Bullfrogs Are Seeking Fast Finish

NEW JERSEY —  Bullfrog Coach Brad McCaughey wasn’t kidding when he said he liked the mini-game concept being employed in the Roller Hockey International playoffs this season.

“I’ve said all along that it favors our team,” the first-year coach said. “With a mini-game you only have to win one period.”

McCaughey hopes tonight’s Murphy Cup final against the New Jersey Rockin’ Rollers at the Continental Airlines Arena doesn’t come down to that extra 12-minute period. The Bullfrogs can capture their second Murphy Cup title with a victory in regulation after taking the first game of the series, 12-4, Thursday at the Pond.

If New Jersey wins in regulation, the much-maligned extra quarter will follow, with the winner crowned RHI champion.

McCaughey is in the minority, it appears, regarding the mini-game, but he has good reason to feel that way. The Bullfrogs were extended into mini-games in both playoff series thus far. They won the first game against the Blades and the San Jose Rhinos, only to lose the second and be extended for another 12 minutes. By now, McCaughey says, he has become accustomed to the pressure.

Although he admits that the mini-game adds a degree of extra drama for fans, New Jersey Coach Don Shedden said he doesn’t like the idea.

“It’s exciting, no doubt,” said Shedden, who witnessed the Bullfrog-San Jose series. “But it’s a weird setup. We don’t have a lot of time left to play these playoffs, with guys getting ready to go back to their ice hockey teams in this short RHI season, so I guess it works from that aspect.”

Four of six RHI playoff series have been decided by mini-games, which could suggest players might be using mini-games to redeem themselves for poor efforts in the first game. New Jersey players suggested that was the case Thursday. They fell behind, 9-2, early in the third quarter and after that there wasn’t much to do but mix it up a bit and set the tone for tonight’s final. Three game misconduct penalties were called against the Rockin’ Rollers, who got all but three of their 56 penalty minutes in the second half.

“I’m sure they feel once they get us in their rink it will be a different game,” said Darren Perkins, Bullfrog defenseman and player assistant coach.

According to Bullfrog General Manager Bob Destocki, the mini-game concept was originally used by the NCAA in the playoffs. Destocki doesn’t care for the idea.

“There are two sides to the issue,” he said. “One side is certainly that it cuts down on expenses and travel, it saves teams going back and forth across the country to play a third game.

“But I’m a purest, an ice hockey guy, and I believe you should play the whole game. I hate to have the fate of an entire season decided in just 12 minutes because it’s easier.”

Bullfrog director of player personnel Grant Sonier, who coached the team in 1995 when San Jose beat the Bullfrogs in a mini-game, agreed with Destocki.

“I don’t like them because we play a structured game of work for four quarters,” he said. “We should make a concession in RHI to be able to play that third game.”

A year ago the league expanded to three full games per series, with the final two games being played at the site of the team with the best overall record.

Some owners complained it was too difficult to book arenas for back to back dates on short notice and others said they lost money because they said they didn’t have time to promote the events.

No official action by the league was announced and some now accuse a few team owners of leaning on the league’s shaky management to revert to the use of mini-games. Bullfrog CEO Stuart Silver, for one, was shocked when he heard that the mini-game was back. “I am angry with the league for going back on its decision,” Silver said. “We should be playing the whole game.”

San Jose General Manager Jon Gustafson, a goaltender who helped defeat the Bullfrogs in 1995, then saw his team lose to the Bullfrogs this season in the mini-game, says the concept is most likely here to stay.

“I’m in favor of it. It’s exciting for the fan,” he said.