The Score – Kootenay 5 – Red Deer 4 (Shootout)
What Happened – After some stellar goaltender just two nights prior there wasn’t much of it Tuesday. In a last-shot wins game of pond hockey the Ice outlasted the Rebels but needed a shootout to do it.
The Turning Point – Up 4-3 and on the power play D Petr Senkerik fired a booming slap-shot that beat Kuemper but was waved off due to an interference call on Jesse Ismond. The Rebels scored two minutes later to send it to overtime.
The No-goals – Kootenay thought they went up 3-0 in the first when Matt Fraser and Max Reinhart went to the net and Jesse Ismond fired a puck that looked to go in. The light went on but after referee Derek Herman went upstairs to review the play, the puck never entered the net…Senkerik’s beauty of a point-shot that was called back in the third that would’ve put the Ice up by two but for the interference call.
The Save – Just seconds after Senkerik’s goal was called back Landon Ferraro got free on a rebound that Mathews managed to get his paddle across the open net on.
No World Juniors – Strangely enough Team Slovakia cut Rebel forward Andrej Kudrna – he of the 16 goals in the WHL this season. They probably could’ve used him tonight against Canada, an 8-2 blowout in Saskatoon, where he’s scored before.
The Goals – A booming slapshot from Brayden McNabb’s stick produced a goal-mouth rebound that Steele Boomer deposited past Barnstable to make it 1-0… 17 seconds later Dustin Sylvester intercepted Cullen Morin’s cross-ice pass and skated in from the blueline alone and beat Barnstable high to the stick-side to make it 2-0… McNabb made a rare error on the Rebels first goal when he planted a hit at his own blueline but exposed his partner for a 3-on-1 the other way. Mathews had little chance when Andrej Kudrna finally got the puck wide to pot the easy one to make it 2-1… In the second Jagger Dirk sent a four-hopper to the net that bounced through Barnstable then bounced him to the bench… On a lazy 3-on-2 Kudrna drew the defenders towards the outside and then found the late-breaking Landon Ferraro who caught Mathews going the other way and buried his 5th… Kevin King wired a wrist shot from 40 feet that Kuemper didn’t see with Steele Boomer standing right in front of him to make it 4-2 for all of 12 seconds as John Persson picked off a weak clearing pass by James Martin and beat Mathews… After the non-goal that would’ve put the home-side up by two, Ferraro streaked into slot and beat Mathews with a back-hand… In the shoot-out both Max Reinhart and Dustin Sylvester scored while Todd Mathews stopped Landon Ferraro and Willie Coetzee to get the extra point.
The Crowd – 2811
Daily Townsman Three Stars
1. LW Dustin Sylvester – Goal, two assists
2. C Landon Ferraro – Two goals; great return from injury
3. LW Andrej Kudrna – Goal, assist. Not sure how this guy isn’t playing for Slovakia.
What it means – Kootenay improves to 21-15-1-2 and have now won five straight. With 45 points and sole possession of 5th place in the Eastern Conference, the Ice now have their sights set on the Tigers in 4th.
Up Next: The Regina Pats, losers of 8 straight, are here to ring in the next decade.
Game Summary:
Rebels 4 @ Ice 5 (Shootout)
CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Red Deer Rebels and the Kootenay Ice, December 29, 2009.
Dustin Sylvester and Max Reinhart scored in the shootout to help the Kootenay Ice edge the Red Deer Rebels 5-4 in WHL action Tuesday.
The Ice jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals 12 seconds apart by Steele Boomer, with his 14th, and Dustin Sylvester with his 19th before the Rebels answered back on a goal by Andrej Kudrna at 17:15. Kootenay restored their two-goal lead 6:22 into the second on Jagger Dirk's bouncer from the point, his first WHL goal, that eluded Rebel starter Kraymer Barnstable and in the process chased him from the nets. Landon Ferraro got the Rebels back within one with his 5th of the season before Kevin King put the Ice up 4-2 on a wrist-shot that beat Darcy Kuemper.
12 seconds later John Perrson jumped on an errant pass and beat Todd Mathews to shorten the lead to one.
The Rebels tied the game in the third period when Ferraro streaked into the slot and let a wicked backhand got that beat Mathews to send the teams into overtime and a shootout.
Todd Mathews stopped 25 of 29 shots to get the win while Kraymer Barnstable and Darcy Kuemper combined to stop 27 shots in taking the loss.
First Period
1. Kootenay, Boomer 14 (McNabb, Sylvester) 10:19
2. Kootenay, Sylvester 19 10:36
3. Red Deer, Kudrna 16 (Ferguson, Coetzee) 17:15
Penalties -- Ferguson RD (goaltender interference) 14:16, Mathews Ktn (interference - served by Dirk) 18:35
Second Period
4. Kootenay, Dirk 1 6:22
5. Red Deer, Ferraro 5 (Kudrna) 16:38
6. Kootenay, King 14 (Boomer, Sylvester) 18:58
7. Red Deer, Persson 3 (Archer, Borejko) 19:11
Penalties -- Leach Ktn (slashing) 3:58, Morin RD (goaltender interference) King Ktn Ferguson RD (unsportsmanlike conduct) 7:05, Witt RD (delay-of-game) 9:12, Archer RD (roughing) 9:54.
Third Period
8. Red Deer, Ferraro 6 (Coetzee, Archer) 16:33
Penalties -- Borejko RD (high-sticking) 13:43, Ismond Ktn (inteference) 14:27, Coetzee RD (goaltender interference) 17:44.
Overtime
No scoring.
Penalties -- None.
Shootout (Kootenay wins 2-0)
Kootenay -- Reinhart (goal), Sylvester (goal).
Red Deer -- Coetzee (stopped), Ferraro (stopped).
Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 12 6 8 1 - 27
Red Deer: 5 13 8 3 - 29
Goal -- Kootenay: Todd Mathews (W, 15-7-1-2) Red Deer: Kraymer Barnstable; 10 of 13 shots - Darcy Kuemper 6:22 of the second - (L, 13-14-0-3)
Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 0-6
Red Deer: 0-3
Referee -- Derek Herman. Linesman -- Darren Spurgeon, Jim Maniago.
Attendance -- 2811 (4264)
Scratches --
Kootenay: Dominick Pacovsky (foot - 1-3 weeks), Luke Paulsen (healthy), Elgin Pearce (healthy)
Red Deer: Nick Bell (healthy), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (U-17 Challenge), Nathan Green (knee - indefinite).
Summary courtesy Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Ice dump Hitmen
For the Cranbrook Daily Townsman...
Mathews stymies Calgary as the Ice beat Hitmen 3-1
by Jeff Bromley
Losers of six straight to their Central Division rivals dating back to last season the Kootenay Ice found the part of the their game Sunday night needed to break the habit: goaltending, with a dash of attitude for good measure.
19-year-old Todd Mathews returned from the week-long Christmas break in top form and turned in a stellar performance, stopping 34 of 35 shots to beat the WHL’s league leaders 3-1 in front of a Rec Plex crowd of 3289, the largest of the season. “I didn’t feel great in the last two practices,” offered Mathews. “I didn’t think I was up to par and playing the way we had been in practice yesterday. But as a group it was impressive how we reacted to the break and came in tonight and just picked up right where we left off.”
Winners of four straight and improving their record to 20-15-1-2 on the season, good for 43 points and tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference with the Prince Albert Raiders, Kootenay struck early Sunday night when Max Reinhart picked off Hitmen forward Misha Fisenko’s errant pass, split the defence and then caught goaltender Michael Snider going the other way before dishing off to Jesse Ismond who buried his 8th of the season to make it 1-0 1:14 into the game. Kootenay added to that lead in the second when Matt Fraser picked up a puck in the neutral zone and took a bad angle shot on Snider that beat him between the pads to give Fraser his 15th on the year and the Ice a 2-0 lead. Kootenay made it 3-0 at 12:23, just as Michael Stone exited the penalty box, when Brayden McNabb wired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Snider for his 12th of the season, extending his goal-scoring streak to five games.
But it wasn’t as though the visitors didn’t have their chances. Twice the Ice served up five-on-three power play opportunities to the WHL’s deadliest power play. Both times Kootenay turned them back, including three point-blank chances by Hitmen forward Joel Broda – last season’s leading goal-scorer – with tremendous saves by Mathews, who clearly got into the head of his former teammate. “I kind of know how he plays from when we were together in Moose Jaw,” said Mathews. “He’s got a quick release and a quick shot but if I give him a little shove here and there, it’s going to bother him a little bit. Then he’s going to try and mess with me instead of scoring. I know how he plays and I was ready for what he was going to bring tonight.”
Looking to break the losing streak against the Hitmen Ice head coach Mark Holick admitted handing them two five-on-three power plays wasn’t exactly in the playbook. “They were calls that almost had to be taken,” said Holick in defence of his players. “Give the guys credit. Todd was outstanding and did a great job. Your goalie is your best penalty-killer and when he plays like he did tonight it gives us a really good chance to win.”
Calgary broke Mathews’ shut-out bid late in the third period as Del Cowan backhanded a rebound past him with Snider pulled for the extra-attacker. But it wasn’t without a strange turn of events. Moments earlier Ice forward Joe Antilla cleared the zone and took a shot at the empty-net, hitting the post only to have the puck still cross the end-line. The icing was originally waved-off but then blown dead by the back referee, who made the right call as a post is not a shot on net and the puck still crossed the end-line. After much discussion and a video review upstairs to determine how much time should be on the clock, Calgary ended up with a face-off in the Ice zone and Kootenay’s fourth unit was still on the ice. Five seconds later – the amount of time put back on the clock – Calgary had their first goal of the night. “It was my choice,” said Holick of leaving the fourth line on the ice. “It gives the younger guys an opportunity to succeed in that situation. They lost the draw and there was a scramble at the net. Without a 3-0 lead would that happen? I don’t know but we wanted to show some confidence in those guys.”
Quick Hits – The affable Mathews, who can trash-talk with the best of them, was in the head of the Hitmen bench all night. The California product couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get in a jab to Calgary captain Ian Schultz when the visitors called a time-out in the second after the Ice went up 3-0. “I asked him how the family was,” Mathews said, having trouble holding a straight face. “I guess it wasn’t Christmas wishes.”… Ice forward Matt Fraser, who scored the game-winner, tangled with the Hitmen captain in the second period. Fraser took a wicked shot in the head from Schultz during the fight and didn’t see any action until a late third period face-off. Ice trainer Brad Shaw held the 19-year-old out of action for precautionary reasons… Calgary was without the WHL’s leading scorer Brandon Kozun and number one goaltender Martin Jones, both of which are playing with Team Canada at the World Junior tournament in Saskatoon and Regina… Hitmen call-up Chase Komistek didn’t make the trip with the club so the visitors used Cranbrook AA Midget goaltender Calvin Zemek, 16, as an emergency back-up… D Ryan Molle was a healthy scratch after the Calgary product missed his flight back to Cranbrook on Boxing Day. Molle couldn’t practice with the club and with the team relatively healthy, Molle was given the night off… F Dominick Pacovsky (broken foot) is still 1-3 weeks away from returning while D Jagger Dirk was the other scratch… The 7th-place Red Deer Rebels (19-15-0-2; 40 pts) visit the Rec Plex tonight. Red Deer leads the season series 2-1 with a 7-1 win over the Ice in the second game of the season and a 4-3 overtime win the last time the Rebels were here November 7. Red Deer will be without their rookie phenom Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the club’s second-leading scorer with 36 points, who is with Team Pacific at the World U-17 Challenge in Timmins, Ontario. Forwards Landon Ferraro (knee – indefinite), John Persson (concussion – indefinite) and Nathan Green (broken leg – 4-6 weeks) are also out. Gametime is 7PM.
Mathews stymies Calgary as the Ice beat Hitmen 3-1
by Jeff Bromley
Losers of six straight to their Central Division rivals dating back to last season the Kootenay Ice found the part of the their game Sunday night needed to break the habit: goaltending, with a dash of attitude for good measure.
19-year-old Todd Mathews returned from the week-long Christmas break in top form and turned in a stellar performance, stopping 34 of 35 shots to beat the WHL’s league leaders 3-1 in front of a Rec Plex crowd of 3289, the largest of the season. “I didn’t feel great in the last two practices,” offered Mathews. “I didn’t think I was up to par and playing the way we had been in practice yesterday. But as a group it was impressive how we reacted to the break and came in tonight and just picked up right where we left off.”
Winners of four straight and improving their record to 20-15-1-2 on the season, good for 43 points and tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference with the Prince Albert Raiders, Kootenay struck early Sunday night when Max Reinhart picked off Hitmen forward Misha Fisenko’s errant pass, split the defence and then caught goaltender Michael Snider going the other way before dishing off to Jesse Ismond who buried his 8th of the season to make it 1-0 1:14 into the game. Kootenay added to that lead in the second when Matt Fraser picked up a puck in the neutral zone and took a bad angle shot on Snider that beat him between the pads to give Fraser his 15th on the year and the Ice a 2-0 lead. Kootenay made it 3-0 at 12:23, just as Michael Stone exited the penalty box, when Brayden McNabb wired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Snider for his 12th of the season, extending his goal-scoring streak to five games.
But it wasn’t as though the visitors didn’t have their chances. Twice the Ice served up five-on-three power play opportunities to the WHL’s deadliest power play. Both times Kootenay turned them back, including three point-blank chances by Hitmen forward Joel Broda – last season’s leading goal-scorer – with tremendous saves by Mathews, who clearly got into the head of his former teammate. “I kind of know how he plays from when we were together in Moose Jaw,” said Mathews. “He’s got a quick release and a quick shot but if I give him a little shove here and there, it’s going to bother him a little bit. Then he’s going to try and mess with me instead of scoring. I know how he plays and I was ready for what he was going to bring tonight.”
Looking to break the losing streak against the Hitmen Ice head coach Mark Holick admitted handing them two five-on-three power plays wasn’t exactly in the playbook. “They were calls that almost had to be taken,” said Holick in defence of his players. “Give the guys credit. Todd was outstanding and did a great job. Your goalie is your best penalty-killer and when he plays like he did tonight it gives us a really good chance to win.”
Calgary broke Mathews’ shut-out bid late in the third period as Del Cowan backhanded a rebound past him with Snider pulled for the extra-attacker. But it wasn’t without a strange turn of events. Moments earlier Ice forward Joe Antilla cleared the zone and took a shot at the empty-net, hitting the post only to have the puck still cross the end-line. The icing was originally waved-off but then blown dead by the back referee, who made the right call as a post is not a shot on net and the puck still crossed the end-line. After much discussion and a video review upstairs to determine how much time should be on the clock, Calgary ended up with a face-off in the Ice zone and Kootenay’s fourth unit was still on the ice. Five seconds later – the amount of time put back on the clock – Calgary had their first goal of the night. “It was my choice,” said Holick of leaving the fourth line on the ice. “It gives the younger guys an opportunity to succeed in that situation. They lost the draw and there was a scramble at the net. Without a 3-0 lead would that happen? I don’t know but we wanted to show some confidence in those guys.”
Quick Hits – The affable Mathews, who can trash-talk with the best of them, was in the head of the Hitmen bench all night. The California product couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get in a jab to Calgary captain Ian Schultz when the visitors called a time-out in the second after the Ice went up 3-0. “I asked him how the family was,” Mathews said, having trouble holding a straight face. “I guess it wasn’t Christmas wishes.”… Ice forward Matt Fraser, who scored the game-winner, tangled with the Hitmen captain in the second period. Fraser took a wicked shot in the head from Schultz during the fight and didn’t see any action until a late third period face-off. Ice trainer Brad Shaw held the 19-year-old out of action for precautionary reasons… Calgary was without the WHL’s leading scorer Brandon Kozun and number one goaltender Martin Jones, both of which are playing with Team Canada at the World Junior tournament in Saskatoon and Regina… Hitmen call-up Chase Komistek didn’t make the trip with the club so the visitors used Cranbrook AA Midget goaltender Calvin Zemek, 16, as an emergency back-up… D Ryan Molle was a healthy scratch after the Calgary product missed his flight back to Cranbrook on Boxing Day. Molle couldn’t practice with the club and with the team relatively healthy, Molle was given the night off… F Dominick Pacovsky (broken foot) is still 1-3 weeks away from returning while D Jagger Dirk was the other scratch… The 7th-place Red Deer Rebels (19-15-0-2; 40 pts) visit the Rec Plex tonight. Red Deer leads the season series 2-1 with a 7-1 win over the Ice in the second game of the season and a 4-3 overtime win the last time the Rebels were here November 7. Red Deer will be without their rookie phenom Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the club’s second-leading scorer with 36 points, who is with Team Pacific at the World U-17 Challenge in Timmins, Ontario. Forwards Landon Ferraro (knee – indefinite), John Persson (concussion – indefinite) and Nathan Green (broken leg – 4-6 weeks) are also out. Gametime is 7PM.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
The Score - Ice over Hitmen
The Score – Kootenay 3 – Calgary 1
What Happened – In a back and forth battle between the two Central Division rivals the difference on this night was Todd Mathews, who made key save after key save for the Ice.
The Turning Point – During the second period with the Hitmen pressing for their first goal the visitors ended up with a long five-on-three power play. Throwing the puck around with ease it was Todd Mathews who stopped last season’s leading scorer Joel Broda from point-blank range on a usually unstoppable back-door play. The Hitmen got frustrated, got into penalty trouble and a short-time later it was 3-0… He did it again to Broda on another five-on-three to start the third.
The Hitmen Back-up – Hitmen rookie goaltender Chase Komistek, called up while Calgary starter Martin Jones is away with Team Canada at the WJC, was supposed to back-up Michael Snider tonight but did not make the trip. Cranbrook AA Midget Ice goaltender Calvin Zemek – who doesn’t turn 17 until New Year’s Eve – served as back-up in an emergency role.
The Brother Act – With Kootenay on the power play in the first period younger brother Cody checked the elder Dustin Sylvester, got the puck to Del Cowan on a short-handed breakaway but was stopped by Mathews.
The Fight – In the second rookie Brendan Hurley made up for being jumped by Hitmen defender Ben Wilson after a clean hit by Hurley on a Hitmen forward in front of the Ice bench in the first period. Hurley actually slapped Wilson at the start of the battle with the tilt ending in a draw. Ian Schultz and Matt Fraser dropped the gloves later the period in an obvious attempt to spark his club. Schultz is one tough customer as both contenders didn’t get a lot of shots in but Schultz got one hard head-shot in that sent Fraser to the bench for precautionary reasons. He didn’t see another shift until late in the game when he took the draw in the last minute of the third.
Icing the puck – Down 3-0 with less than 3 minutes to go with Michael Snider pulled for an extra attacker the Hitmen couldn’t cash-in. Ice forward Joe Antilla sent a 125 foot shot at the empty net but hit the post, sending the puck behind the redline. The play was originally waved-off but the back-referee blew the play dead and signalled icing. After a long delay in which the referee went upstairs to determine how much time had ticked off the clock, five seconds was added, the face-off was in the Ice zone and Kootenay’s fourth unit was on the ice. A lost face-off and rebound later had the Hitmen on the board with 2:15 left.
No Molle – D Ryan Molle, 20, missed his flight from Calgary Saturday and didn’t practice with the team Boxing Day. He made it into Cranbrook on Sunday but with a healthy roster – save for Dominick Pacovsky who still a week away – Molle sat this one out.
The Goals – Just over a minute into the hockey game Max Reinhart split the Hitmen defence and got Calgary goaltender Michael Snider going the other way before dishing to Jesse Ismond, who buried his 8th of the season to make it 1-0… In the second Matt Fraser picked up a puck in the neutral zone with speed and got the angle, a bad one, around the Hitmen defender for a shallow shot that squeezed past Snider through the legs to make it 2-0… Just as the power play expired D Brayden McNabb wired a perfect wrist shot from 35 feet over the shoulder of Snider to make it 3-0… Late in the game the Hitmen would pull their goaltender for an extra attacker, win the face-off in the Ice end get shot to Mathews but the rebound ended up on Del Cowan’s stick. He back-handed his 8th to make it 3-1.
The Crowd – 3289; Largest of the season treated to a real gem.
Rec Plex Three Stars
1. G Todd Mathews – Goaltending was the difference on this night.
2. LW Jesse Ismond – Found his scoring touch
3. LW Matt Fraser – notched a key goal
What it means – Kootenay improves to 20-15-1-2; good for 43 points and are now tied for 5th in the Eastern Conference with the Prince Albert Raiders. The winning streak is now at four.
Up Next: The Red Deer Rebels are at the Rec Plex Tuesday.
Game Summary:
Hitmen 1 @ Ice 3
CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Calgary Hitmen and the Kootenay Ice. December 27, 2009.
Kootenay Ice forward Jesse Ismond had a goal and an assist while goaltender Todd Mathews stopped 34 of 35 shots as the Ice beat the Calgary Hitmen 3-1 in WHL action Sunday night.
Kootenay opened the scoring early in the first with Ismond's 8th on the season. In the second Matt Fraser got his 15th and Brayden McNabb his 12th as the Ice jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Del Cowan scored late for the Hitmen to ruin Mathews' shutout bid.
Mathews stopped 34 of 35 shots to get the win while Michael Snider turned aside 23 of 26 in taking the loss.
The win was Kootenay's fourth straight and first over the Hitmen since January of last season.
First Period
1. Kootenay, Ismond 8 (Reinhart) 1:14
Penalties -- Wilson Cal (instigator, fighting, misconduct) Hurley Ktn (fighting) 6:04, McNabb Ktn (tripping) 12:23, Burgart Cal (goaltender interference) 15:38, McNabb Ktn (interference) 15:50.
Second Period
2. Kootenay, Fraser 15 (Ismond) 6:00
3. Kootenay, McNabb 12 (Rintoul, Sylvester) 12:13
Penalties -- Mathews Ktn (slashing - served by Magnus) 2:32, Madaisky Cal (interference) 3:40, Czerwonka Ktn (kneeing) 6:43, Rintoul Ktn (hooking) 5:53, Schultz Cal (goaltender interference) 8:21, Stone Cal (roughing) 10:19, Wilson Cal Hurley Ktn (fighting) 13:48, Schultz Cal Fraser Ktn (fighting) 16:40, King Ktn (dbl high-sticking) 19:41, Foucault Cal (hooking) 20:00.
Third Period
4. Calgary, Cowan 8 (Mackenzie, Sylvester) 17:45
Penalties -- Kootenay Bench (too-man-men - served by Ismond) 1:25, Fisenko Cal Leach Ktn (roughing) 5:18, Schultz Cal (tripping) 6:54, Aschim Cal (checking-from-behind) 7:33, King Ktn (tripping) 19:00.
Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 7 11 8 - 26
Calgary: 8 13 14 - 35
Goal -- Kootenay: Todd Mathews (W, 14-7-1-2) Calgary: Michael Snider (L, 11-4-1-1)
Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 0-8
Calgary: 0-9
Referee -- Dan Cowley, Sean Rapheal. Linesman -- Aiden Henderson, Scott Pryor.
Attendance -- 3289 (4264)
Scratches --
Kootenay: Dominick Pacovsky (ankle – one week), Jagger Dirk (healthy), Ryan Molle (healthy).
Calgary: Chase Schaber, Martin Jones (Team Canada - World Juniors), Chase Komistek, Peter Kosterman, Jessi Hilton, Brandon Kozun (Team Canada - World Juniors), Mackenzie Royer.
Summary courtesy Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman
What Happened – In a back and forth battle between the two Central Division rivals the difference on this night was Todd Mathews, who made key save after key save for the Ice.
The Turning Point – During the second period with the Hitmen pressing for their first goal the visitors ended up with a long five-on-three power play. Throwing the puck around with ease it was Todd Mathews who stopped last season’s leading scorer Joel Broda from point-blank range on a usually unstoppable back-door play. The Hitmen got frustrated, got into penalty trouble and a short-time later it was 3-0… He did it again to Broda on another five-on-three to start the third.
The Hitmen Back-up – Hitmen rookie goaltender Chase Komistek, called up while Calgary starter Martin Jones is away with Team Canada at the WJC, was supposed to back-up Michael Snider tonight but did not make the trip. Cranbrook AA Midget Ice goaltender Calvin Zemek – who doesn’t turn 17 until New Year’s Eve – served as back-up in an emergency role.
The Brother Act – With Kootenay on the power play in the first period younger brother Cody checked the elder Dustin Sylvester, got the puck to Del Cowan on a short-handed breakaway but was stopped by Mathews.
The Fight – In the second rookie Brendan Hurley made up for being jumped by Hitmen defender Ben Wilson after a clean hit by Hurley on a Hitmen forward in front of the Ice bench in the first period. Hurley actually slapped Wilson at the start of the battle with the tilt ending in a draw. Ian Schultz and Matt Fraser dropped the gloves later the period in an obvious attempt to spark his club. Schultz is one tough customer as both contenders didn’t get a lot of shots in but Schultz got one hard head-shot in that sent Fraser to the bench for precautionary reasons. He didn’t see another shift until late in the game when he took the draw in the last minute of the third.
Icing the puck – Down 3-0 with less than 3 minutes to go with Michael Snider pulled for an extra attacker the Hitmen couldn’t cash-in. Ice forward Joe Antilla sent a 125 foot shot at the empty net but hit the post, sending the puck behind the redline. The play was originally waved-off but the back-referee blew the play dead and signalled icing. After a long delay in which the referee went upstairs to determine how much time had ticked off the clock, five seconds was added, the face-off was in the Ice zone and Kootenay’s fourth unit was on the ice. A lost face-off and rebound later had the Hitmen on the board with 2:15 left.
No Molle – D Ryan Molle, 20, missed his flight from Calgary Saturday and didn’t practice with the team Boxing Day. He made it into Cranbrook on Sunday but with a healthy roster – save for Dominick Pacovsky who still a week away – Molle sat this one out.
The Goals – Just over a minute into the hockey game Max Reinhart split the Hitmen defence and got Calgary goaltender Michael Snider going the other way before dishing to Jesse Ismond, who buried his 8th of the season to make it 1-0… In the second Matt Fraser picked up a puck in the neutral zone with speed and got the angle, a bad one, around the Hitmen defender for a shallow shot that squeezed past Snider through the legs to make it 2-0… Just as the power play expired D Brayden McNabb wired a perfect wrist shot from 35 feet over the shoulder of Snider to make it 3-0… Late in the game the Hitmen would pull their goaltender for an extra attacker, win the face-off in the Ice end get shot to Mathews but the rebound ended up on Del Cowan’s stick. He back-handed his 8th to make it 3-1.
The Crowd – 3289; Largest of the season treated to a real gem.
Rec Plex Three Stars
1. G Todd Mathews – Goaltending was the difference on this night.
2. LW Jesse Ismond – Found his scoring touch
3. LW Matt Fraser – notched a key goal
What it means – Kootenay improves to 20-15-1-2; good for 43 points and are now tied for 5th in the Eastern Conference with the Prince Albert Raiders. The winning streak is now at four.
Up Next: The Red Deer Rebels are at the Rec Plex Tuesday.
Game Summary:
Hitmen 1 @ Ice 3
CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Calgary Hitmen and the Kootenay Ice. December 27, 2009.
Kootenay Ice forward Jesse Ismond had a goal and an assist while goaltender Todd Mathews stopped 34 of 35 shots as the Ice beat the Calgary Hitmen 3-1 in WHL action Sunday night.
Kootenay opened the scoring early in the first with Ismond's 8th on the season. In the second Matt Fraser got his 15th and Brayden McNabb his 12th as the Ice jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Del Cowan scored late for the Hitmen to ruin Mathews' shutout bid.
Mathews stopped 34 of 35 shots to get the win while Michael Snider turned aside 23 of 26 in taking the loss.
The win was Kootenay's fourth straight and first over the Hitmen since January of last season.
First Period
1. Kootenay, Ismond 8 (Reinhart) 1:14
Penalties -- Wilson Cal (instigator, fighting, misconduct) Hurley Ktn (fighting) 6:04, McNabb Ktn (tripping) 12:23, Burgart Cal (goaltender interference) 15:38, McNabb Ktn (interference) 15:50.
Second Period
2. Kootenay, Fraser 15 (Ismond) 6:00
3. Kootenay, McNabb 12 (Rintoul, Sylvester) 12:13
Penalties -- Mathews Ktn (slashing - served by Magnus) 2:32, Madaisky Cal (interference) 3:40, Czerwonka Ktn (kneeing) 6:43, Rintoul Ktn (hooking) 5:53, Schultz Cal (goaltender interference) 8:21, Stone Cal (roughing) 10:19, Wilson Cal Hurley Ktn (fighting) 13:48, Schultz Cal Fraser Ktn (fighting) 16:40, King Ktn (dbl high-sticking) 19:41, Foucault Cal (hooking) 20:00.
Third Period
4. Calgary, Cowan 8 (Mackenzie, Sylvester) 17:45
Penalties -- Kootenay Bench (too-man-men - served by Ismond) 1:25, Fisenko Cal Leach Ktn (roughing) 5:18, Schultz Cal (tripping) 6:54, Aschim Cal (checking-from-behind) 7:33, King Ktn (tripping) 19:00.
Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 7 11 8 - 26
Calgary: 8 13 14 - 35
Goal -- Kootenay: Todd Mathews (W, 14-7-1-2) Calgary: Michael Snider (L, 11-4-1-1)
Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 0-8
Calgary: 0-9
Referee -- Dan Cowley, Sean Rapheal. Linesman -- Aiden Henderson, Scott Pryor.
Attendance -- 3289 (4264)
Scratches --
Kootenay: Dominick Pacovsky (ankle – one week), Jagger Dirk (healthy), Ryan Molle (healthy).
Calgary: Chase Schaber, Martin Jones (Team Canada - World Juniors), Chase Komistek, Peter Kosterman, Jessi Hilton, Brandon Kozun (Team Canada - World Juniors), Mackenzie Royer.
Summary courtesy Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Prospect Update
As what seems to becoming a annual report here's a quick update on some of Kootenay's up and comers:
Being that time of year - tournament time - there's only one this year that contains Ice prospects, that being the Mac's Midget Tournament in Calgary over the holidays. For the first time in recent memory neither the World Junior Tournament nor the World U-17 Challenge in Timmons, Ontario has any Ice prospects playing. Though, for the record, F Dominick Pacovsky (Czech Republic) was invited but couldn't play because of his injury and D Jagger Dirk and F Brendan Hurley were among the final considerations for Team Pacific at the U-17 tournament.
That said, here's some prospect updates in no particular order:
RW Jared Iron, 15, GP - 24 G - 13 A - 21 PTS - 34; - Beardy's Blackhawks. The Ice might've got the steal of the 2009 Bantam Draft with the 8th rounder. The Canoe Narrows, SK product is 16th in scoring in the Saskatchewan Major Midget league. Only four rookies are among the top 20 scorers, including at 14-year-old phenom named Alex Forsberg, widely considered to be the number 1 or 2 pick in the 2010 Bantam Draft. His older brother Jesse is a defenseman with the Prince George Cougars and was a first round pick (11th overall) in 2008. Perhaps his brother could be joining him in the spring?
C Spencer Mault, 17, GP - 26 G - 22 A - 13 - 35 PTS; - Saskatoon Blazers. Mault was drafted in the 11th round, 240th overall in 2007 and I'm not quite sure if he's still on their list. Nevertheless in his last year of midget he's found a scoring touch and will play in the Mac's Tournament.
RW Levi Cable, 15, GP - 29 G - 11 A - 10 - 21 PTS; - An undrafted list player out of Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, Cable, a forward with the Yorkton Harvest (Jarret Stoll's alma matta) is 51st in SMMAAHL scoring and will play at Mac's.
F Colby Cave, 14, GP - 24 G - 11 A - 8 - 19 PTS; - Kootenay's first round pick from 2009 is 60th in SMMAAAHL scoring playing for the Battleford Stars. Cave doesn't turn 15 until Boxing Day.
F Ryan Bloom, 16, - No Stats - Bloom, a 2nd round pick in 2008, played one game for the Ice as a call-up in Red Deer earlier in the season and currently plays for the Calgary Buffaloes AAA Midget squad. The Alberta Major Midget League doesn't post stats past the top 45 in league scoring but the Buffs will play at the Mac's tournament.
D Micheal King, 16, Cariboo Cougars BCMML - GP 23 G - 5 A - 6 PTS - 11. King, who reported to camp in 2008 after being drafted in the 3rd round never reported in September, looking to keep his options open. The Prince George product was just named to the BCMML's All-Star game in January and will play at the Mac's tournament. Like Jagger Dirk at the beginning of the season, if King was to report next seasonhe would significantly add to the depth of the club on the blueline.
F Mitch Fyffe, 15, Vancouver NW Giants BCMML GP - 22 G - 4 A - 3 PTS - 7. A 9th round pick in 2009. The Giants will be at the Mac's. Interesting to note that F Sam Reinhart, 14, younger brother to Griffin (Edmonton Oil King pick who'll play there next season) and Max, is an AP for the Giants. Sam is expected to go somewhere in the 1st or 2nd rounds in the 2010 Bantam Draft.
D Mike Simpson, 15, Valley West Hawks BCMML GP - 13 G - 1 A - 0 PTS - 1. A 6th rounder in '09.
F Jarrett Zentner, 16, Red Deer Optimist Rebels AMMHL - GP - 19 G - 4 A - 14 - 18 PTS. The 4th round pick in 2008 will be at the Mac's tournament and is enjoying a good season with the second place Rebels.
D Scott Helmkay, 16, Saskatoon Blazers SMMAAAHL. GP - 26 G - 2 PTS - 2. 9th round pick in 2008.
D Matt Benning, 15, St. Albert Sabres AMMHL - no stats. 2nd round pick in 2009.
F Bryton Mills, 16, St. St. Albert Sabres AMMHL - no stats - List player
G Mackenzie Skapski, 15, Fraser Valley Bruins BCMML - 4-3-0; 3.39 GAA; Kootenay's third round pick from 2009 was the most seriously injured in the well-publicized bus crash a few weeks ago. I'm told he is home resting from the reconstructive facial surgery but whether or not he'll return this season is still undetermined.
F Adam Rossignol, 16, Aldergrove Kodiaks PIJHL Junior B. GP - 30 G - 13 A - 19 PTS -32. The PIJHL's website has him listed as a 91-born but he was drafted in 7th round in 2008, born in 1993. Could push for a spot next season.
F Michael Cassivi, 18, Abbottsford Pilots PIJHL Junior B GP - 7 G - 2 A - 4 PTS - 6. Cassivi ended up with his hometown Pilots after being released from the Ice earlier this season. Not sure if he's still listed.
D Dylan Schellenberg, 16, Drumheller Dragons AJHL Junior A GP - 30 G - 3 PTS - 3. 8th round pick in 2008.
G Brett Teskey, 16, Regina Pat-Canadians SMMAAAHL. Brett Teskey GP 15 W - 2, L - 13. Tough season for the 6th round pick from '08. Position not as deep as it was once was with the Ice goaltending prospects.
G Kevin Jacyna, 17, Calgary Royals AA Midget SCAHL - No stats. List player out of training camp.
D John Niebrandt, 17, Yorkton Terriers SJHL Junior A. GP - 27 G - 3 A - 1 PTS - 4 PIM - 40. The six-foot-five, 187 lb rearguard solidifies a deep list on the blueline for the Ice. Listed in 2008. Could push for a spot next season.
F Brendan O'Donnell, 17, Winnipeg South Blues Manitoba Junior A GP - 33 G - 14 A - 14 PTS - 28. O'Donnell's committed to the University of North Dakota next season and will likely never don an Ice uniform.
F Colten St. Clair, 17, Fargo Force USHL GP - 22 G - 6 A - 6 PTS - 12. St. Clair will join O'Donnell at UND next season.
F Cody Bisbing, 16, PF Changs Midget U-18 No stats. 10th round pick from 2008. A another WHL longshot.
F Christian Johnson, 17, LA Jr Kings Midget U-18 No stats. List player impressed at training camp in September.
That's it for now. There's probably a couple more I've missed but it's a snapshot. Many thanks to AC at Small Thoughts, whose thoughts anything but small with the amount of research he does. Alan reports that Kootenay will have nine prospects at the Mac's Midget tournament this year. Follow that tournament online here starting Boxing Day.
Should be the last post until Sunday's game against the Hitmen. Until then, Merry Christmas to all.
Being that time of year - tournament time - there's only one this year that contains Ice prospects, that being the Mac's Midget Tournament in Calgary over the holidays. For the first time in recent memory neither the World Junior Tournament nor the World U-17 Challenge in Timmons, Ontario has any Ice prospects playing. Though, for the record, F Dominick Pacovsky (Czech Republic) was invited but couldn't play because of his injury and D Jagger Dirk and F Brendan Hurley were among the final considerations for Team Pacific at the U-17 tournament.
That said, here's some prospect updates in no particular order:
RW Jared Iron, 15, GP - 24 G - 13 A - 21 PTS - 34; - Beardy's Blackhawks. The Ice might've got the steal of the 2009 Bantam Draft with the 8th rounder. The Canoe Narrows, SK product is 16th in scoring in the Saskatchewan Major Midget league. Only four rookies are among the top 20 scorers, including at 14-year-old phenom named Alex Forsberg, widely considered to be the number 1 or 2 pick in the 2010 Bantam Draft. His older brother Jesse is a defenseman with the Prince George Cougars and was a first round pick (11th overall) in 2008. Perhaps his brother could be joining him in the spring?
C Spencer Mault, 17, GP - 26 G - 22 A - 13 - 35 PTS; - Saskatoon Blazers. Mault was drafted in the 11th round, 240th overall in 2007 and I'm not quite sure if he's still on their list. Nevertheless in his last year of midget he's found a scoring touch and will play in the Mac's Tournament.
RW Levi Cable, 15, GP - 29 G - 11 A - 10 - 21 PTS; - An undrafted list player out of Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, Cable, a forward with the Yorkton Harvest (Jarret Stoll's alma matta) is 51st in SMMAAHL scoring and will play at Mac's.
F Colby Cave, 14, GP - 24 G - 11 A - 8 - 19 PTS; - Kootenay's first round pick from 2009 is 60th in SMMAAAHL scoring playing for the Battleford Stars. Cave doesn't turn 15 until Boxing Day.
F Ryan Bloom, 16, - No Stats - Bloom, a 2nd round pick in 2008, played one game for the Ice as a call-up in Red Deer earlier in the season and currently plays for the Calgary Buffaloes AAA Midget squad. The Alberta Major Midget League doesn't post stats past the top 45 in league scoring but the Buffs will play at the Mac's tournament.
D Micheal King, 16, Cariboo Cougars BCMML - GP 23 G - 5 A - 6 PTS - 11. King, who reported to camp in 2008 after being drafted in the 3rd round never reported in September, looking to keep his options open. The Prince George product was just named to the BCMML's All-Star game in January and will play at the Mac's tournament. Like Jagger Dirk at the beginning of the season, if King was to report next seasonhe would significantly add to the depth of the club on the blueline.
F Mitch Fyffe, 15, Vancouver NW Giants BCMML GP - 22 G - 4 A - 3 PTS - 7. A 9th round pick in 2009. The Giants will be at the Mac's. Interesting to note that F Sam Reinhart, 14, younger brother to Griffin (Edmonton Oil King pick who'll play there next season) and Max, is an AP for the Giants. Sam is expected to go somewhere in the 1st or 2nd rounds in the 2010 Bantam Draft.
D Mike Simpson, 15, Valley West Hawks BCMML GP - 13 G - 1 A - 0 PTS - 1. A 6th rounder in '09.
F Jarrett Zentner, 16, Red Deer Optimist Rebels AMMHL - GP - 19 G - 4 A - 14 - 18 PTS. The 4th round pick in 2008 will be at the Mac's tournament and is enjoying a good season with the second place Rebels.
D Scott Helmkay, 16, Saskatoon Blazers SMMAAAHL. GP - 26 G - 2 PTS - 2. 9th round pick in 2008.
D Matt Benning, 15, St. Albert Sabres AMMHL - no stats. 2nd round pick in 2009.
F Bryton Mills, 16, St. St. Albert Sabres AMMHL - no stats - List player
G Mackenzie Skapski, 15, Fraser Valley Bruins BCMML - 4-3-0; 3.39 GAA; Kootenay's third round pick from 2009 was the most seriously injured in the well-publicized bus crash a few weeks ago. I'm told he is home resting from the reconstructive facial surgery but whether or not he'll return this season is still undetermined.
F Adam Rossignol, 16, Aldergrove Kodiaks PIJHL Junior B. GP - 30 G - 13 A - 19 PTS -32. The PIJHL's website has him listed as a 91-born but he was drafted in 7th round in 2008, born in 1993. Could push for a spot next season.
F Michael Cassivi, 18, Abbottsford Pilots PIJHL Junior B GP - 7 G - 2 A - 4 PTS - 6. Cassivi ended up with his hometown Pilots after being released from the Ice earlier this season. Not sure if he's still listed.
D Dylan Schellenberg, 16, Drumheller Dragons AJHL Junior A GP - 30 G - 3 PTS - 3. 8th round pick in 2008.
G Brett Teskey, 16, Regina Pat-Canadians SMMAAAHL. Brett Teskey GP 15 W - 2, L - 13. Tough season for the 6th round pick from '08. Position not as deep as it was once was with the Ice goaltending prospects.
G Kevin Jacyna, 17, Calgary Royals AA Midget SCAHL - No stats. List player out of training camp.
D John Niebrandt, 17, Yorkton Terriers SJHL Junior A. GP - 27 G - 3 A - 1 PTS - 4 PIM - 40. The six-foot-five, 187 lb rearguard solidifies a deep list on the blueline for the Ice. Listed in 2008. Could push for a spot next season.
F Brendan O'Donnell, 17, Winnipeg South Blues Manitoba Junior A GP - 33 G - 14 A - 14 PTS - 28. O'Donnell's committed to the University of North Dakota next season and will likely never don an Ice uniform.
F Colten St. Clair, 17, Fargo Force USHL GP - 22 G - 6 A - 6 PTS - 12. St. Clair will join O'Donnell at UND next season.
F Cody Bisbing, 16, PF Changs Midget U-18 No stats. 10th round pick from 2008. A another WHL longshot.
F Christian Johnson, 17, LA Jr Kings Midget U-18 No stats. List player impressed at training camp in September.
That's it for now. There's probably a couple more I've missed but it's a snapshot. Many thanks to AC at Small Thoughts, whose thoughts anything but small with the amount of research he does. Alan reports that Kootenay will have nine prospects at the Mac's Midget tournament this year. Follow that tournament online here starting Boxing Day.
Should be the last post until Sunday's game against the Hitmen. Until then, Merry Christmas to all.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
McNabb POW
D Brayden McNabb was named the WHL's player of the week today. McNabb notched nine pts in 3 games in wins over Medicine Hat and two over Lethbridge.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Ice blow away Canes
For the Cranbrook Daily Townsman...
Power Play blows Hurricanes away
By Jeff Bromley
In keeping with the spirit of the season, the Kootenay Ice and the Lethbridge Hurricanes were in the giving mood over the last weekend before Christmas. The Lethbridge Hurricanes kept giving the Ice power play opportunities and the Ice repaid their kindness with nine power play goals, tying a club-record with six of them Saturday night in a 6-1 blowout at the Rec Plex.
Kootenay held only a slim 1-0 lead after one period Saturday only to explode for three man-advantage goals in the second and two more in the third, three of them by captain Dustin Sylvester who now has 18 on the season, bringing the hats down onto the ice. “These were two big points that we wanted to get before Christmas,” said Sylvester who now has nine points in his last three games to move into the WHL’s top 15 in league scoring with 45 points. “We got the four points we needed and we’re trying to make a push here so we just have to be ready to come back after Christmas.”
The seven-day holiday – the club will return Boxing Day for a skate prior to hosting the Calgary Hitmen December 27 – is something Sylvester admits his club is looking forward to, though the thought of breaking up a good thing has crossed their minds. “We’ve been playing well in the last couple of weeks but the break gives us a chance for everybody to get home and get some rest and come back re-charged, ready-to-go and keep this thing going.”
What they have going is a roll, a big one, and that continued Saturday when forward Kevin King got the home side on the scoreboard when he deposited Brayden McNabb’s point-shot around Hurricane goaltender Brandon Anderson to make it 1-0 after one. In the second Kootenay added to that lead to make it 3-0 on goals by Sylvester, on a power play slapshot, while McNabb did the same thing with Lethbridge forward Max Ross and former Ice D-man Cason Machacek in the box for a five-on-three power play Kootenay took 16 seconds to convert. The Ice added another early power play goal 1:02 into the 3rd when Sylvester got his second on a pretty back-door play before the Hurricanes finally broke Todd Mathews’ shutout bid with a bullet from the deep slot that the Ice goaltender had little chance on. Kootenay topped off the record-tying night with two more power play goals – by Sylvester and D Petr Senkerik – in the last four minutes to put the Canes out of their misery.
For head coach Mark Holick his Christmas present has been his club’s play over the past two months, going from dead last in the Eastern Conference to sole possession of sixth and a playoff berth, though that prospect is still three months away. “I’m extremely happy with their play,” said Holick, whose club sits at 19-15-1-2 with 41 points. “At one point we were 5-11 on the season and we were banged up and injured but our message has been stay the course and if we can get healthy, let’s see happens.”
“We’ve gotten healthy, guys have elevated their play and the goaltending has solidified itself. A lot of things are going right but we’re not planning any parade routes by any stretch but we certainly like the effort and like that the guys have bought into their roles and the style we want them to play. We’re going to into the break on a high note and hopefully when we return that’ll continue."
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Marysville’s Carter Bancks, the Hurricane captain and 20-year-old who is entering the last half-season of his WHL career on a club that’s last in the Eastern Conference and 14 points out of playoff spot on a club that’s clearly rebuilding for the future. The classy forward remains positive in spite of the odds that say his last junior hockey season could be a short one. “It’s a disappointing way to go into the Christmas break,” said the former Kimberley Dynamiter. “We had a lot higher hopes but give Kootenay credit. They had six power play goals tonight, three on Friday and our penalty kill just wasn’t good enough.”
And the leadership role on a rebuilding club? “It’s a bit different as it’s a role I’ve never played but it’s something I’m trying to do everything I can to be successful at. We have a lot of young guys and I’m trying to show them the way.”
Being a leader on a last-place team brings the inevitable question of the impending trade deadline January 10. A question he doesn’t know the answer to, at least not yet. “It crosses your mind and there’s been that question put out there in the Lethbridge media too,” said Bancks. “But whatever happens, happens. I’m proud to be a Hurricane even though we’re not having a great season. I don’t really know but I’m just trying to everything I can to win with this hockey team right now.”
Ice 8 – Hurricanes 2 – Friday in Lethbridge forward Joe Antilla scored a first-period hat-trick and Dustin Sylvester had two assists as the Ice dumped the Hurricanes 8-2. D Jagger Dirk notched his first WHL point with an assist while goaltender Nathan Liewen stopped 25 shots to garner his 6th win of the season.
Quick Hits – Sylvester’s four-point night put the five-year veteran over the 200 mark Saturday. The Kelowna product sits 9th in career scoring with the Ice. Current L.A. King Jarret Stoll is tops with 286… Hurricanes D Derek Ryckman left the game after a first period fight with Ice forward Drew Czerwonka with an apparent shoulder injury. He did not return… One of those caps that came down from the Rec Plex Sky-Boxes apparently had a sharp visor as one elderly gentleman suffered a cut on his face from the errant throw. He was attended to by arena staff but didn’t miss a shift and remained in his seat to watch the rest of the game.
Power Play blows Hurricanes away
By Jeff Bromley
In keeping with the spirit of the season, the Kootenay Ice and the Lethbridge Hurricanes were in the giving mood over the last weekend before Christmas. The Lethbridge Hurricanes kept giving the Ice power play opportunities and the Ice repaid their kindness with nine power play goals, tying a club-record with six of them Saturday night in a 6-1 blowout at the Rec Plex.
Kootenay held only a slim 1-0 lead after one period Saturday only to explode for three man-advantage goals in the second and two more in the third, three of them by captain Dustin Sylvester who now has 18 on the season, bringing the hats down onto the ice. “These were two big points that we wanted to get before Christmas,” said Sylvester who now has nine points in his last three games to move into the WHL’s top 15 in league scoring with 45 points. “We got the four points we needed and we’re trying to make a push here so we just have to be ready to come back after Christmas.”
The seven-day holiday – the club will return Boxing Day for a skate prior to hosting the Calgary Hitmen December 27 – is something Sylvester admits his club is looking forward to, though the thought of breaking up a good thing has crossed their minds. “We’ve been playing well in the last couple of weeks but the break gives us a chance for everybody to get home and get some rest and come back re-charged, ready-to-go and keep this thing going.”
What they have going is a roll, a big one, and that continued Saturday when forward Kevin King got the home side on the scoreboard when he deposited Brayden McNabb’s point-shot around Hurricane goaltender Brandon Anderson to make it 1-0 after one. In the second Kootenay added to that lead to make it 3-0 on goals by Sylvester, on a power play slapshot, while McNabb did the same thing with Lethbridge forward Max Ross and former Ice D-man Cason Machacek in the box for a five-on-three power play Kootenay took 16 seconds to convert. The Ice added another early power play goal 1:02 into the 3rd when Sylvester got his second on a pretty back-door play before the Hurricanes finally broke Todd Mathews’ shutout bid with a bullet from the deep slot that the Ice goaltender had little chance on. Kootenay topped off the record-tying night with two more power play goals – by Sylvester and D Petr Senkerik – in the last four minutes to put the Canes out of their misery.
For head coach Mark Holick his Christmas present has been his club’s play over the past two months, going from dead last in the Eastern Conference to sole possession of sixth and a playoff berth, though that prospect is still three months away. “I’m extremely happy with their play,” said Holick, whose club sits at 19-15-1-2 with 41 points. “At one point we were 5-11 on the season and we were banged up and injured but our message has been stay the course and if we can get healthy, let’s see happens.”
“We’ve gotten healthy, guys have elevated their play and the goaltending has solidified itself. A lot of things are going right but we’re not planning any parade routes by any stretch but we certainly like the effort and like that the guys have bought into their roles and the style we want them to play. We’re going to into the break on a high note and hopefully when we return that’ll continue."
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Marysville’s Carter Bancks, the Hurricane captain and 20-year-old who is entering the last half-season of his WHL career on a club that’s last in the Eastern Conference and 14 points out of playoff spot on a club that’s clearly rebuilding for the future. The classy forward remains positive in spite of the odds that say his last junior hockey season could be a short one. “It’s a disappointing way to go into the Christmas break,” said the former Kimberley Dynamiter. “We had a lot higher hopes but give Kootenay credit. They had six power play goals tonight, three on Friday and our penalty kill just wasn’t good enough.”
And the leadership role on a rebuilding club? “It’s a bit different as it’s a role I’ve never played but it’s something I’m trying to do everything I can to be successful at. We have a lot of young guys and I’m trying to show them the way.”
Being a leader on a last-place team brings the inevitable question of the impending trade deadline January 10. A question he doesn’t know the answer to, at least not yet. “It crosses your mind and there’s been that question put out there in the Lethbridge media too,” said Bancks. “But whatever happens, happens. I’m proud to be a Hurricane even though we’re not having a great season. I don’t really know but I’m just trying to everything I can to win with this hockey team right now.”
Ice 8 – Hurricanes 2 – Friday in Lethbridge forward Joe Antilla scored a first-period hat-trick and Dustin Sylvester had two assists as the Ice dumped the Hurricanes 8-2. D Jagger Dirk notched his first WHL point with an assist while goaltender Nathan Liewen stopped 25 shots to garner his 6th win of the season.
Quick Hits – Sylvester’s four-point night put the five-year veteran over the 200 mark Saturday. The Kelowna product sits 9th in career scoring with the Ice. Current L.A. King Jarret Stoll is tops with 286… Hurricanes D Derek Ryckman left the game after a first period fight with Ice forward Drew Czerwonka with an apparent shoulder injury. He did not return… One of those caps that came down from the Rec Plex Sky-Boxes apparently had a sharp visor as one elderly gentleman suffered a cut on his face from the errant throw. He was attended to by arena staff but didn’t miss a shift and remained in his seat to watch the rest of the game.
The Score - Ice 6 - Canes 1
The Score – Kootenay 6 – Lethbridge 1
What Happened – Lethbridge couldn’t stay out of the penalty box and the Ice burned them for six power play goals, a franchise record.
The Turning Point – Penalty number two. Kootenay actually didn’t start the power play barrage until former teammate Cason Machacek was in the box for slashing at 14:54 of the first period.
The Penalties – The Hurricanes didn’t play that bad but couldn’t stay out of the sin bin, especially in the second when Max Ross was already going off for tripping the back referee fingered Machacek for roughing – a weak call – to put the home side on a two minute five-on-three. They only needed 16 seconds to make it 3-0. Machacek was choked, banged his fist on the glass as he entered the box and his now former fans gave him what for.
The Strange Dump-in – The save of the night occurred with under a minute left in the second when Ice D James Martin sent a routine dump-in into the Canes’ zone. Brandon Anderson left his net to block the attempt only to have to go horizontal to save the puck from heading into the empty cage after a Kootenay bounce off the half-wall dasher.
The Goals – A rather uneventful opening frame took on a better tone for the Ice when continued their success on the power play with former d-man Cason Machacek off for holding, Brayden McNabb wired a point-shot that was stopped by Brandon Anderson, only to have Kevin King deposit the rebound past him… The power play struck again 1:27 into the second period when Sylvester, devoid of any teammate to pass to, helped himself and wired his 16th from 45 feet… Expanding on the night’s theme, this time on a five-on-three with Max Ross and Machacek in the box, Brayden McNabb fired his 11th to make it 3-0… Canes’ D Mike Reddington didn’t get the message when he took a dumb penalty at the end of the second, jumping Ice forward Matt Fraser. Dustin Sylvester reminded him with Kootenay’s fourth power play goal of the night, a pretty back-door play that the 20-year-old buried to get his 17th of the season and second of the night… The Hurricanes finally broke the goose-egg with a string of penalties to both clubs that gave the Canes an extended four-on-three, after Ice goaltender Todd Mathews made two spectacular back-door saves but couldn’t stop the third attempt when Mitch Maxwell wired his 16th into the top corner past Todd Mathews…The parade continued, this time with another five-on-three – plus one more that didn’t start until the first one ended – when Sylvester slapped the hat-trick past a dejected Anderson to make it 5-1… D Petr Senkerik added insult to injury when he wired his 4th with 14 seconds left in the game to make it 6-1. To give you an idea of how far the power play has come, Kootenay entered the night 16th in the league on the power play. Hell, they were just this side of dead siting in 21st just a few weeks ago. Six power play goals later and Kootenay's 10th.
The Espo – Following his second fight on the night, a knock-out over Mike Reddington, Drew Czweronka responded to the Canes trash-talk from the bench with some arm-waving, just before he caught an edge and ended up on his keester. With a big smile, all that was missing was the bow.
200-Club - Sylvester broached the 200 point plateau with his first goal Saturday night, moving into 9th place in all-time Ice scoring with 204. Adam Cracknell is next on the list at 213. On pace for 90 this season Sylvester could hit third on the club's all-time list with 249, behind Nigel Dawes (272) and Jarret Stoll (286).
The Crowd – 2669
Rec Plex Three Stars
1. LW Dustin Sylvester – Hattie, four points, just deadly on the power play
2. D Brayden McNabb – A goal, three helpers and the reason why that PP is so good
3. D Hayden Rintoul – Three assists, to a lesser extent, see above.
Honourable Mention – Either of King or Boomer. That first unit is dynamite.
What it means – Kootenay improves to 19-15-1-2; good for 41 points and sole possession of 6th in the Eastern Conference. They’ve won three straight and have went 7-2-1 in their last ten. Better yet they’ve gone 16-4-1-2 since November 1 after a 4-11-1-1 start to the season.
Up Next: Christmas Break before returning December 27 against the Hitmen at the Rec Plex, a team they haven’t beat since January 15 of 2009.
Game Summary:
Hurricanes 1 @ Ice 6
CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Kootenay Ice; December 19, 2009.
Dustin Sylvester scored Kootenay's second hat-trick in as many nights as the Ice dumped the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-1 in WHL action Saturday. Kootenay held leads of 1-0 and 3-0 at the breaks before a three-goal third period sealed the win for the Ice. Kootenay's other goals were scored by Kevin King, Brayden McNabb and Petr Senkerik as the club scored all six goals on the power play. Lethbridge's lone tally came also on the power play when Mitch Maxwell got his 16th in the third to break Todd Mathews' shutout bid.
Todd Mathews stopped 19 of 20 shots to get the win while Brandon Anderson turned aside 17 of 23 shots in taking the loss.
First Period
1. Kootenay, King 13 (McNabb, Rintoul) 15:30 (pp)
Penalties -- Antilla Ktn (cross-checking) Czerwonka Ktn Ryckman Let (fighting) 10:11, Hood Let (holding) 10:50, Machacek Let (slashing) 14:54,
Second Period
2. Kootenay, Sylvester 16 (McNabb, Rintoul) 1:27 (pp)
3. Kootenay, McNabb 11 (Sylvester, Boomer) 17:36 (pp)
Penalties -- .Yadlowski Let (interference) 0:40, Molle Ktn (cross-checking) 14:03, Ross Let (tripping) Machacek Let (roughing) 17:20, Reddington Let (roughing) 20:00.
Third Period
4. Kootenay, Sylvester 17 (Rintoul, McNabb) 1:02 (pp)
5. Lethbridge, Maxwell 16 (Hood, Reners) 10:42 (pp)
6. Kootenay, Sylvester 18 (Leach, Molle) 16:32 (pp)
7. Kootenay, Senkerik 4 (Dirk, Montgomery) 19:46 (pp)
Penalties -- Dirk Ktn (holding) 2:42, King Ktn (dbl high-sticking) 8:18, Fyten Let (high-sticking) 8:30, Ismond Ktn (holding) 8:38, Fyten Let (unsportsmanlike conduct) 14:07, Machacek Let (slashing) Jackson Let (misconduct) 15:14, Reddington Let (cross-checking) 15:59, Czerwonka Ktn (fighting) Reddington Let (high-sticking, fighting) 19:38.
Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 7 9 7 - 23
Lethbridge: 2 7 11 - 20
Goal -- Kootenay: Todd Mathews (W, 13-7-1-2); Lethbridge: Brandon Anderson (L, 5-8-1-1).
Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 6-10
Lethbridge: 1-6
Referee -- Chris Crich, Nathan Wieler. Linesman -- Jim Maniago, Andrew Barker.
Attendance -- 2669 (4264)
Scratches --
Kootenay: Luke Paulsen (healthy), Dominik Pacovsky (foot - 1-3 weeks), Elgin Pearce (healthy).
Lethbridge: Linden Rowat (foot - 1 week), Luca Sbisa (Team Switzerland - World Juniors), Phillip Tot (healthy).
Summary courtesy Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman
What Happened – Lethbridge couldn’t stay out of the penalty box and the Ice burned them for six power play goals, a franchise record.
The Turning Point – Penalty number two. Kootenay actually didn’t start the power play barrage until former teammate Cason Machacek was in the box for slashing at 14:54 of the first period.
The Penalties – The Hurricanes didn’t play that bad but couldn’t stay out of the sin bin, especially in the second when Max Ross was already going off for tripping the back referee fingered Machacek for roughing – a weak call – to put the home side on a two minute five-on-three. They only needed 16 seconds to make it 3-0. Machacek was choked, banged his fist on the glass as he entered the box and his now former fans gave him what for.
The Strange Dump-in – The save of the night occurred with under a minute left in the second when Ice D James Martin sent a routine dump-in into the Canes’ zone. Brandon Anderson left his net to block the attempt only to have to go horizontal to save the puck from heading into the empty cage after a Kootenay bounce off the half-wall dasher.
The Goals – A rather uneventful opening frame took on a better tone for the Ice when continued their success on the power play with former d-man Cason Machacek off for holding, Brayden McNabb wired a point-shot that was stopped by Brandon Anderson, only to have Kevin King deposit the rebound past him… The power play struck again 1:27 into the second period when Sylvester, devoid of any teammate to pass to, helped himself and wired his 16th from 45 feet… Expanding on the night’s theme, this time on a five-on-three with Max Ross and Machacek in the box, Brayden McNabb fired his 11th to make it 3-0… Canes’ D Mike Reddington didn’t get the message when he took a dumb penalty at the end of the second, jumping Ice forward Matt Fraser. Dustin Sylvester reminded him with Kootenay’s fourth power play goal of the night, a pretty back-door play that the 20-year-old buried to get his 17th of the season and second of the night… The Hurricanes finally broke the goose-egg with a string of penalties to both clubs that gave the Canes an extended four-on-three, after Ice goaltender Todd Mathews made two spectacular back-door saves but couldn’t stop the third attempt when Mitch Maxwell wired his 16th into the top corner past Todd Mathews…The parade continued, this time with another five-on-three – plus one more that didn’t start until the first one ended – when Sylvester slapped the hat-trick past a dejected Anderson to make it 5-1… D Petr Senkerik added insult to injury when he wired his 4th with 14 seconds left in the game to make it 6-1. To give you an idea of how far the power play has come, Kootenay entered the night 16th in the league on the power play. Hell, they were just this side of dead siting in 21st just a few weeks ago. Six power play goals later and Kootenay's 10th.
The Espo – Following his second fight on the night, a knock-out over Mike Reddington, Drew Czweronka responded to the Canes trash-talk from the bench with some arm-waving, just before he caught an edge and ended up on his keester. With a big smile, all that was missing was the bow.
200-Club - Sylvester broached the 200 point plateau with his first goal Saturday night, moving into 9th place in all-time Ice scoring with 204. Adam Cracknell is next on the list at 213. On pace for 90 this season Sylvester could hit third on the club's all-time list with 249, behind Nigel Dawes (272) and Jarret Stoll (286).
The Crowd – 2669
Rec Plex Three Stars
1. LW Dustin Sylvester – Hattie, four points, just deadly on the power play
2. D Brayden McNabb – A goal, three helpers and the reason why that PP is so good
3. D Hayden Rintoul – Three assists, to a lesser extent, see above.
Honourable Mention – Either of King or Boomer. That first unit is dynamite.
What it means – Kootenay improves to 19-15-1-2; good for 41 points and sole possession of 6th in the Eastern Conference. They’ve won three straight and have went 7-2-1 in their last ten. Better yet they’ve gone 16-4-1-2 since November 1 after a 4-11-1-1 start to the season.
Up Next: Christmas Break before returning December 27 against the Hitmen at the Rec Plex, a team they haven’t beat since January 15 of 2009.
Game Summary:
Hurricanes 1 @ Ice 6
CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Kootenay Ice; December 19, 2009.
Dustin Sylvester scored Kootenay's second hat-trick in as many nights as the Ice dumped the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-1 in WHL action Saturday. Kootenay held leads of 1-0 and 3-0 at the breaks before a three-goal third period sealed the win for the Ice. Kootenay's other goals were scored by Kevin King, Brayden McNabb and Petr Senkerik as the club scored all six goals on the power play. Lethbridge's lone tally came also on the power play when Mitch Maxwell got his 16th in the third to break Todd Mathews' shutout bid.
Todd Mathews stopped 19 of 20 shots to get the win while Brandon Anderson turned aside 17 of 23 shots in taking the loss.
First Period
1. Kootenay, King 13 (McNabb, Rintoul) 15:30 (pp)
Penalties -- Antilla Ktn (cross-checking) Czerwonka Ktn Ryckman Let (fighting) 10:11, Hood Let (holding) 10:50, Machacek Let (slashing) 14:54,
Second Period
2. Kootenay, Sylvester 16 (McNabb, Rintoul) 1:27 (pp)
3. Kootenay, McNabb 11 (Sylvester, Boomer) 17:36 (pp)
Penalties -- .Yadlowski Let (interference) 0:40, Molle Ktn (cross-checking) 14:03, Ross Let (tripping) Machacek Let (roughing) 17:20, Reddington Let (roughing) 20:00.
Third Period
4. Kootenay, Sylvester 17 (Rintoul, McNabb) 1:02 (pp)
5. Lethbridge, Maxwell 16 (Hood, Reners) 10:42 (pp)
6. Kootenay, Sylvester 18 (Leach, Molle) 16:32 (pp)
7. Kootenay, Senkerik 4 (Dirk, Montgomery) 19:46 (pp)
Penalties -- Dirk Ktn (holding) 2:42, King Ktn (dbl high-sticking) 8:18, Fyten Let (high-sticking) 8:30, Ismond Ktn (holding) 8:38, Fyten Let (unsportsmanlike conduct) 14:07, Machacek Let (slashing) Jackson Let (misconduct) 15:14, Reddington Let (cross-checking) 15:59, Czerwonka Ktn (fighting) Reddington Let (high-sticking, fighting) 19:38.
Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 7 9 7 - 23
Lethbridge: 2 7 11 - 20
Goal -- Kootenay: Todd Mathews (W, 13-7-1-2); Lethbridge: Brandon Anderson (L, 5-8-1-1).
Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 6-10
Lethbridge: 1-6
Referee -- Chris Crich, Nathan Wieler. Linesman -- Jim Maniago, Andrew Barker.
Attendance -- 2669 (4264)
Scratches --
Kootenay: Luke Paulsen (healthy), Dominik Pacovsky (foot - 1-3 weeks), Elgin Pearce (healthy).
Lethbridge: Linden Rowat (foot - 1 week), Luca Sbisa (Team Switzerland - World Juniors), Phillip Tot (healthy).
Summary courtesy Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman
Friday, December 18, 2009
Canes pasted by Ice
F Joe Antilla, 18, scored the natural hat-trick Friday as the Ice dumped the Lethbridge Hurricanes 8-2 Friday night in Lethbridge.
The two teams meet tommorrow at the Rec Plex to wrap up the pre-christmas portion of the schedule. F Jesse Ismond and D Brayden McNabb had a goal and an assist each while LW Dustin Sylvester had two assists. G Nathan Lieuwen went the distance and got his first win since December 1.
The Lethbridge Herald will have a gamer up later tonight.
With the win the Ice improve to 18-15-1-2 on the season and are alone in sixth in the Eastern Conference with 39 points.
The two teams meet tommorrow at the Rec Plex to wrap up the pre-christmas portion of the schedule. F Jesse Ismond and D Brayden McNabb had a goal and an assist each while LW Dustin Sylvester had two assists. G Nathan Lieuwen went the distance and got his first win since December 1.
The Lethbridge Herald will have a gamer up later tonight.
With the win the Ice improve to 18-15-1-2 on the season and are alone in sixth in the Eastern Conference with 39 points.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Ice dump Tigers
For the Daily Townsman...
Ice tame Tigers 6-4
by Jeff Bromley
If you have a Tiger by the tail, don’t let go and if you get a little help from Mother Nature, take advantage of it. That was the lesson learned Tuesday night at the Cranbrook Rec Plex.
The Kootenay Ice had the WHL’s highest scoring team on the ropes early and held on to beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-4 in front of 2616 at the Plex. The Tigers left Medicine Hat at noon but didn’t arrive until just 45 minutes before game-time of which Kootenay took full advantage of.
Opening up a healthy 4-0 lead halfway through the game even a minor three-goal near-collapse wouldn’t stop the Ice from dumping the red-hot Tigers, who coming in were tied for second in the Eastern Conference with the Saskatoon Blades, had only one loss in regulation over the past 15 games. “I loved our first period,” said Ice head coach Mark Holick as his club improved to 17-15-1-2 on the season, good for 37 points and seventh in the Eastern Conference. “It was probably one of our better first periods in a long time and we’ve played some pretty good hockey as of late.”
“We had a little lull there in the second and responded back in the third. That’s a good team (the Tigers) and they can score almost whenever they feel like it but we did a good job against them.”
On this night both teams scored almost at will with the Ice firing 16 shots at Tiger goaltender Tyler Bunz in the first period along, converting two of them to take a 2-0 lead. Kootenay’s power play – maligned to start the season but on fire of late – was a sizzling 4-6 on the night, burning the Tigers for three in the second period. “You’d like to get that type of shot-total every night but we didn’t really want to get into a track meet with this group. We wanted to get pucks in there zone and try to pin them below the dots and play a bit of cycle game and get to the point to get a quick strike from there. That’s what we wanted to do as much as we could. It seemed to work.”
Kootenay opened the scoring at 6:07 when Kevin King cashed in on some heavy Ice pressure early when the 19-year-old neatly deflected Hayden Rintoul’s point shot that changed direction and ended up behind Bunz. Near the end of a Kootenay power play late in the first the onslaught continued with a similar result as this time D James Martin fired a shot from the top of the circle that looked to be headed wide and deflected off Max Reinhart’s leg past Bunz with three seconds left on the man-advantage. Referee Steve Papp went upstairs to review the play but the goal stood.
The Tigers got into penalty trouble in the second when, with Taylor Gal already in the box, D Mark Isherwood took a slashing penalty and then did something to remove himself from referee Steve Papp’s Christmas card list and got a game misconduct. Kootenay would make the Tigers pay for it when Dustin Sylvester found Brayden McNabb at the top of the circle who leaned into a blast that went off the crossbar and into the net to make it 3-0. It’d be déjà vu all over again seven minutes later when the Ice got yet another power play goal continuing on the night’s theme as Matt Fraser got a stick on Petr Senkerik’s point-shot to make it 4-0.
Medicine Hat would finally get on the board at 11:14 when super-rookie Emerson Etem deflected a point-shot by Matt Konan. The highest scoring team in the WHL proved it just 22 seconds later when Petr Senkerik was going to get a cross-checking penalty. That was negated when Joey Frazer fired a wrist-shot that beat Ice starter Todd Mathews to make it 4-2. The Tigers kept pouring it on and got within a goal when Reid Petryk wired his first-ever WHL goal past Mathews to make it 4-3, capping off a three-goal assault in less than five minutes.
Kootenay got back into the arms race with a pretty 3-on-2 passing play that was finished off by Steele Boomer to give the Ice a 5-3 lead. The second period fireworks didn’t end there as Jesse Ismond buried his club’s fourth power play goal of the game, giving the Ice a 6-3 lead after two periods. Tiger forward Joey Frazer would cap off a three point night with a late goal, his second of the night, to bring the Tigers back within two but that would be as close as they would get.
“I don’t think they got here until after six o’clock,” said Holick. “We had the warm-up right at 6:30 and we thought we used that to our advantage. We certainly wanted to come out and take it to them in the first period and I thought we did that.”
Quick Hits – Scratched for the Ice was D Jagger Dirk (healthy), F Dominick Pacovsky (broken foot - 1-3 weeks) and F Elgin Pearce (healthy). Medicine Hat sat out D Dylan Busenius, F Zdenek Okal (wrist - two months) and F Dylan Bredo… Tiger coach Willie Desjardins wasn’t with the club Tuesday. The head coach of Team Canada’s World Junior entry to this year’s tournament in Saskatoon was in Saskatchewan preparing for the club’s final cuts. The World Junior roster is set to be released today. Filling in for Desjardins was Shawn Clouston, older brother to former Ice head coach Cory Clouston… Kootenay finishes off the pre-Christmas schedule Friday and Saturday with a home-and-home with the Lethbridge Hurricanes starting in the southern Alberta city Friday night. The return bill goes Saturday at the Rec Plex.
Ice tame Tigers 6-4
by Jeff Bromley
If you have a Tiger by the tail, don’t let go and if you get a little help from Mother Nature, take advantage of it. That was the lesson learned Tuesday night at the Cranbrook Rec Plex.
The Kootenay Ice had the WHL’s highest scoring team on the ropes early and held on to beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-4 in front of 2616 at the Plex. The Tigers left Medicine Hat at noon but didn’t arrive until just 45 minutes before game-time of which Kootenay took full advantage of.
Opening up a healthy 4-0 lead halfway through the game even a minor three-goal near-collapse wouldn’t stop the Ice from dumping the red-hot Tigers, who coming in were tied for second in the Eastern Conference with the Saskatoon Blades, had only one loss in regulation over the past 15 games. “I loved our first period,” said Ice head coach Mark Holick as his club improved to 17-15-1-2 on the season, good for 37 points and seventh in the Eastern Conference. “It was probably one of our better first periods in a long time and we’ve played some pretty good hockey as of late.”
“We had a little lull there in the second and responded back in the third. That’s a good team (the Tigers) and they can score almost whenever they feel like it but we did a good job against them.”
On this night both teams scored almost at will with the Ice firing 16 shots at Tiger goaltender Tyler Bunz in the first period along, converting two of them to take a 2-0 lead. Kootenay’s power play – maligned to start the season but on fire of late – was a sizzling 4-6 on the night, burning the Tigers for three in the second period. “You’d like to get that type of shot-total every night but we didn’t really want to get into a track meet with this group. We wanted to get pucks in there zone and try to pin them below the dots and play a bit of cycle game and get to the point to get a quick strike from there. That’s what we wanted to do as much as we could. It seemed to work.”
Kootenay opened the scoring at 6:07 when Kevin King cashed in on some heavy Ice pressure early when the 19-year-old neatly deflected Hayden Rintoul’s point shot that changed direction and ended up behind Bunz. Near the end of a Kootenay power play late in the first the onslaught continued with a similar result as this time D James Martin fired a shot from the top of the circle that looked to be headed wide and deflected off Max Reinhart’s leg past Bunz with three seconds left on the man-advantage. Referee Steve Papp went upstairs to review the play but the goal stood.
The Tigers got into penalty trouble in the second when, with Taylor Gal already in the box, D Mark Isherwood took a slashing penalty and then did something to remove himself from referee Steve Papp’s Christmas card list and got a game misconduct. Kootenay would make the Tigers pay for it when Dustin Sylvester found Brayden McNabb at the top of the circle who leaned into a blast that went off the crossbar and into the net to make it 3-0. It’d be déjà vu all over again seven minutes later when the Ice got yet another power play goal continuing on the night’s theme as Matt Fraser got a stick on Petr Senkerik’s point-shot to make it 4-0.
Medicine Hat would finally get on the board at 11:14 when super-rookie Emerson Etem deflected a point-shot by Matt Konan. The highest scoring team in the WHL proved it just 22 seconds later when Petr Senkerik was going to get a cross-checking penalty. That was negated when Joey Frazer fired a wrist-shot that beat Ice starter Todd Mathews to make it 4-2. The Tigers kept pouring it on and got within a goal when Reid Petryk wired his first-ever WHL goal past Mathews to make it 4-3, capping off a three-goal assault in less than five minutes.
Kootenay got back into the arms race with a pretty 3-on-2 passing play that was finished off by Steele Boomer to give the Ice a 5-3 lead. The second period fireworks didn’t end there as Jesse Ismond buried his club’s fourth power play goal of the game, giving the Ice a 6-3 lead after two periods. Tiger forward Joey Frazer would cap off a three point night with a late goal, his second of the night, to bring the Tigers back within two but that would be as close as they would get.
“I don’t think they got here until after six o’clock,” said Holick. “We had the warm-up right at 6:30 and we thought we used that to our advantage. We certainly wanted to come out and take it to them in the first period and I thought we did that.”
Quick Hits – Scratched for the Ice was D Jagger Dirk (healthy), F Dominick Pacovsky (broken foot - 1-3 weeks) and F Elgin Pearce (healthy). Medicine Hat sat out D Dylan Busenius, F Zdenek Okal (wrist - two months) and F Dylan Bredo… Tiger coach Willie Desjardins wasn’t with the club Tuesday. The head coach of Team Canada’s World Junior entry to this year’s tournament in Saskatoon was in Saskatchewan preparing for the club’s final cuts. The World Junior roster is set to be released today. Filling in for Desjardins was Shawn Clouston, older brother to former Ice head coach Cory Clouston… Kootenay finishes off the pre-Christmas schedule Friday and Saturday with a home-and-home with the Lethbridge Hurricanes starting in the southern Alberta city Friday night. The return bill goes Saturday at the Rec Plex.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Ice lose in their 11th straight in Calgary/Skapski in Hospital?
Kootenay dropped a 3-2 shootout loss to the Calgary Hitmen tonight in Calgary on Teddy Bear Toss night.
Kootenay had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 but a late goal by Del Cowan with less than three minutes left forced OT and a shootout. Chase Schaber scored the shootout winner.
Calgary's first goal caused 15,000+ Teddy Bears to rain down but the goal wasn't ruled a goal until replays showed it just crossed line after ten minutes of review.
Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun will have the gamer up here this evening.
Interesting that D Petr Senkerik was a healthy scratch. A message or more? Or just his turn?
More on the Bus Crash Friday that involved the BC Major Midget Fraser Valley Bruins. One player has been hospitalized. A source has told me, along with Jason Peters of the Prince George Citizen that the player was goaltender Mackenzie Skapski, 15, who was a 3rd round pick of the Ice in 2009 and widely considered to be the heir apparent around these parts next season.
Skapski has had surgery for what the story calls internal injuries. They are apparently facial injuries and I'm told that Skapski is out of ICU and recovering at Vancouver Children's Hospital.
Kootenay had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 but a late goal by Del Cowan with less than three minutes left forced OT and a shootout. Chase Schaber scored the shootout winner.
Calgary's first goal caused 15,000+ Teddy Bears to rain down but the goal wasn't ruled a goal until replays showed it just crossed line after ten minutes of review.
Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun will have the gamer up here this evening.
Interesting that D Petr Senkerik was a healthy scratch. A message or more? Or just his turn?
More on the Bus Crash Friday that involved the BC Major Midget Fraser Valley Bruins. One player has been hospitalized. A source has told me, along with Jason Peters of the Prince George Citizen that the player was goaltender Mackenzie Skapski, 15, who was a 3rd round pick of the Ice in 2009 and widely considered to be the heir apparent around these parts next season.
Skapski has had surgery for what the story calls internal injuries. They are apparently facial injuries and I'm told that Skapski is out of ICU and recovering at Vancouver Children's Hospital.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Fraser Valley Midget Bus Crash
Some terrible news as Jesse Ismond scores the Teddy Bear Toss goal tonight as the BC Major Midget club the Fraser Valley Bruins' bus has crashed en route to a road game in Prince George. 14 players and bus driver have been taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Ice top prospect goaltender Mackenzie Skapski plays for the Bruins and as of yet I don't know if the 15-year-old goaltender was among the injured.
Here's the release from BC Hockey:
Major Midget League Update
Friday, December 11, 2009
The BC Hockey Major Midget League Fraser Valley Bruins team bus has crashed en route to their scheduled games this weekend in Prince George.
The crash occurred five (5) km south of their destination for the evening in Williams Lake after hitting black ice and spinning down an embankment. Initial report is that 14 players and the bus driver have been taken to hospital with what has been described as minor injuries.
All games involving the team this weekend have been cancelled. BC Hockey will continue to update this story on the Major Midget League website (www.bcmml.net) as more details become available.
“We are doing our best to obtain details on the condition of our players and coaches at this time,” said Barry Petrachenko BC Hockey Executive Director. “They are our first priority right now and our thoughts are with them and their families in hoping that no one is seriously injured.”
Note: Media, please contact Sean Orr at 250-544-3231 for information.
For more information about BC Hockey, please visit the Major Midget League website at . www.bcmml.net or email midgethockey@bchockey.net
Ice top prospect goaltender Mackenzie Skapski plays for the Bruins and as of yet I don't know if the 15-year-old goaltender was among the injured.
Here's the release from BC Hockey:
Major Midget League Update
Friday, December 11, 2009
The BC Hockey Major Midget League Fraser Valley Bruins team bus has crashed en route to their scheduled games this weekend in Prince George.
The crash occurred five (5) km south of their destination for the evening in Williams Lake after hitting black ice and spinning down an embankment. Initial report is that 14 players and the bus driver have been taken to hospital with what has been described as minor injuries.
All games involving the team this weekend have been cancelled. BC Hockey will continue to update this story on the Major Midget League website (www.bcmml.net) as more details become available.
“We are doing our best to obtain details on the condition of our players and coaches at this time,” said Barry Petrachenko BC Hockey Executive Director. “They are our first priority right now and our thoughts are with them and their families in hoping that no one is seriously injured.”
Note: Media, please contact Sean Orr at 250-544-3231 for information.
For more information about BC Hockey, please visit the Major Midget League website at . www.bcmml.net or email midgethockey@bchockey.net
Ice face Hitmen in home and home....
Kootenay will face the Calgary Hitmen in a good test of where the resurgent Ice sit matching up against the number club in the WHL. There'll be no recap here for Friday's game as I'll be away with my Peewee club for the weekend.
Here's some head-to-head stats. One note though, take away Brandon Kozun and Calgary's scoring looks much like Kootenay's. That's how much of a difference an impact player like Kozun can make.
Calgary Hitmen vs Kootenay Ice: Head To Head Stats
Head to Head Record 2009-10 Regular Season Calgary 2-0-0-0; Kootenay 0-2-0-0
Head to Head Record 2008-09 Regular Season Calgary 5-2-1-0; Kootenay 3-4-0-1
Last 5 Years record between teams Calgary 21-16-2-0 Kootenay 18-18-1-2
Calgary vs. Kootenay Last 5 Years record at Calgary Calgary 14-3-1-0; Kootenay 4-12-0-2
Calgary vs. Kootenay Last 5 Years record at Kootenay Calgary 7-13-1-0 Kootenay 14-6-1-0
Previous Meetings This Season:
Kootenay 2 @ Calgary 7 (Nov 11 2009)
Calgary 2 @ Kootenay 1 (Oct 2 2009)
How the 2 teams match up
Kootenay Team Record 16-14-1-1; 34 points; 3rd in the Central Division; 8th in East Conference
Calgary Team Record 23-8-1-0; 47 points; 1st in the Central Division; 1st in East Conference
League Ranking Kootenay: 14th Calgary: 1st
Past 10 Games: Kootenay - 7-2-0-1 - Streak - 1-0-0-0; Calgary - 7-2-1-0 - Streak - 4-0-1-0
Kootenay's Last Game: 5-2 Win vs. Edmonton (Dec 9 2009)
Calgary's Last Game: 6-3 Win @ Chilliwack (Dec 5 2009)
Home Record - Kootenay: 8-6-1-1 Calgary: 9-3-0-0
Away Record - Kootenay: 8-8-0-0 Calgary: 14-5-1-0
Leading Scorers
Sylvester (15-22-37) Kozun (18-43-61)
Boomer (11-23-34) Broda (17-19-36)
King (11-15-26) Stone (13-21-34)
McNabb (7-18-25) Schultz (13-13-26)
Rintoul (2-17-19) Fiddler (13-12-25)
Here's some head-to-head stats. One note though, take away Brandon Kozun and Calgary's scoring looks much like Kootenay's. That's how much of a difference an impact player like Kozun can make.
Calgary Hitmen vs Kootenay Ice: Head To Head Stats
Head to Head Record 2009-10 Regular Season Calgary 2-0-0-0; Kootenay 0-2-0-0
Head to Head Record 2008-09 Regular Season Calgary 5-2-1-0; Kootenay 3-4-0-1
Last 5 Years record between teams Calgary 21-16-2-0 Kootenay 18-18-1-2
Calgary vs. Kootenay Last 5 Years record at Calgary Calgary 14-3-1-0; Kootenay 4-12-0-2
Calgary vs. Kootenay Last 5 Years record at Kootenay Calgary 7-13-1-0 Kootenay 14-6-1-0
Previous Meetings This Season:
Kootenay 2 @ Calgary 7 (Nov 11 2009)
Calgary 2 @ Kootenay 1 (Oct 2 2009)
How the 2 teams match up
Kootenay Team Record 16-14-1-1; 34 points; 3rd in the Central Division; 8th in East Conference
Calgary Team Record 23-8-1-0; 47 points; 1st in the Central Division; 1st in East Conference
League Ranking Kootenay: 14th Calgary: 1st
Past 10 Games: Kootenay - 7-2-0-1 - Streak - 1-0-0-0; Calgary - 7-2-1-0 - Streak - 4-0-1-0
Kootenay's Last Game: 5-2 Win vs. Edmonton (Dec 9 2009)
Calgary's Last Game: 6-3 Win @ Chilliwack (Dec 5 2009)
Home Record - Kootenay: 8-6-1-1 Calgary: 9-3-0-0
Away Record - Kootenay: 8-8-0-0 Calgary: 14-5-1-0
Leading Scorers
Sylvester (15-22-37) Kozun (18-43-61)
Boomer (11-23-34) Broda (17-19-36)
King (11-15-26) Stone (13-21-34)
McNabb (7-18-25) Schultz (13-13-26)
Rintoul (2-17-19) Fiddler (13-12-25)
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The Score - Ice; Oil Kings
The Score – Kootenay 5 – Edmonton 2
What Happened – Kootenay’s power play continued to be lethal, going 3-5, and the Oil Kings never recovered.
The Goals – Kootenay took the lead early with a power play goal by Hayden Rintoul, who snuck in from the point and gave the Ice a 1-0 with his 2nd from the back-door… Kevin King would put the home side up 2-0 with his 11th and a another power play goal at 14:51… The Oil would get back into the game when Brent Raedeke got his 15th with Drew Czerwonka in the box for kneeing. The Zebras would have to go upstairs to the video review booth to confirm it… In the second Brayden McNabb – he and Dustin Sylvester already had a pair of assists each – wired his 7th off a great low feed from, yeah, Sylvester to make it 3-1… Trail product Logan Proulx would pull the Oil back within one goal with his 4th just over minute later… Rintoul got his second of the night on an unassisted effort at 10:26 and Steele Boomer added an empty-net goal to seal the 5-2 win.
The (non) Power Play Goal – With Brett Breitkreuz off for cross-checking in the third the Ice almost got their fourth straight power play goal when Matt Fraser buried a rebound past Cam Lanigan. Referee Sean Rapheal immediately waved off the goal and then proceeded to go up stairs for another look. It didn’t count and no explanation was given.
Hayden ‘Rodney Dangerfield’ Rintoul – The 18-year-old gets little respect but is starting to earn with solid play on the road trip and a two-goal effort tonight.
The Hook – Starter Torrie Jung faced six shots, let in three of them, and saw the rest of the game from the bench 23:38 into the game.
Lowering the Boom – In the first, Ice forward Steele Boomer caught Oil King D Drew Nichol behind his net with a wicked hit, sending the Edmonton defender to the ice.
The Flood – One of the washrooms on the upper level of the box suites had a pipe burst that caused some damage to the suites on both levels and forced Rec Plex staff to close them off. It also caused those in attendance to bundle up as the temperature in the building was cranked down, giving the ‘Plex a distinct Memorial Arena feel to it.
The Scratches –F Dominick Pacovsky is out until after Christmas with a broken foot. New d-man Jagger Dirk and F Elgin Pearce were healthy scratches… More curious were the supposed healthy scratches for the Oil Kings; D Adrian Van de Mosselaer, LW Rhett Rachinski, RW Robin Soudek – all impact players. Flu or message?
The Pre-emptive Strike - Nothing to do with this game but the Regina Pats fired the first volley in the arms race that is the trading season leading up to the deadline next month. The Pats, sixth in the conference and a point up on the Ice, acquired forward Carter Ashton, 18, forward Craig Orofino, 19, and a Third round pick in 2010 from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for forward Graham Hood, 17, prospect Taylor Balog, a 2nd round pick in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft, as well as their 1st round pick in 2011. Does it push the Pats into the realm of Calgary and Saskatoon?
What it means – After the roll on the road – save for PG – the winning ways continue as the Ice improve to 16-14-1-1 and 34 points, good for a tie for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Crowd – 2434; There were at least 2000 at the city-wide Elementary School Christmas Choir at the College of the Rockies. Tough to compete with cute kids singing about Rudolph.
Rec Plex Three Stars
1. C/LW Dustin Sylvester – Four helpers; torrid scoring pace continues
2. D Hayden Rintoul – Offensive D-man a force
3. D Brayden McNabb – Could be a star every night.
Up Next – Teddy Bear Toss night on Friday with the Calgary Hitmen in town.
What Happened – Kootenay’s power play continued to be lethal, going 3-5, and the Oil Kings never recovered.
The Goals – Kootenay took the lead early with a power play goal by Hayden Rintoul, who snuck in from the point and gave the Ice a 1-0 with his 2nd from the back-door… Kevin King would put the home side up 2-0 with his 11th and a another power play goal at 14:51… The Oil would get back into the game when Brent Raedeke got his 15th with Drew Czerwonka in the box for kneeing. The Zebras would have to go upstairs to the video review booth to confirm it… In the second Brayden McNabb – he and Dustin Sylvester already had a pair of assists each – wired his 7th off a great low feed from, yeah, Sylvester to make it 3-1… Trail product Logan Proulx would pull the Oil back within one goal with his 4th just over minute later… Rintoul got his second of the night on an unassisted effort at 10:26 and Steele Boomer added an empty-net goal to seal the 5-2 win.
The (non) Power Play Goal – With Brett Breitkreuz off for cross-checking in the third the Ice almost got their fourth straight power play goal when Matt Fraser buried a rebound past Cam Lanigan. Referee Sean Rapheal immediately waved off the goal and then proceeded to go up stairs for another look. It didn’t count and no explanation was given.
Hayden ‘Rodney Dangerfield’ Rintoul – The 18-year-old gets little respect but is starting to earn with solid play on the road trip and a two-goal effort tonight.
The Hook – Starter Torrie Jung faced six shots, let in three of them, and saw the rest of the game from the bench 23:38 into the game.
Lowering the Boom – In the first, Ice forward Steele Boomer caught Oil King D Drew Nichol behind his net with a wicked hit, sending the Edmonton defender to the ice.
The Flood – One of the washrooms on the upper level of the box suites had a pipe burst that caused some damage to the suites on both levels and forced Rec Plex staff to close them off. It also caused those in attendance to bundle up as the temperature in the building was cranked down, giving the ‘Plex a distinct Memorial Arena feel to it.
The Scratches –F Dominick Pacovsky is out until after Christmas with a broken foot. New d-man Jagger Dirk and F Elgin Pearce were healthy scratches… More curious were the supposed healthy scratches for the Oil Kings; D Adrian Van de Mosselaer, LW Rhett Rachinski, RW Robin Soudek – all impact players. Flu or message?
The Pre-emptive Strike - Nothing to do with this game but the Regina Pats fired the first volley in the arms race that is the trading season leading up to the deadline next month. The Pats, sixth in the conference and a point up on the Ice, acquired forward Carter Ashton, 18, forward Craig Orofino, 19, and a Third round pick in 2010 from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for forward Graham Hood, 17, prospect Taylor Balog, a 2nd round pick in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft, as well as their 1st round pick in 2011. Does it push the Pats into the realm of Calgary and Saskatoon?
What it means – After the roll on the road – save for PG – the winning ways continue as the Ice improve to 16-14-1-1 and 34 points, good for a tie for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Crowd – 2434; There were at least 2000 at the city-wide Elementary School Christmas Choir at the College of the Rockies. Tough to compete with cute kids singing about Rudolph.
Rec Plex Three Stars
1. C/LW Dustin Sylvester – Four helpers; torrid scoring pace continues
2. D Hayden Rintoul – Offensive D-man a force
3. D Brayden McNabb – Could be a star every night.
Up Next – Teddy Bear Toss night on Friday with the Calgary Hitmen in town.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Machacek to Lethbridge...
For the Daily Townsman Tuesday...
Ice deal Machacek to Hurricanes
by Jeff Bromley
Following the addition of rookie D Jagger Dirk last week Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth continued to tinker with his line-up by trading 18-year-old defenseman Cason Machacek to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for a 4th round bantam pick in the 2011 draft. The move brings the Ice roster back down to 23 including 8 defensemen. “With nine defensemen it was important to get down as quickly as possible,” said Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth Monday after the trade was announced. “This was an opportunity and a trade that presented itself to us. It was probably the best we could do for a player that everyone knew we were in a position of having too many defensemen.”
Machacek was originally listed by the club mid-way through the 2007-08 season while the 16-year-old was playing for the Lethbridge Y’s Men Titans Midget squad. The Lethbridge product made the club out of training camp in 2008 as a 17-year-old and in 88 regulars season games notched 3 goals and 12 assists.
The deal likely won’t be Chynoweth’s last as he’s indicated that he wants to the club to carry seven defensemen. “I’d like to get down to seven but that’s easier said than done,” said Chynoweth. “We’re going to sit down as a group and decide what the best seven that we have. Eight is too many there’s going to be some unhappy players on the backend but unfortunately that’s the name of the game and we have to ice the best product we can.”
On the surface the move inserts the newly arrived rookie in 16-year-old Jagger Dirk in Machacek’s place, at least for the time being. Expecting the rookie to fill those type of minutes might be premature but the deal sets the club up over the longer term, says Chynoweth. “At the start of the year it wasn’t our plan to carry that many (1991-born) defensemen. We had five of them and because of the development of some of the players such as the 1992’s establishing themselves and European Petr Senkerik as been fine as well. There really hasn’t been any one of the nine that we were disappointed in.”
With the January 10 trade deadline just over a month away Chynoweth also didn’t rule out trying to add some scoring depth up front, but then again, so is every other team. “We’re always looking to upgrade up front,” he said. “But look around the league. The Jordan Eberle’s and those types of players aren’t really available. If we can make the right deal we’ll do it but we like our team.” And the vacant 20-year-old spot? Will the ten-year GM fill it? “I never said I didn’t want to fill it but it has to be the right 20-year-old. From what’s out there right now, we have that already.”
“It all depends where you’re at as an organization. We’ve got some players that we think can take the next step. They haven’t been as consistent as we’d hoped lately but if they can do that then why not play the younger players instead of getting an older one?”
Ice deal Machacek to Hurricanes
by Jeff Bromley
Following the addition of rookie D Jagger Dirk last week Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth continued to tinker with his line-up by trading 18-year-old defenseman Cason Machacek to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for a 4th round bantam pick in the 2011 draft. The move brings the Ice roster back down to 23 including 8 defensemen. “With nine defensemen it was important to get down as quickly as possible,” said Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth Monday after the trade was announced. “This was an opportunity and a trade that presented itself to us. It was probably the best we could do for a player that everyone knew we were in a position of having too many defensemen.”
Machacek was originally listed by the club mid-way through the 2007-08 season while the 16-year-old was playing for the Lethbridge Y’s Men Titans Midget squad. The Lethbridge product made the club out of training camp in 2008 as a 17-year-old and in 88 regulars season games notched 3 goals and 12 assists.
The deal likely won’t be Chynoweth’s last as he’s indicated that he wants to the club to carry seven defensemen. “I’d like to get down to seven but that’s easier said than done,” said Chynoweth. “We’re going to sit down as a group and decide what the best seven that we have. Eight is too many there’s going to be some unhappy players on the backend but unfortunately that’s the name of the game and we have to ice the best product we can.”
On the surface the move inserts the newly arrived rookie in 16-year-old Jagger Dirk in Machacek’s place, at least for the time being. Expecting the rookie to fill those type of minutes might be premature but the deal sets the club up over the longer term, says Chynoweth. “At the start of the year it wasn’t our plan to carry that many (1991-born) defensemen. We had five of them and because of the development of some of the players such as the 1992’s establishing themselves and European Petr Senkerik as been fine as well. There really hasn’t been any one of the nine that we were disappointed in.”
With the January 10 trade deadline just over a month away Chynoweth also didn’t rule out trying to add some scoring depth up front, but then again, so is every other team. “We’re always looking to upgrade up front,” he said. “But look around the league. The Jordan Eberle’s and those types of players aren’t really available. If we can make the right deal we’ll do it but we like our team.” And the vacant 20-year-old spot? Will the ten-year GM fill it? “I never said I didn’t want to fill it but it has to be the right 20-year-old. From what’s out there right now, we have that already.”
“It all depends where you’re at as an organization. We’ve got some players that we think can take the next step. They haven’t been as consistent as we’d hoped lately but if they can do that then why not play the younger players instead of getting an older one?”
Machacek traded....
Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth wasted little time today paring down the 9 d-men on the roster by trading Cason Machacek to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a 4th round pick in 2011.
More later tonight
More later tonight
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Cougars claw Ice
For the Cranbrook Daily Townsman Monday...
Ice end road trip on low note with loss to Cougars
by Jeff Bromley
You can’t win them all, but when you don’t win the ones you’re supposed to win it hurts that much more. The Kootenay Ice dropped a 4-1 decision to the lowly Prince George Cougars Friday night, bringing their four-game and five straight road winning streak to a grinding halt. Does losing to the Cougars put a damper on an otherwise great road trip? “I’ve been asked that a lot today,” said Ice head coach Mark Holick Sunday following a rare two days off for the club. “There are a team where they are in the standings and you always have to be respectful of your opponents. It wasn’t a case of us taking them lightly at all.”
Kootenay came out of the gates flying and carried much of the play territorially, out-shooting the Cougars 15-4 in the first period. “We out-chanced them about 7-1 in the first period,” said Holick. “Their guy (goaltender Hudson Stremmel) was certainly on, that’s for sure.”
“Add in the three or four cross-bars and we had our chances to win, unfortunately we didn’t get any timely goals.”
The goals failed to come until forward Joe Antilla, with D Ryan Molle off for holding, intercepted a Cougar pass and went in on a short-handed breakaway at 5:31 of the third period. Antilla buried his 4th of the year to give the Ice a 1-0 lead. It was short-lived however as 30 seconds later just as the penalty expired James Dobrowolski got his 8th of the season on a goal-mouth scramble to tie the game for the Cougars. The goal sparked the home side as Dombrowolski set up the game-winner on a 3-on-2 rush five minutes later as rookie import Jaroslav Vlach notched his first of the season. Dombrowolski wasn’t finished as the former Prince Albert Raider this time set up Parker Stanfield to make it 3-1. The Ice pulled goaltender Nathan Lieuwen with Cougar forward Tyler Makin with just over three minutes to play but couldn’t get any closer as Brock Hirsche put the Cougars’ 4th goal into an empty-net, giving Prince George a 4-1 win – only their fifth of the season.
The loss capped-off a highly successful road trip that saw the club go 4-1 through the BC Division and enjoy a five-game road winning streak that propelled the club back above the .500 mark for the first time since the second week of the season and back into the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. Playoff race? In early December? One look at the standings and you’ll see a jam that makes Friday afternoon Strip traffic pale by comparison. At 15-14-1-1 and 32 points the Ice sit in 9th in the Eastern Conference, two points out of the playoff spot but only six points out of 4th. “We looked at the trip as being a very key part of the season,” said Holick. “To a man we felt we could shoot for eight points and that’s what we accomplished. But that’s what we talked about on the trip. We’ve been on a pretty good run over our last fourteen games (9-3-1-1 over their last 14 games) with only three losses in regulation in that time but we did manage to put a little room between teams behind us but at the same point we were in a big hole to start the year. We had to make some ground and we’ve done that but with the three-point game (overtime or shootout loss points) it’s tough to make up all the ground you need. From here on in, even at this stage of the season as we’re not even halfway through the season, every game has playoff implications.”
Quick Hits – LW Drew Czerwonka (concussion), D James Martin (concussion) and F Dominick Pacovsky (broken foot) did not play. Czerwonka and Martin will be re-evaluated by team doctors today with Czerwonka close to returning… Kootenay returns to the Rec Plex Wednesday night to host the Edmonton Oil Kings. Gametime is 7PM.
Ice end road trip on low note with loss to Cougars
by Jeff Bromley
You can’t win them all, but when you don’t win the ones you’re supposed to win it hurts that much more. The Kootenay Ice dropped a 4-1 decision to the lowly Prince George Cougars Friday night, bringing their four-game and five straight road winning streak to a grinding halt. Does losing to the Cougars put a damper on an otherwise great road trip? “I’ve been asked that a lot today,” said Ice head coach Mark Holick Sunday following a rare two days off for the club. “There are a team where they are in the standings and you always have to be respectful of your opponents. It wasn’t a case of us taking them lightly at all.”
Kootenay came out of the gates flying and carried much of the play territorially, out-shooting the Cougars 15-4 in the first period. “We out-chanced them about 7-1 in the first period,” said Holick. “Their guy (goaltender Hudson Stremmel) was certainly on, that’s for sure.”
“Add in the three or four cross-bars and we had our chances to win, unfortunately we didn’t get any timely goals.”
The goals failed to come until forward Joe Antilla, with D Ryan Molle off for holding, intercepted a Cougar pass and went in on a short-handed breakaway at 5:31 of the third period. Antilla buried his 4th of the year to give the Ice a 1-0 lead. It was short-lived however as 30 seconds later just as the penalty expired James Dobrowolski got his 8th of the season on a goal-mouth scramble to tie the game for the Cougars. The goal sparked the home side as Dombrowolski set up the game-winner on a 3-on-2 rush five minutes later as rookie import Jaroslav Vlach notched his first of the season. Dombrowolski wasn’t finished as the former Prince Albert Raider this time set up Parker Stanfield to make it 3-1. The Ice pulled goaltender Nathan Lieuwen with Cougar forward Tyler Makin with just over three minutes to play but couldn’t get any closer as Brock Hirsche put the Cougars’ 4th goal into an empty-net, giving Prince George a 4-1 win – only their fifth of the season.
The loss capped-off a highly successful road trip that saw the club go 4-1 through the BC Division and enjoy a five-game road winning streak that propelled the club back above the .500 mark for the first time since the second week of the season and back into the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. Playoff race? In early December? One look at the standings and you’ll see a jam that makes Friday afternoon Strip traffic pale by comparison. At 15-14-1-1 and 32 points the Ice sit in 9th in the Eastern Conference, two points out of the playoff spot but only six points out of 4th. “We looked at the trip as being a very key part of the season,” said Holick. “To a man we felt we could shoot for eight points and that’s what we accomplished. But that’s what we talked about on the trip. We’ve been on a pretty good run over our last fourteen games (9-3-1-1 over their last 14 games) with only three losses in regulation in that time but we did manage to put a little room between teams behind us but at the same point we were in a big hole to start the year. We had to make some ground and we’ve done that but with the three-point game (overtime or shootout loss points) it’s tough to make up all the ground you need. From here on in, even at this stage of the season as we’re not even halfway through the season, every game has playoff implications.”
Quick Hits – LW Drew Czerwonka (concussion), D James Martin (concussion) and F Dominick Pacovsky (broken foot) did not play. Czerwonka and Martin will be re-evaluated by team doctors today with Czerwonka close to returning… Kootenay returns to the Rec Plex Wednesday night to host the Edmonton Oil Kings. Gametime is 7PM.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Streak comes to an end. Cougars dump Ice
No recap until Sunday but the Ice lost for the first time in four games tonight in a 4-1 defeat in Prince George.
There is a story in the PG Citizen here.
More Sunday
There is a story in the PG Citizen here.
More Sunday
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Ice thump Giants/Dirk joins club...
For the Cranbrook Daily Townsman....
Ice slay Giants 6-2; Road streak hits four
By Jeff Bromley
The Kootenay Ice continued their torrid pace on the road Wednesday night, this time dismantling the BC Division-leading Vancouver Giants 6-2 for the club’s fourth straight win on the five game road trip and fifth straight win away from the Cranbrook Rec Plex dating back to a November 15th win in Lethbridge.
At this rate they might not want to come home.
After taking a night off the score-sheet in Chilliwack Kootenay’s top trio of Dustin Sylvester, Kevin King and Steele Boomer wreaked havoc on Giants netminder Jamie Tucker, with the captain scoring two goals and adding an assist while King notched a goal and an assist and Boomer chipped in with two helpers. “That line of Sylvester, Boomer and King, they played pretty well,” quipped Ice assistant coach Kris Knoblauch in an obvious understatement. “They got all three stars and they just do everything so well. They sure complement each other.”
Kootenay’s power play would continue with the hot-hand early in the game as Tucker’s clearing attempt ended up on Kevin King’s stick. King had a couple of whacks at it and slipped his 10th past the Giant netminder for a 1-0 lead. Kootenay would take a 2-0 lead at the eight minute mark of the first period when Dustin Sylvester sent Tucker’s waterbottle flying with a laser for his 14th of the season.
Rookie D Jagger Dirk’s (see sidebar story) initiation would be a tough one as the offensive-minded d-man got some power play time in the first period, dumped the puck in and followed on the forecheck. The puck couldn’t be contained in the Giants zone and Neil Manning found Vancouver forward James Henry streaking in on 2-on-2 short-handed chance, wiring his 10th past Ice starter Todd Mathews to make it 2-1. “I thought Jagger played very well,” said Knoblauch. “He got some power play time when we had some guys in the penalty box. After he dumped the puck in and pressured a bit they got a lucky bounce off Sylvester into the middle. It was a 2-on-2 and we should’ve been able to defend that. But overall he played well. It’s tough to jump into a higher league and then play against one of the top teams in the WHL. He was very composed out there.”
In the second the Ice would survive an early onslaught by the Giants and then swing the momentum back in their favour after Vancouver couldn’t stay out of the penalty box. Just as a penalty to Lance Bouma had expired Kootenay’s pressure continued as Brayden McNabb fired a shot on Jamie Tucker, who stopped the original shot, only to direct the rebound to Dustin Sylvester. He didn’t miss for his second of the night and 15th of the season to make it 3-1. Brock Montgomery would continue his hot hand with, you guessed it, another power play goal when Jesse Ismond fired a puck to the net in which Montgomery took two whacks at, putting his 5th of the season past Tucker to make it 4-1.
Kootenay’s power play, now humming along at a 35% clip on the road with ten goals in 28 chances, continued to find the back of the net against the Giants Wednesday, cashing on two of their seven chances as the home team struggled to stay out of the box. “Our power play has been huge. Ever since McNabb got back, all of those guys on the first unit seem to have found their groove and are doing a lot of things well. But having that big point shot helps to make those big plays.”
Kootenay continued the assault in the third when Max Reinhart, centering the fourth line as the club only dressed 11 forwards, fed rookie Brendan Hurley in the slot who buried his second of the season to make it 5-1. The Giants added a power play goal 4:33 into the period when Lance Bouma got his 8th on a wrap-around past Ice starter Todd Mathews but that would be as close as they would get. Brock Montgomery would put the final nail in the Giants’ coffin, scoring his second of the game and 6th on the season with 12 seconds left to give the Ice the 6-2 win.
Quick Hits – Hockey Canada announced their 36-man roster for the World Junior Team’s selection camp Wednesday. Ice hopeful Brayden McNabb was not among the players selected… D Cason Machacek received a three-game suspension from the WHL Wednesday after the 18-year-old came of the bench in Chilliwack on a legal change but we straight after Bruins D Tyler Stahl and started a fight and getting an instigator penalty… Scratches for Kootenay were Dominick Pacovsky (broken foot – 3-5 weeks), Drew Czerwonka (concussion – day-to-day), James Martin (concussion – day-to-day), Cason Machacek (three game league suspension)… This was the first time the Ice had a chance to see Giants D David Musil, the son of former NHL’er Frank, who was originally awarded to the Ice when the European-born Musil opted to play in the WHL this season. The Musil’s desire to relocate to Burnaby where David’s older sister is an accomplished volleyball player at Simon Fraser University prompted a trade that netted the Ice a 1st round pick in 2011 and a 5th rounder in 2010… Kootenay’s top line of Dustin Sylvester (2 goals, 1 assist), Kevin King (1 goal, 1 assist) and Steele Boomer (two assists) swept the Pacific Coliseum Three stars.
Cougars up Next – Kootenay, who improved to 15-13-1-1 on the season with win against the Giants, made the 10-hour trek to BC’s north following the game Wednesday to take on the WHL’s cellar-dwellers, the Prince George Cougars. The Cougars are 4-21-1-1, good for 10 points the worst in the WHL. Kootenay will be looking to run the table on the road trip for their fifth straight win but will not take the Cougars lightly. “It’s beneficial for us that we’ve got (Thursday) off,” said Knoblauch. “We’ve got some time to relax and recoup a little bit but we’ll need the downtime to prepare for them.”
Dirk joins Ice
Kootenay got an unexpected bonus Wednesday as it was announced that 16-year-old defenseman Jagger Dirk of Penticton would join the club for the rest of the season after signing a standard playing contact this week. “The last two weeks we’ve had a lot of dialogue with Jagger and his dad,” said Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth Wednesday. “I don’t know what transpired for them to leave Salmon Arm but we’ve always been interested in Jagger and we’ve been working hard to make it work.”
Dirk, an 11th round pick (235th overall) in the 2008 Bantam Draft, started this season with the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks notching 4 goals and 17 assists in 22 games after choosing not to attend Kootenay’s training camp. Kootenay anticipated the six-foot, 177-pound rearguard playing with the club as a 17-year-old next season all along. Dirk choosing to play here now is an added bonus. “It was our understanding that he was going to play in Salmon Arm this year and that he was planning to come to Kootenay next season, so we’re about six months ahead of schedule,” said Chynoweth of Dirk, whose father Robert played with the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. “We were disappointed he didn’t come to camp but at the same time happy that he was playing the highest level he could with the Junior A Salmon Arm club. Now he’s here and we think that over time he’s going to be a big contributor to the hockey club and we’re real excited to have him.”
The addition of Dirk brings the Kootenay roster to a total of 24 players, or more precisely, nine defensemen. Injuries aside, Chynoweth admits it’s a number that will have to be dealt with in the coming weeks. “The timing isn’t great, especially with the team playing so well right now but we’ll try to get that number down as quickly as possible,” added Chynoweth. “There’s no time frame on that but ideally we like to carry seven defensemen and we’ve got nine. We’ll be okay here for a few games as James Martin is out with a concussion and Cason Machacek was suspended for three games for picking up an instigating penalty (in Chilliwack), so we’ll get everybody in the line-up right now but over time we’ve got to get down to seven defensemen and make the best line-up that we can.” - BROMLEY
Ice slay Giants 6-2; Road streak hits four
By Jeff Bromley
The Kootenay Ice continued their torrid pace on the road Wednesday night, this time dismantling the BC Division-leading Vancouver Giants 6-2 for the club’s fourth straight win on the five game road trip and fifth straight win away from the Cranbrook Rec Plex dating back to a November 15th win in Lethbridge.
At this rate they might not want to come home.
After taking a night off the score-sheet in Chilliwack Kootenay’s top trio of Dustin Sylvester, Kevin King and Steele Boomer wreaked havoc on Giants netminder Jamie Tucker, with the captain scoring two goals and adding an assist while King notched a goal and an assist and Boomer chipped in with two helpers. “That line of Sylvester, Boomer and King, they played pretty well,” quipped Ice assistant coach Kris Knoblauch in an obvious understatement. “They got all three stars and they just do everything so well. They sure complement each other.”
Kootenay’s power play would continue with the hot-hand early in the game as Tucker’s clearing attempt ended up on Kevin King’s stick. King had a couple of whacks at it and slipped his 10th past the Giant netminder for a 1-0 lead. Kootenay would take a 2-0 lead at the eight minute mark of the first period when Dustin Sylvester sent Tucker’s waterbottle flying with a laser for his 14th of the season.
Rookie D Jagger Dirk’s (see sidebar story) initiation would be a tough one as the offensive-minded d-man got some power play time in the first period, dumped the puck in and followed on the forecheck. The puck couldn’t be contained in the Giants zone and Neil Manning found Vancouver forward James Henry streaking in on 2-on-2 short-handed chance, wiring his 10th past Ice starter Todd Mathews to make it 2-1. “I thought Jagger played very well,” said Knoblauch. “He got some power play time when we had some guys in the penalty box. After he dumped the puck in and pressured a bit they got a lucky bounce off Sylvester into the middle. It was a 2-on-2 and we should’ve been able to defend that. But overall he played well. It’s tough to jump into a higher league and then play against one of the top teams in the WHL. He was very composed out there.”
In the second the Ice would survive an early onslaught by the Giants and then swing the momentum back in their favour after Vancouver couldn’t stay out of the penalty box. Just as a penalty to Lance Bouma had expired Kootenay’s pressure continued as Brayden McNabb fired a shot on Jamie Tucker, who stopped the original shot, only to direct the rebound to Dustin Sylvester. He didn’t miss for his second of the night and 15th of the season to make it 3-1. Brock Montgomery would continue his hot hand with, you guessed it, another power play goal when Jesse Ismond fired a puck to the net in which Montgomery took two whacks at, putting his 5th of the season past Tucker to make it 4-1.
Kootenay’s power play, now humming along at a 35% clip on the road with ten goals in 28 chances, continued to find the back of the net against the Giants Wednesday, cashing on two of their seven chances as the home team struggled to stay out of the box. “Our power play has been huge. Ever since McNabb got back, all of those guys on the first unit seem to have found their groove and are doing a lot of things well. But having that big point shot helps to make those big plays.”
Kootenay continued the assault in the third when Max Reinhart, centering the fourth line as the club only dressed 11 forwards, fed rookie Brendan Hurley in the slot who buried his second of the season to make it 5-1. The Giants added a power play goal 4:33 into the period when Lance Bouma got his 8th on a wrap-around past Ice starter Todd Mathews but that would be as close as they would get. Brock Montgomery would put the final nail in the Giants’ coffin, scoring his second of the game and 6th on the season with 12 seconds left to give the Ice the 6-2 win.
Quick Hits – Hockey Canada announced their 36-man roster for the World Junior Team’s selection camp Wednesday. Ice hopeful Brayden McNabb was not among the players selected… D Cason Machacek received a three-game suspension from the WHL Wednesday after the 18-year-old came of the bench in Chilliwack on a legal change but we straight after Bruins D Tyler Stahl and started a fight and getting an instigator penalty… Scratches for Kootenay were Dominick Pacovsky (broken foot – 3-5 weeks), Drew Czerwonka (concussion – day-to-day), James Martin (concussion – day-to-day), Cason Machacek (three game league suspension)… This was the first time the Ice had a chance to see Giants D David Musil, the son of former NHL’er Frank, who was originally awarded to the Ice when the European-born Musil opted to play in the WHL this season. The Musil’s desire to relocate to Burnaby where David’s older sister is an accomplished volleyball player at Simon Fraser University prompted a trade that netted the Ice a 1st round pick in 2011 and a 5th rounder in 2010… Kootenay’s top line of Dustin Sylvester (2 goals, 1 assist), Kevin King (1 goal, 1 assist) and Steele Boomer (two assists) swept the Pacific Coliseum Three stars.
Cougars up Next – Kootenay, who improved to 15-13-1-1 on the season with win against the Giants, made the 10-hour trek to BC’s north following the game Wednesday to take on the WHL’s cellar-dwellers, the Prince George Cougars. The Cougars are 4-21-1-1, good for 10 points the worst in the WHL. Kootenay will be looking to run the table on the road trip for their fifth straight win but will not take the Cougars lightly. “It’s beneficial for us that we’ve got (Thursday) off,” said Knoblauch. “We’ve got some time to relax and recoup a little bit but we’ll need the downtime to prepare for them.”
Dirk joins Ice
Kootenay got an unexpected bonus Wednesday as it was announced that 16-year-old defenseman Jagger Dirk of Penticton would join the club for the rest of the season after signing a standard playing contact this week. “The last two weeks we’ve had a lot of dialogue with Jagger and his dad,” said Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth Wednesday. “I don’t know what transpired for them to leave Salmon Arm but we’ve always been interested in Jagger and we’ve been working hard to make it work.”
Dirk, an 11th round pick (235th overall) in the 2008 Bantam Draft, started this season with the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks notching 4 goals and 17 assists in 22 games after choosing not to attend Kootenay’s training camp. Kootenay anticipated the six-foot, 177-pound rearguard playing with the club as a 17-year-old next season all along. Dirk choosing to play here now is an added bonus. “It was our understanding that he was going to play in Salmon Arm this year and that he was planning to come to Kootenay next season, so we’re about six months ahead of schedule,” said Chynoweth of Dirk, whose father Robert played with the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. “We were disappointed he didn’t come to camp but at the same time happy that he was playing the highest level he could with the Junior A Salmon Arm club. Now he’s here and we think that over time he’s going to be a big contributor to the hockey club and we’re real excited to have him.”
The addition of Dirk brings the Kootenay roster to a total of 24 players, or more precisely, nine defensemen. Injuries aside, Chynoweth admits it’s a number that will have to be dealt with in the coming weeks. “The timing isn’t great, especially with the team playing so well right now but we’ll try to get that number down as quickly as possible,” added Chynoweth. “There’s no time frame on that but ideally we like to carry seven defensemen and we’ve got nine. We’ll be okay here for a few games as James Martin is out with a concussion and Cason Machacek was suspended for three games for picking up an instigating penalty (in Chilliwack), so we’ll get everybody in the line-up right now but over time we’ve got to get down to seven defensemen and make the best line-up that we can.” - BROMLEY
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
McNabb left off WJC Invite roster/Dirk joins team
Not necessarily a huge surprise but HockeyCanada announced their invite roster for the WJC camp and D Brayden McNabb wasn't on it. By no means did I think he was a lock but his play this season definitely garnered a look. I'm surprised he wasn't on the invite list given that there's only three returning vets on the team.
McNabb missed 8 games due to a knee injury last month but came back early than expected. McNabb is 18 and is still eligible to play next year.
Here's the invite roster.
In other team news, a tipster that sent a message our way last night was bang-on in that Kootenay has added 16-year-old D-man Jagger Dirk to their roster. Dirk, an 11th round (235th overall) Bantam Draft pick in 2008, was one of the higher profile picks that didn't attend training camp (3rd D-man Michael King from PG was the other) looking to keep his NCAA options open or perhaps having a more assured spot with the BCHL's Salmon Arm Silverback where he had 4 goals and 17 assists. That info was still up on the BCHL website this morning around 4:30AM but is now gone. Dirk is 6',177 pounds, left-shooting d-man that came to camp in 2008 as a 15-year-old and impressed for such a late pick.... Dirk is the son of former NHL'er Robert Dirk, a Vancouver Canuck and St. Louis Blue alumni... The tipster mentioned that Dirk was originally headed to the Chicago Steel of the USHL who hold his rights there but I haven't confirmed that yet... Now the only question remains is that Kootenay's roster sits back at 24, with 9 d-men. McNabb, Rintoul, Leach, Martin, Molle, Senkerik, Paulsen, Machacek and now Dirk. Who stays? Who goes? Perhaps trade winds are starting to blow...
The league also announced a 3-game suspension to D Cason Machacek after Machacek came onto the ice and fought the Bruins Tyler Stahl. I haven't seen it yet so it's hard to comment other than comparison. Gogol gets five for a blind hit to the head and Machacek gets three for coming off the bench on a legal change and instigating a fight, in which he was fingered for..... Something doesn't sound right.
I'll have more on Dirk included in the gamer from the Vancouver game tonight.
McNabb missed 8 games due to a knee injury last month but came back early than expected. McNabb is 18 and is still eligible to play next year.
Here's the invite roster.
In other team news, a tipster that sent a message our way last night was bang-on in that Kootenay has added 16-year-old D-man Jagger Dirk to their roster. Dirk, an 11th round (235th overall) Bantam Draft pick in 2008, was one of the higher profile picks that didn't attend training camp (3rd D-man Michael King from PG was the other) looking to keep his NCAA options open or perhaps having a more assured spot with the BCHL's Salmon Arm Silverback where he had 4 goals and 17 assists. That info was still up on the BCHL website this morning around 4:30AM but is now gone. Dirk is 6',177 pounds, left-shooting d-man that came to camp in 2008 as a 15-year-old and impressed for such a late pick.... Dirk is the son of former NHL'er Robert Dirk, a Vancouver Canuck and St. Louis Blue alumni... The tipster mentioned that Dirk was originally headed to the Chicago Steel of the USHL who hold his rights there but I haven't confirmed that yet... Now the only question remains is that Kootenay's roster sits back at 24, with 9 d-men. McNabb, Rintoul, Leach, Martin, Molle, Senkerik, Paulsen, Machacek and now Dirk. Who stays? Who goes? Perhaps trade winds are starting to blow...
The league also announced a 3-game suspension to D Cason Machacek after Machacek came onto the ice and fought the Bruins Tyler Stahl. I haven't seen it yet so it's hard to comment other than comparison. Gogol gets five for a blind hit to the head and Machacek gets three for coming off the bench on a legal change and instigating a fight, in which he was fingered for..... Something doesn't sound right.
I'll have more on Dirk included in the gamer from the Vancouver game tonight.
Ice dump Bruins
For the Cranbrook Daily Townsman....
Ice wax Bruins; three-for-three on BC road trip
by Jeff Bromley
The WHL’s BC Division, if you’re the Kootenay it’s good for what ails you.
Reaching the .500 mark over the weekend Kootenay’s road record was the next to reach the plateau as the Ice extended their modest winning streak to three after dumping the Chilliwack Bruins 7-2 in the Fraser Valley Tuesday night.
On Tuesday it wasn’t the usual suspects of Sylvester, King and Boomer on the scoresheet as the club’s second line of Max Reinhart, Matt Fraser and Jesse Ismond provided the bulk of the club’s offense against the Bruins. “We got a couple of lucky goals early on but by the same token there were some goals we were robbed on in the second period,” said Ice assistant coach Kris Knoblauch via phone from Prospera Place in Chilliwack. “But if we only have one line scoring it becomes pretty easy for teams to shut us down with the other teams matching lines and getting their shut-down defensive parings out. We need that secondary scoring and it was Fraser and Reinhart’s line doing it tonight.”
The Ice were the benefactors of some Bruins bad luck early in the game when Ice forward Max Reinhart’s point-shot was fired wide of the Bruins’ net only to have Chilliwack defenseman Tyler Stahl’s attempted bunt-single find the back of his own net to give the Ice a 1-0 lead 44 seconds into the game. Reinhart initiated the play with the shot and was the last to touch the puck but the goal was credited to Matt Fraser. Five minutes later Reinhart skated in on Chilliwack goaltender Lucas Gore on a 2-on-1 with Fraser, fed the winger who missed the net only to have Reinhart track it down, feed it out front and bank it off a leg past Gore to make it 2-0. The next shift rookie forward Brock Montgomery continued the odd-man rush theme and used Elgin Pearce as a decoy, rifling a wrist shot top shelf past Gore to give the Ice a 3-0 first period lead.
The scoring continued into the second period when Steele Boomer got his 10th of the season 40 seconds in on a Kootenay rush that was originally stopped by Gore only to have Boomer dive to poke the puck past him and give the visitors a 4-0 lead. The Bruins refused to go quietly into the night however as Chilliwack got back into the game after the Ice couldn’t cash in on some quality chances only to have Bruin star Ryan Howse jump past the Ice defence on a breakaway. The Calgary Flames 3rd round draft pick deked Ice starter Nathan Lieuwen for his 22nd of the season at 8:13 of the second and sparked the home squad. A poor clearing attempt by the Ice with just over four minutes left in the period gave 17-year-old forward Dylen McKinley a point-blank chance he buried to make it 4-2 after two. “Their goalie made some key saves when it could’ve been five or six-nothing,” continued Knoblauch. “They got a bit of a bounce themselves and made it close on the McKinley goal. We definitely bent in the second but we didn’t break.”
The Bruins comeback attempt would stall in the third period when Matt Fraser scored off the face-off to make it 5-2 at 3:49 while Elgin Pearce would notch his 1st WHL goal with the Ice on the power play to make it 6-2 halfway through the third, chasing starter Lucas Gore in the process. Pearce would then get his second goal, again on the power play, late in the game to make it 7-2 on his replacement, newly acquired goaltender Braden Gamble.
The win for goaltender Nathan Lieuwen, who made his first start in a month Friday in Kamloops only to be pulled in favour of Todd Mathews, was a confidence builder for the 18-year-old, something that’s been missing since the Abbottsford product suffered the neck injury last month. “Nathan played really well,” said Knoblauch. “He made some outstanding saves, especially in the second period when Chilliwack could’ve made it close. It’s not easy for a goaltender to come back after a rough start like the one he had in Kamloops but tonight he did everything expected of him and it was good for him to get the win.”
Quick Hits – Kootenay improved to 14-13-1-1 and 30 points, good for 3rd in the Central Division and 9th in the Eastern Conference… Scratches for Kootenay were D James Martin (concussion – indefinite), LW Drew Czerwonka (concussion – day-to-day) and RW Dominick Pacovsky (broken foot – 3-5 weeks). Scratched for the Bruins was D Brandon Manning (undisclosed) and RW Tim Traber (healthy)… Kelowna Rocket forward Curt Gogol received a five-game suspension from the WHL for the major he received hitting Martin Saturday night... Earlier in the day the Bruins traded goaltender Mark Friesen, 19, to the Swift Current Broncos in exchange for a 3rd round Bantam pick in 2010. The Bruins called up the 18-year-old Gamble up from the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons… Kootenay was 2-7 on the power play while Chilliwack went 0-5… Kootenay swept the Prospera Place Three-Stars; 1. Matt Fraser 2. Nathan Lieuwen 3. Elgin Pearce… Pearce finished with two goals while Fraser was credited with two goals and two assists and Reinhart a goal and an assist.
Ice wax Bruins; three-for-three on BC road trip
by Jeff Bromley
The WHL’s BC Division, if you’re the Kootenay it’s good for what ails you.
Reaching the .500 mark over the weekend Kootenay’s road record was the next to reach the plateau as the Ice extended their modest winning streak to three after dumping the Chilliwack Bruins 7-2 in the Fraser Valley Tuesday night.
On Tuesday it wasn’t the usual suspects of Sylvester, King and Boomer on the scoresheet as the club’s second line of Max Reinhart, Matt Fraser and Jesse Ismond provided the bulk of the club’s offense against the Bruins. “We got a couple of lucky goals early on but by the same token there were some goals we were robbed on in the second period,” said Ice assistant coach Kris Knoblauch via phone from Prospera Place in Chilliwack. “But if we only have one line scoring it becomes pretty easy for teams to shut us down with the other teams matching lines and getting their shut-down defensive parings out. We need that secondary scoring and it was Fraser and Reinhart’s line doing it tonight.”
The Ice were the benefactors of some Bruins bad luck early in the game when Ice forward Max Reinhart’s point-shot was fired wide of the Bruins’ net only to have Chilliwack defenseman Tyler Stahl’s attempted bunt-single find the back of his own net to give the Ice a 1-0 lead 44 seconds into the game. Reinhart initiated the play with the shot and was the last to touch the puck but the goal was credited to Matt Fraser. Five minutes later Reinhart skated in on Chilliwack goaltender Lucas Gore on a 2-on-1 with Fraser, fed the winger who missed the net only to have Reinhart track it down, feed it out front and bank it off a leg past Gore to make it 2-0. The next shift rookie forward Brock Montgomery continued the odd-man rush theme and used Elgin Pearce as a decoy, rifling a wrist shot top shelf past Gore to give the Ice a 3-0 first period lead.
The scoring continued into the second period when Steele Boomer got his 10th of the season 40 seconds in on a Kootenay rush that was originally stopped by Gore only to have Boomer dive to poke the puck past him and give the visitors a 4-0 lead. The Bruins refused to go quietly into the night however as Chilliwack got back into the game after the Ice couldn’t cash in on some quality chances only to have Bruin star Ryan Howse jump past the Ice defence on a breakaway. The Calgary Flames 3rd round draft pick deked Ice starter Nathan Lieuwen for his 22nd of the season at 8:13 of the second and sparked the home squad. A poor clearing attempt by the Ice with just over four minutes left in the period gave 17-year-old forward Dylen McKinley a point-blank chance he buried to make it 4-2 after two. “Their goalie made some key saves when it could’ve been five or six-nothing,” continued Knoblauch. “They got a bit of a bounce themselves and made it close on the McKinley goal. We definitely bent in the second but we didn’t break.”
The Bruins comeback attempt would stall in the third period when Matt Fraser scored off the face-off to make it 5-2 at 3:49 while Elgin Pearce would notch his 1st WHL goal with the Ice on the power play to make it 6-2 halfway through the third, chasing starter Lucas Gore in the process. Pearce would then get his second goal, again on the power play, late in the game to make it 7-2 on his replacement, newly acquired goaltender Braden Gamble.
The win for goaltender Nathan Lieuwen, who made his first start in a month Friday in Kamloops only to be pulled in favour of Todd Mathews, was a confidence builder for the 18-year-old, something that’s been missing since the Abbottsford product suffered the neck injury last month. “Nathan played really well,” said Knoblauch. “He made some outstanding saves, especially in the second period when Chilliwack could’ve made it close. It’s not easy for a goaltender to come back after a rough start like the one he had in Kamloops but tonight he did everything expected of him and it was good for him to get the win.”
Quick Hits – Kootenay improved to 14-13-1-1 and 30 points, good for 3rd in the Central Division and 9th in the Eastern Conference… Scratches for Kootenay were D James Martin (concussion – indefinite), LW Drew Czerwonka (concussion – day-to-day) and RW Dominick Pacovsky (broken foot – 3-5 weeks). Scratched for the Bruins was D Brandon Manning (undisclosed) and RW Tim Traber (healthy)… Kelowna Rocket forward Curt Gogol received a five-game suspension from the WHL for the major he received hitting Martin Saturday night... Earlier in the day the Bruins traded goaltender Mark Friesen, 19, to the Swift Current Broncos in exchange for a 3rd round Bantam pick in 2010. The Bruins called up the 18-year-old Gamble up from the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons… Kootenay was 2-7 on the power play while Chilliwack went 0-5… Kootenay swept the Prospera Place Three-Stars; 1. Matt Fraser 2. Nathan Lieuwen 3. Elgin Pearce… Pearce finished with two goals while Fraser was credited with two goals and two assists and Reinhart a goal and an assist.
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