Disgusted Boughner hits 'boiling point'

Bob Duff: Disgusted Boughner hits 'boiling point'

WINDSOR, Ont. -- There were thousands of teddy bears at the WFCU Centre Sunday afternoon and one snarling grizzly bear behind the Windsor Spitfires bench.

Down 3-1 to the Kitchener Rangers and down five regulars due to the impending world junior championship training camps, Windsor coach Bob Boughner decided to shorten his bench.

Literally and figuratively.

Angered by the undisciplined play of overage forward Dale Mitchell and veteran defenceman Mark Cundari, Boughner not only benched the two players, during the second intermission, he ordered them to take off their uniforms and make themselves scarce from the building.

“I’d just had enough of watching them,” an angry Boughner said after his club’s 5-2 loss. “I was disgusted in both of their efforts.

“I just hit a boiling point and told them to get out of here and go home. I didn’t want to see their faces.”

Just past the midway point the second period, a roughing penalty to Cundari after the whistle had blown led to a power-play goal by Chris MacKinnon that gave Kitchener the lead for good.

Mitchell exchanged words with the officials after the tally and was assessed a 10-minute misconduct.

On Kitchener’s third goal, Jeff Skinner clicked past Cundari like the latter was a turnstile.

“We took stupid penalties, two of them by the guys who weren’t in our lineup after the second period,” Boughner said. “You can’t take stupid penalties.”

You also can’t have passengers on a ship whose crew is depleted of most of its officers. Minus defenceman Ryan Ellis and forwards Greg Nemisz, Taylor Hall and Adam Henrique, who are off to try out for Team Canada, and defenceman Cam Fowler, nursing a nagging shoulder injury prior to leaving for Team USA’s training camp, Windsor needed all hands on deck.

Especially those of its veterans.

“Those guys are two of the most important guys we have,” Boughner said of Cundari and Mitchell, indicating the problems started prior to Sunday’s issue. “The efforts they put out there and the lack of discipline away from the rink, it was just a combination of things that blew up.

“The coaching staff, we don’t need it.”

Boughner didn’t elaborate on what the off-ice issues were with the two players, other than to note its negative impact on the team.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “It’s irresponsible. It’s disrespectful to the rest of the players in that room. Total disrespect.”

The Spitfires couldn’t have scripted a better start to Sunday’s game.

Austin Watson feathered a pass to an in-the-clear Justin Shugg, who snuck the puck through Kitchener Rangers goalie Mavric Parks just 1:52 into the contest.

That brought hundreds of teddy bears raining down on the ice, part of the club’s annual teddy bear toss for local holiday charities.

“It was pretty cool, being the guy who launched the teddy bear toss,” Shugg said. “I wish I could have helped the team out more.”

Actually, Shugg did plenty, scoring both Windsor goals, and noting what went wrong.

“I thought we were undisciplined, taking too many penalties,” Shugg said.

Speaking of discipline, asked where he goes from here, Boughner paused to take a breath.

“I don’t know,” he said. “We wake up (Monday) and we move forward. In the meantime, we’ve got too many kids that are looking for opportunities and are playing hard. If we lose, we lose.

“We’re going to move forward with guys that want to do those things.”

The Spitfires have been happy to draw a line in the snow in the past with players who expressed dissatisfaction or were unwilling to play it their way.

To Mitchell and Cundari, the message seems clear.

Shape up or ship out.

Copyright The Windsor Star