uh, we need security in these buildings, in all buildings, we need security. Um, the fan ended up reaching in and taking the player's stick away from him, which that's physical contact initiated by a fan with the player. You know, we slap players hard when they initiate contact with fans. It's a two-way street. When fans do that to a player, um, obviously I have no control over the fan, but the team got fined $500 for lack of security. And I I would, the owner of the team, extremely proactive, even before any fines came down, he dealt with it on his own. He um he made a statement uh on his social media platform. Uh, he came down hard on that fan, and I commend him for that. That doing the right thing is not always easy. Uh, you get a lot of pushback sometimes, but he didn't care. He knew what the right thing was and he did it. And I commend him. And I commend all the people in our league, owners, GMs, coaches who have the fortitude to stand up and do what's right when needed. Makes my job easier, makes our league look more professional.

SPEAKER_04 28:32

Yeah, for sure. Now, can the refs assess a penalty at that point, right? In the NHL, if guys are throwing, if fans are throwing stuff on the ice, the home team can actually be assessed a two-minute minor for uh delay a game, correct?

SPEAKER_01 28:43

They can, but it's a lot more complicated than simply uh a one-off. Okay if the if the home team fans are throwing things on the ice, it needs to be, we're not talking one or two hats or uh, you know, a coke bottle here and there. It's gotta be literally littering the ice. Yeah, like thousands of well, hundreds, let's say.

SPEAKER_04 29:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

You know, because you what you don't want is you don't want a visiting fan coming into the home team's building and throwing something on the ice to, you know, to get a penalty against the home team. Right. So it has to be, it has to be a marked um abuse of littering the ice. And when that happens, then you give a warning. You go over to the public address announcer, he makes a warning. If this happens again, then the home team will receive a bench monitor penalty for doing a game.

unknown 29:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

But in this case, it wasn't stuff really being thrown on the ice. This was just lack of security around the penalty box area. In a case like that, referees, if it's extreme, they can refuse to um continue the game until order is restored. They can say we're gonna just stand here and wait until we get security around there and make you know, escort certain fans out of the building, whatever it may take to get things back to where it should be.

SPEAKER_04 29:54

Yeah, to secure the playing surface and the player's players.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

Exactly. Um, and that's what that that's always an option for the officials.

SPEAKER_04 30:01

Okay. And do we have that rule in the FPHL? If the ice is littered, do the FPHL officials have the ability to they do.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

They do. Yeah, yeah. We go by the we go uh by the NHL rule book with uh several exceptions. Um, some are additions, some don't apply, but that rule does apply. So if that were to happen, then you would see the the the result. But like I said, it's always a warning first by the PA announcer.

SPEAKER_04 30:27

Okay. All right, cool. Well, what else?

SPEAKER_01 30:30

We got one more. Uh Topeka Baton Rouge, uh, also post-game. Um, we had the coach Topeka, Mr. Nichols. Um, he had a bit too much to say to the opposing players, so he was fined. We had Trevor Lord uh for uh Topeka, who was first off the bench when the game ended, and uh the officials did a great job of identifying that and told him to you know get off the ice. Uh he was assessed a misconduct, 10 minute misconduct. For whatever reason, he didn't want to leave the ice. There's a video of it. Um some might say it's funny. I think it's kind of embarrassing. Uh just refusing to leave the ice. Uh the linesman trying to, you know, basically uh push him, not in a uh manhandling way, but just you know, guiding him off the ice and him basically putting the brakes on and refusing to move. So, you know, earned him a game misconduct. Hope it was worth it. And then we have uh Mr. Morissette for Baton Rouge, who it's not on tape, so we're going by the uh referee's written reports, verbal reports. Um apparently feigned swinging his stick like a baseball bat at somebody, never hit him, just it was unsportsmanlike conduct. Uh so he's sitting for a game as well. But you know, it's this type of thing. End of season, end of season frustrations. Um, you know, season didn't turn out the way it was perceived to to be, or maybe early in the season. Uh guys know their summer might be coming earlier than anticipated, and uh they're just frustrated. I get it.

SPEAKER_04 32:04

Yeah, I get it. But last day of school for some people, you know what?

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Yeah, I just wish we would have a little bit more control. Uh, you know, just uh stay classy and play the game between the whistles, deliver big body checks, drop the glove and fight, drop the gloves and fight if you want, but the extracurricular stuff, there's just no there's no need for it. And um comes across my desk and yeah, yeah, uh so it comes across my desk and I have to deal with it and uh deal with it. And you know, when you come late in the season with guys that have nothing to lose, well, maybe the suspensions might even be a little heavier because makes sense, you know, you got nothing to lose. Well then I got nothing to lose either. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So but you know, you can't prejudge stuff, so you just take them as they come and react to them when they happen.

SPEAKER_04 33:00

100%. Well, all right. Sound sounds good, Dave. Um, good luck. Have fun this weekend. You got frozen four this weekend, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:07

I got a lot of hockey this weekend. I've got uh Thursday evening, I've got two NHL games. NHL games are just great lately. There, I think it's hard to find a game where one team is not battling for that last playoff spot. It's just it's fantastic. So we got I got two games Thursday night, and on top of that, I've got two NCAA semifinal games on Thursday night from Las Vegas. Gonna be great hockey, and then Saturday we've got three ABC games, and then we've uh shoehorned the uh NCAA final, right in between those three ABC games. So it's four games, four games in a row, back to back to back to back, and it's gonna be just a great bunch of hockey, and then the playoffs start the weekend after. First round of the playoffs might be the greatest time of the year.

SPEAKER_04 33:51

Oh, yeah, just every yeah, all night, every night, just hockey.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

All night every night, and you know, it coincides with the FPHL first round of the playoffs. That's great hockey, too. Best two out of best two out of three is you know, desperation every night. It's just it's fantastic hockey.

SPEAKER_04 34:06

Um can't take a shift off.

SPEAKER_01 34:08

Kudos to the teams that made the playoffs, and uh good luck to all because it's gonna be some great hockey, and the fans are gonna be treated to some really entertaining games.

SPEAKER_04 34:16

100%. Well, sounds great, Dave. I will see you next week, right?

SPEAKER_01 34:20

All right, Eric. Take care, man.

SPEAKER_04 34:24

All right, let's do our proof of attendance token code for watching this episode. The proof of attendance token code is suspensions, plural. A lot of those this week. Enter the code at SwanHockey.io on the podcast page, and you will be eligible to receive your proof of attendance token for watching this episode. Codes must be entered by 9 p.m. Eastern, the night that this show airs, Wednesday night. Our magic number is five. Collect five or more tokens, and you will have access to the member only chat in Club Fed in the Swan Hockey Discord server. And that's gonna do it for this episode. Until next time, I'll see you guys soon.

SPEAKER_02 35:00

Thank you for being the best part of this episode of FPHL Beyond the Glass by Swan Hockey. We will see you soon. We will see you soon.