It was supposed to be a night for charity and for kindness as the Knights staged their traditional Teddy Toss night where fans - a large crowd of 600+ - brought teddy bears to throw on the ice as and when the Knights scored their first goal. Instead the fans got a tension loaded game with multiple offsetting penalties, minor and major, in an eventful game.

 

The teddy toss was not meant for later arrivers as Claude Mossong scored the opening goal just 25 seconds into the game when Benny Welter fed him with a beautiful stretch pass down the middle.

 

The stage was set for a rout of the young guests from Antwerp - all aged 17 to 21, without exception. Two more goals within minutes, one by Mirko Mosr and one by Sacha Backes had the hosts in armor go up easily 3-0. The guests did however outshoot the Knights 18-14 in the first period and managed to squeak one by goalie Pete Swiderek and the teams headed to the lockers at a score of 3-1 for the hosts, but not before 7 offsetting minor penalties had been called on both sides.

 

The Knights came out flying in the second and would score 6 unanswered goals. Mossong had his second of the night, young Knights Szymon Mazurek scored his fourth goal of the season, Artemij Frizel added another tally to his rich scoresheet and Shorty Müller and Benny Welter both scored shorthanded before Backes scored his second of the game.

Things got out of hand quickly, both on the scoresheet and on the ice. At the very end of the period, Isaac Weyders froze the puck with his skate in the corner and three Antwerp players basically jumped him, causing a minor melee between the 10 players on the ice. The Beaufort kid line held their own, but came out of the scrum with a total of 78 penalty minutes between the 5 of them, two of which headed to the showers as did two Antwerp players.

Not the greatest display of kindess on teddy toss night, but the scrum was clearly initiated by the Antwerp guys.

 

On the ensuing powerplay to start the third period, Dylan Cardoso scored his first of the season and the Knights would go on to score four more goals, Sacha Backes had two of them for a 4-goal night while Welter added his second and Weyders also found the back of the net. Towards the end of the game, things got heated again, but the Knights wouldn't engage and the Antwerp players started a beauty contest going to the penalty box, one more game misconduct for boarding sending another Antwerp player to the shower and the Knights capitalized on the powerplay, adding two more PP goals.

 

The end score was 14-1 and about 400 teddies would be collected and donated to children in need.

 

The Knights will close out 2023 with a revenge game against the Hurricanes in Kockelscheuer on Tuesday before regrouping over the holidays and then taking on the second half of the season in January.