Bullfrogs Beat Coyotes, but May Lose St. Jacques

The Bullfrogs completed a sweep of their regular-season series with the Las Vegas Coyotes on Sunday night at the Arrowhead Pond, but may have lost something more important in the process.

Kevin St. Jacques, the team’s second-leading scorer and the fourth-leading scorer in Roller Hockey International, broke his hand in the first half of the 6-4 come-from-behind victory. He’ll sit out tonight’s final regular-season game at 7 against the visiting Dallas Stallions.

Coach Brad McCaughey said he hopes St. Jacques can play in the Bullfrogs’ semifinal playoff game Thursday at the Pond.

McCaughey complained about his team’s lackluster start, which led to a 4-1 halftime deficit.

It took a hat trick and two assists from Hugo Belanger--including the game-winning goal when he beat Coyote goaltender Konstantin Simchuck with 3:53 left in the third period--for the Bullfrogs to improve to a league-best 20-3-2, and 6-0 against Las Vegas this year.

They also got another fine performance from goaltender Rob Laurie, who stopped 47 shots.

“My team is not playing well, although it seems to find a way to win,” McCaughey said. “But that’s not playoff hockey. It’s do or die and one mistake can kill you.”

Belanger solidified his front-runner status for the league’s most valuable player award in front of an announced crowd of 4,448. He leads the league in scoring with 79 points, and his three goals give him 36, tying him with Buffalo’s Ken Blum for the league lead.

Las Vegas Coach Chris McSorley, who coached the Bullfrogs to the first of their four in-line championships in 1993, blamed poor officiating for the loss; at one point in the game he broke a hockey stick over the bench in disgust.

Looking ahead to a possible playoff matchup with the Bullfrogs this week, McSorley said, “I only have to beat them one game. But we’ve got to . . . give it every effort we have.”

Notes

The pairings are set for the six-team playoffs, which begin Wednesday at the Pond. The Minnesota Blue Ox wrapped up the third and final Eastern Conference playoff spot with an 8-3 victory over the Buffalo Wings on Saturday, and those teams will play a rematch in the quarterfinals at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. In the other quarterfinal, Las Vegas meets the San Jose Rhinos at 7:30 Wednesday. The Bullfrogs, who won the Western Division, meet the winner of the Las Vegas-San Jose game on Thursday at 7:30. The St. Louis Vipers, who won the Eastern Division, face the winner of the Blue Ox-Wings game at 4:30 Thursday. The championship game is Sunday at 6 p.m. . . . The Chicago Bluesmen and the Dallas Stallions were the only teams not to qualify for the playoffs. . . . For the first time in league history, a team other than the Bullfrogs led RHI in attendance, but averages were far below what most hoped for and have some owners worried about the turnout for the playoffs. The figures: San Jose (4,131 per game), the Bullfrogs (3,567), St. Louis (2,682), Buffalo (1,306), Dallas (894), Las Vegas (766), Chicago (601) and Minnesota (300). . . . Prior to Sunday night’s game with the Coyotes, Bullfrog President Bob Elder presented souvenir rings to players who participated on the 1997 RHI championship team. Elder said problems with the team’s former owners, the Silver family, had prevented the players from receiving the rings earlier. The Bullfrogs also won the 1998 title of Major League Roller Hockey, but Elder has said he will not recognize anything the team did in the rival league that has since folded.