Ice send message to Tribe

In a very likely rendition of a first round playoff dance the Kootenay Ice dumped the Moose Jaw Warriors 5-1 last night at the Rec Plex in front of a sparse crowd of 2282.

Highlites - up right away! - are here
while Matt Coxford has a stellar gamer here.

G Nathan Lieuwen had a stellar night stopping 24 of 25 shots in dumping his old roommate in goaltender Thomas Heemskerk. Talk about motivation; Lieuwen has been pulled in two outtings against the Warriors this season - both in MJ; facing his old partner who left the team in December of 2008 due to a lack of ice-time or the the starter's job and, to add some salt to the wound, sported a signed deal with the San Jose Sharks to boot, something that has eluded Lieuwen so far. Throw in the first round opponent chatter and you've got a good mixture for motivation. Stellar stops with the Ice down 1-0 in the first and then another couple of beauties in the second dispersed any questions of goaltending headed into the post-season, at least for now.

A scoring change on the fourth goal, Max Reinhart's 32nd on the year, gave Cody Eakin an apple to move his total on the night to four points, a goal and three helpers. For the time being, Eakin's now a winger as the 8 points over the past two games (2 goals, 6 assists) will attest to. Elgin Pearce and Brayden McNabb added the other two goals. If you're counting, the Ice player of the month for February has 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points in 21 games, tying Max Reinhart for the team lead in scoring. In the acquired arms race for WHL superstars C Brayden Schenn has potted 19 goals and 27 assists over the same span, if you're keeping track.

McNabb also set a record for scoring by an Ice D-man in a season with a goal and an assist to give him 65 points, besting Mike Busto's mark set four years ago by two points with five games to play. Get this though, due to injury, away at WJC camp and suspension, McNabb set the record in 54 games, while Busto played 70 that year. McNabb will likely have a healthy lead on the old record with still five to play. FYI, Busto is playing in Italy this season for Bolzano. McNabb also tied Busto's goal in a season mark of 20 by a D-man and has five games to set the new mark while also setting a new mark for assists for Ice D-men held by Gerar Dicaire (44 in 02-03). McNabb has also bested Busto's career record for D-men by 9 points (169)and has done it in about 80 less games and won't have a 20-year-old season next year to increase that total.

Warriors top guys Hood, Edwards and Howden were non-existent last night.

More on the relocation saga here today, which clearly indicates that the Chilliwack relocation wheel hasn't stopped turning as stated by one comment posted yesterday. Lots still to blabber on about concerning Kootenay and the attendance but we'll get into that over the weekend. WHL Commissioner Rob Robison is here Friday and I'll be interviewing him for the paper on the latest chatter and the issues faced locally by the Ice.

Kootenay's still got an outside shot at third and even second in the conference but that window is almost closed now as both the Rebels (7-0 over the Cougars) and the Tigers (6-2 over the Hitmen) both won last night. Kootenay is four points back of the Tigers and seven back of the Rebels. One of those teams will get the Wheat Kings to open the playoffs and games three and four of that series will be at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg due to the Royal Manitoba Fair that boots the Wheaties out of their home in Brandon for the first round every season. Could that be the last time there's a WHL game there for a spell? At this time next season it could be the Winnipeg Coyotes/Jets pushing for a NHL Playoff spot.

And hey, all this relocation speculation surrounding Chilliwack, one has to wonder if it's a pre-emptive strike around the board table of the WHL. The very real possibility of the NHL returning to Winnipeg has never been brighter. That would mean the relocation of the AHL's Manitoba Moose - the Canucks AHL affiliate. The most logical choice for that location is Victoria. With all the Canuck-Nation fandom in BC Victoria would surely go ga-ga for the baby Canucks, much more than they do for the second-cousin version of the ECHL Salmon Kings currently there. The AHL would get their two close rivals in Abbotsford and Victoria and scoop up another solid market. The WHL has wanted to return to the Island for years with two teams but Nanaimo can't get a building done, at least not yet. I'm thinking the WHL needs back into the Victoria market before it's gone to the Canucks farm team.

This trail of Dominoes could fall in three different directions and will prove to be an entertaining ride, provided it's not your team doing the moving.

Give the Tigers their last two games against the Hitmen so they'll likely finish with 96 points or better. Kootenay must run the table their last five games, including beating the Tigers in their last match-up of the season, and have the Tiggies drop a game against either the Hurricanes or the Rebels to have a shot at third. The Rebs would have to lose four of their last five in regulation (MH, Swift, Cal, Edm, Edm - not going to happen) so in reality, fourth in the Eastern Conference for the Ice is almost a foregone conclusion.

Lastly, for those wondering, I don't make my living at this gig (writing, blogging or otherwise), just love the sport. It's a side gig that expresses an opinion on the game - whether it be with the Townsman, HockeyNow or here. It's the same reason myself, along with thousands of others, drag themselves out of bed at 5:45AM for minor hockey practice (Peewee) or put up with multitudes of crap via their role as a ref or organize the schedules for the team etc.... Because you have to be passionate for something and mine's this. My real job is in the Forest Industry. And yes, I have been asked the question of making a living out of one so-called sunset industry and having a side-gig in another. I guess Blacksmithing was already too long gone. Maybe fixing typewriters is something I could also do.