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McBride, Cats beat Blades in brutal brawl

The Prince George Cougars left the Saskatoon Blades nursing a few goose eggs after their Monday night melee - including one on the scoreboard.
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The Prince George Cougars left the Saskatoon Blades nursing a few goose eggs after their Monday night melee - including one on the scoreboard.

Cats' goalie Nick McBride earned a shutout in the 7-0 win at SaskTel Centre in front of 4,059 fans, who might need therapy after the carnage they witnessed.

It took less than two minutes for fisticuffs to break out in the bloody, unequal fracas.

The dustup set the tone for the game, which saw a total of 111 minutes of penalties handed out between the teams - including a game misconduct to the Cougars' Chase Witala for a check to the head in the second period and a 10-minute misconduct against the Cats' Shane Collins for his role in instigating the opening rumpus.

While McBride was named the No. 1 star of the game, the honour should have gone to referees Curtis Howe and Chad Williams who had four fights, seven slashing penalties, a roughing penalty and miscellaneous other mayhem to deal with.

But unlike the Blades, between scuffles the Cougars remembered they were there to play hockey, not auditioning for a role in Fight Club 2.

Aaron Boyd picked up the opening and closing goals of the game. Brogan O'Brien had one goal of his own, plus assists on three others.

Jared Bethune, Jesse Gabrielle, Jansen Harkins and Bartek Bison also scored for the Cougars. Josh Curtis earned a pair of assists, while Sam Ruopp, Brad Morrison, Gabrielle, Luke Harrison, Colby McAuley and Joseph Carvalho each had a single.

Shots on goal were 32-27 in favour of the Cats.

The Cougars' Saskatchewan road trip continues tonight with a game against the Prince Albert Raiders. The game begins at 5 p.m. PST.