Oct 25, 2007 - 02:35 PM
By Shawn Cayley
OSHAWA -- It was the same old song and dance for the Durham Fury Tuesday night.
Sure they've been blown out of a few games, most notably a 10-1 drubbing at the hands of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens in the last meeting between the two, prior to Tuesday.
But at the same time, the opportunity has existed on many an occasion for the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League club to up its win total above three.
But Tuesday another opportunity went by the wayside in a 2-1 overtime setback to the Jr. Canadiens after the Fury was whistled for a hooking minor in the final minute of regulation, setting the stage for a 4-on-3 start to overtime.
Though general manager John Annis has placed blame squarely on the shoulders of his players for undisciplined play in the past, he wasn't about to do that on Wednesday. Instead, in frustration, Annis yanked out another card.
"Honest to god, I don't know how we always get (calls like that)... but anyways," said Annis, sounding exhausted in looking for answers after yet another loss for his 3-10-5 club. "It is what it is. (Steven) Koufis had the puck and the guy kind of striped him as they were battling for it and Kouf lifted his stick and they called it hooking. We couldn't believe it.
"There are times where you blame the ref and you blame everything else but that one was one where you say, what the hell? With a minute left? It's not like he had a scoring chance or anything," he adds.
In saying that however, Annis wasn't about to take anything away from the Jr. Canadiens.
"I will tell you one thing about the Canadiens, they are probably the most improved team I've seen the last three months," he admits.
Something he hopes, over the next little while, he'll be able to say about his struggling club.
FURY FILES: Michael Shirley (back), Matt Miller (undisclosed) Chris Bain (healthy), Ryan Henry (healthy) and Adam Brown (healthy) were scratched from the lineup... Justin Hitchen scored the lone Fury goal Tuesday... Sunday Durham travels to North York for a 3 p.m. faceoff and host St. Michael's on Tuesday at 7:30.
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