Defenseman Provides Offense for Bullfrogs

ANAHEIM — It didn’t take long for Doug McCarthy to get comfortable in a Bullfrogs uniform.

One of the league’s best scoring defensemen as a member of the defunct Vancouver VooDoo, McCarthy had a hat trick and two assists in front of an announced crowd of 6,548 Friday night at the Pond to help the Bullfrogs rally from a three-goal, halftime deficit for an 8-5 victory over the Sacramento River Rats in a Roller Hockey International game.

Veteran defenseman Rick Judson had two goals and an assist and the Bullfrogs (2-0) find themselves at this early juncture in the 28-game season as the only unbeaten team in the league.

All-star goaltender Rob Laurie was sensational in the final quarter, stopping four one-on-one scoring opportunities by the River Rats. He stopped a total of 26 shots. The Bullfrogs outshot the River Rats, 42-31.

The teams play at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Pond and again Thursday in Sacramento.

When the Vancouver franchise went on hiatus at the end of last season, McCarthy didn’t plan to continue playing. Instead, he was hired to be the coach of the San Diego Barracudas. But San Diego also went on hiatus two weeks before opening night and McCarthy drove north to Anaheim.

“My world was turned upside down there all of a sudden,” McCarthy, 34, said. “But I believe roller hockey is a game of the future and if I want be be a part of it. I can’t take the summer off.”

The Bullfrogs grabbed McCarthy in the dispersal draft and he has tallied 10 points in two games.

“Doug is a great player,” first-year Bullfrog Coach Brad McCaughey said. “We have a lot of fire power and a guy like that will play the same number of minutes each night. Some days he’ll step up and score. Others days he won’t, but tonight he gave us a great effort.”

Laurie, who is battling for the No. 1 spot with David Goverde, picked up his 40th career victory by holding the River Rats (0-2) scoreless over the final 31 minutes 23 seconds.

Sacramento used three unanswered second-quarter goals and took a 5-2 halftime lead.

“We were standing around and weren’t moving our legs and when you do that you are going to get in trouble,” McCaughey said.

McCarthy’s first goal in a Bullfrog uniform came 43 seconds into the third quarter on a power play. Goals by Judson and Glenn Stewart in the next 83 seconds tied the score, 5-5. McCarthy got the winner with 7:21 left in the third, then he and Judson put the game out of reach with goals in the fourth quarter.

“They got that power-play goal and the crowd got back into the game and it kind of ignited them,” Sacramento Coach Shaun Clauston said.

Bullfrog Notes

Former Bullfrog goaltender Eric Raymond, traded to Montreal and then dealt to the River Rats by the Montreal Roadrunners, might be in goal Sunday. . . . Bullfrog defender Tom Menicci was a late scratch. He took a puck in the head during the morning workout and was held out for precautionary reasons. . . . New Blade assistant coach Jimmy Fox, a former broadcaster, on running the Blades without head Coach Mark Hardy, who is in the Turner Cup final as an assistant with the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League: “All I know is that when the game begins you can’t do a thing about what happens.” The Blades, who host the Bullfrogs tonight, lost Thursday, 9-8, in a shootout to San Jose. . . . There was moderate rain Thursday and Friday in Sacramento and the Bullfrogs are concerned the River Rats’ outdoor arena, which has a dirt base, may not be ready for the teams’ Thursday contest. Sacramento Coach Shaun Clauston said the Rats were doing everything they could to see that the game is played.