Matt Coxford of the Townsman has the goods on last night's whoopin' here and here.
The Score – Kootenay 8 – Calgary 0
What Happened – No, the puck just didn’t drop… The Hitmen had their chances but Nathan Lieuwen slammed the door on at least five different occasions, including the last one on Cody Sylvester who collided with the 19-year-old and put him out of the game. Early reports indicate that the hook was just precautionary as team official said that the concussion symptoms subsided after five minutes but because of his history, he was taken out of the game.
The Turning Point – Already with a 1-0 lead Cody Eakin intercepted a pass at the Hitmen blueline and skated in to bury his 22nd of the season and Kootenay was off to the races.
The Goals – The Ice continued their early-scoring ways when Jesse Ismond notched his 12th on the rebound at the 2:02 mark… Cody Eakin, with Czwerwonka in the box, intercepted a gift at the Hitmen blueline from Kyle Schmidt and went in alone on Mike Snider, burying his 22nd of the season… Halfway through the period the Ice made it 3-0 on Brayden McNabb’s 14th of the season on a shot from the point that wound it’s way through a maze of bodies past Snider. Amazingly, the Ice were outshot 10-9 in the first period… In the second on a three-on-two Eakin drove the net and knifed a feed from King that Snider stopped, Antilla jumped on the rebound and put it by Snider to make it 4-0 in a textbook play… On a similar three-on-two five minutes later Eric Benoit picked a nifty pass off his skates in the slot from Jesse Ismond and buried his 3rd to make it 5-0 and chase Snider from the nets… With the Ice on the power play Coach Knoblauch put out the third line to open the power play with a 5-0 lead. That didn’t work out so the number one unit came back out for about 20 seconds. A couple of passes later and a feed from McNabb to Eakin sent a blast past Glover to make it 6-0… Early in the third, with the Ice on a 5-on-3, D Johnny Niebrandt ripped his first of the season past Glover to make it 7-0… And finally, again on the power play, Eakin notched his fifth point of the night when he fed a slap-pass into the slot where Matt Fraser directed his 22nd into the net.
The Save – Not by Lieuwen, who was great all night, but by Eakin. In the second with the Ice on the penalty kill and the Hitmen with their only chance, Cody Sylvester – Dustin’s younger brother – put the puck through the legs of Lieuwen only to have Eakin scoop up the puck before it crossed the line. Lieuwen was stellar a minute later though, stoning Gayle on a 20-foot breakaway…. He robbed Jimmy Bubnick on a similar short breakaway mid-way through the second with an old-fashioned flashy glove save. The only thing missing was the brown leather
Not popular – Ice forward Brendan Hurley cleared a puck off referee Andy Thiessen that hit the veteran in the throat area. After going to down to one-knee for a spell he didn’t miss a shift. Not to be outdone the guy with the blue Ice jersey four rows up in Section Q ripped off his jersey to reveal a ref’s jersey, complete with strips that brought a big laugh from those in attendance.
The Hit – Misha Fisenko came around the Ice net with speed looking for a wrap-around. He was met flush with a clean hit that floored him by Brock Montgomery. Montgomery fought Rob Trzonkowski for his troubles.
The Goaltender – Nathan Lieuwen didn’t have an easy night like the score might indicate and at the 8:17 mark of the third things went sideways when Lieuwen, following another spectacular save on a net-driving Cody Sylvester, collided with the Hitmen captain and lay prone on the ice for a few minutes. After taking a bit to recover Lieuwen didn’t want to come out but skated to the bench. Lieuwen pleaded his case to stay in with Knoblauch who deferred to Ice trainer Marty Palechuk, who decided otherwise and Lieuwen headed to the dressing room.
The Fine - Kootenay was fined $250 by the league for a 'warm-up' violation prior to Saturday's game at the Rec Plex against Lethbridge. Likely it would mean crossing centre ice during the warm-up.
The Crowd – Small gathering of 2159 watched the rout but ticket sales for Saturday’s game against the Giants, who make their first visit here in over two years, are over 2650 and should attract the largest crowd of the season. D Jeff Hubic, 16, of the Sask Midget League's Tisdale Trojans is expected to be called up for the weekend tilt.
Rec Plex Three Stars
1. C Cody Eakin – Five point night
2. G Nathan Leiuwen – Pitched the shutout
3. D John Niebrandt – First WHL Goal
What it means – Kootenay improves to 33-16-1-2 and 69 points, six back of the division-leading Rebels who lost to Saskatoon. The Giants also did them a favour by beating the Tigers 3-2 in regulation, giving them a three point lead on the Tigers.
Up Next: Kootenay heads to Calgary tomorrow night for the return engagement. Gametime is 7PM (102.9 – The Drive)
Game Summary:
Hitmen 0 @ Ice 8
CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Calgary Hitmen and the Kootenay Ice. February 1, 2011.
Cody Eakin had a five point night with two goals and three assists as the Kootenay Ice waxed the Calgary Hitmen 8-0 in WHL action Tuesday.
Kootenay jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead on goals by Jesse Ismond, Eakin and Brayden McNabb. In the second the Ice added another three to make it 6-0 on goals by Joe Antilla, Erik Benoit and Eakin's second of the night. John Niebrandt, with his first ever WHL goal, and Matt Fraser rounded out the scoring in the 8-0 rout.
Nathan Lieuwen got the win but shared the shutout with 27 saves before he left with an injury after a third period collision. Brett Teskey came in relief and mopped up, facing five shots to share the shutout. Hitmen starter Mike Snider stopped 11 of 16 shots before being pulled in favour of Brandon Glover in taking the loss.
First Period
1. Kootenay, Ismond 12 (Pearce, Rintoul) 2:02
2. Kootenay, Eakin 22 5:40 (sh)
3. Kootenay, McNabb 14 (Eakin, Czerwonka) 9:59 (pp)
Penalties -- Czerwonka Ktn (slashing) 3:47, Rissling Cal (delay-of-game) 9:15, Trzonkowski Cal (elbowing) 17:10.
Second Period
4. Kootenay, Antilla 15 (Eakin, King) 1:37
5. Kootenay, Benoit 2 (Ismond) 7:38
6. Kootenay, Eakin 23 (McNabb, King) 17:16 (pp)
Penalties -- Gayle Cal (checking-from-behind) 2:11, Ismond Ktn (goaltender interference) 3:34, Fraser Ktn (hooking) 10:17, Simpson Ktn (slashing) 14:31, Chase Cal (goaltender interference) 16:14, Trzonkowski Cal (instigator - served by Kirsch, fighting, ten minute misconduct) Montgomery Ktn (fighting) 18:40, Wilson Cal (instigator - served by Clayton, fighting, ten minute misconduct) Hurley Ktn (fighting) 19:22.
Third Period
7. Kootenay, Niebrandt 1 (Reinhart, Pearce) 0:14 (pp)
8. Kootenay, Fraser 22 (Eakin, McNabb) 18:48 (pp)
Penalties -- Antilla Ktn (interference) 4:14, Fisenko Cal Czerwonka Ktn (fighting) 11:00, Bubnick Cal Martin Ktn (roughing) 14:28, Schmidt Cal (holding) 17:11,
Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 9 18 8 - 35
Calgary: 10 13 9 - 32
Goal -- Kootenay: Nathan Lieuwen (Teskey; 8:17 of third; 27 of 27 shots; W, 23-12-1-1) Calgary: Mike Snider (Glover; 7:38 of second - 11 of 16 shots; L, 8-18-1-1)
Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 4-7
Calgary: 0-7
Referee -- Andy Thiessen. Linesman -- Sean Donnelly, Jeff Jobson.
Attendance -- 2159 (4264)
Summary courtesy Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman
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