The Score – Medicine Hat 2 – Kootenay 7
What Happened – Max Reinhart didn’t score on his first chance 16 seconds into the game but he made up for it, in a big, big way. The Tigers didn’t have an answer.
The Turning Point – Not to put to fine a point on it but really, the drop of the puck, the Tigers were never in this one.
The Goals – 6:20 into the game Max Reinhart rushed down the right wing and sent a wrist-shot to Bunz. The puck squeaked through him and stopped right behind him, just this side of the goal-line. As the shrieks of a few fans in the south end of the Plex rattled, Reinhart continued around the net and tucked in his 10th… After a great pick-off of Vey’s pass in the slot, McNabb sent Joe Antilla away on a partial 3-on-1. Dragging the defender to him he set Reinhart up for the one-timer. He buried from 10-feet. 2-0 Ice… Just over two minutes later some great work down low by Antilla and Fraser somehow left Reinhart – yes, he of the already two goals on the evening – wide open. He put the natural hat-trick goal past Bunz low stick-side for a 3-0 lead just 13 minutes into the game… The Tigers finally pushed back when Kellan Tochkin fired a lazy wrist-shot that Lieuwen just missed. 3-1 Ice… With just over a minute remaining in the period Kevin King dove at a loose puck and sent it on net. The rebound popped out right to a streaking Eakin. He doesn’t miss those. 4-1 Ice… In the second the Tigers played like they weren’t going to go quietly and didn’t, Cole Grbavac, fresh off his two-game suspension, was found wide open by Wacey Hamilton at the side of the Ice net. He slapped in his 10th of the post-season, just past Lieuwen’s glove… The push back didn’t last long however when Hayden Rintoul fired a shot from the point that Bunz stopped but the rebound came out about six inches, enough for Eakin to roof his second of the night for a 5-2 lead. The Tigers deflated… The scoring duel continued when Matt Fraser sent Reinhart away on a short-handed breakaway, he tucked it between Dubyk’s bright orange pads, his first shot of the night, Reinharts four goal of the night… In the third Reinhart started running away with things. Killing a penalty after a melee started by Jesse Ismond in front of Nathan Lieuwen, or rather, on top of him, Matt Fraser started a two-on-two back the other way and sent a perfect pass to a streaking Reinhart, in alone from the blueline. He backhanded his 5th of the night, second short-handed and 14th of the playoffs, tying a record in the process.
The Start– 16 seconds in Matt Fraser and Max Reinhart had a two-man breakaway. Bunz stopped Reinhart. Five goals later, it certainly wasn’t a sign of things to come.
The goalies – The normally steady Bunz was shell-shocked on this night. Eakin’s second of the night mercifully chased him from the nets after surrendering 5 goals on 15 shots. Deven Dubyk didn’t fair much better. His first shot on a short-handed breakaway went through his legs.
The Record(s) – Reinhart’s five goals were easily an Ice team record (many held the four-goal mark) but the fifth tied a WHL record held by three other players – Dave Chartier, Dave Kryskow and current Spokane Chief coach Don Nachbaur – it was last done by Chartier in 1981.
MIA – Save for the goal in game three, WHL leading point-getter in both the regular season and the playoffs Linden Vey and Emerson Etem, second in the playoff category until tonight, were both non-factors in both games. Both were dash-four on this night and spent a good chunk of time on the bench in the third.
The 50/50 – $4900 – Steve from Sparwood went home a happy camper.
The Fights – A couple of tussles late in the third. Konan and Pearce finally went after jarring at each other for about three minutes and then at the same time McNabb and Etem went at it. Give the Tigers the decisions on the fisticuffs, it was about the only thing they showed up for. Following the melee a team dentist was summoned to the Ice dressing room. Somebody lost a chiclet.
The Tweets – Tweeted by another former Ice captain, Steve Da Silva just after the win; “Congrats to the Kootenay Ice on getting to the WHL final, I’ll take a case.”
The Infirmary – With F Brock Montgomery still out with Mono, Steele Boomer out with a concussion and Drew Czerwonka with a stiff neck, Ice head coach Kris Knoblauch said that all three veterans will be available for the championship series.
Old Guard - It was a tough couple of weeks for Ice former coaches. First Cory Clouston and assistant Brad Lauer were let go in Ottawa and this week the Calgary Flames announced that they weren't renewing the contract of assistant Ryan McGill. Clouton, unofficially I'm told, was helping his brother Shaun Clouston breaking down film for the Ice/Tigers series.
The Crowd – 3474 – two off the season high. The difference? About 500 Canucks fans.
Rec Plex Three Stars
1. C Max Reinhart – Five goals, tied a 30-year-old WHL record.
2. RW Matt Fraser – Three helpers
3. C Cody Eakin – Two goals, Series MVP
What it means – Kootenay will get another nine-day rest. The Championship series likely won’t start until May 6 on the road.
Up Next: Portland or Spokane. The Winterhawks took game three of the Western Final in Spokane 3-2 in overtime and lead the series 2-1.
Daily Townsman coverage is here and here.
The highlites are here.
Kootenay wins best-of-seven series 4-0
Tigers 2 @ Ice 7
CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for playoff game between the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Kootenay Ice, April 27, 2011
Max Reinhart tied a WHL record with five goals and Cody Eakin scored two more as the Kootenay Ice routed the Medicine Hat Tigers 7-2 to sweep the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals 4-0 and advance to the club's first WHL Championship appearance in nine years.
Reinhart scored the game's first three goals with a natural hat-trick by the time the game was 13 minutes old. Kellan Tochkin got the Tigers on the board but Eakin notched his first of the night with just over a minute left in the period for a 4-1 lead.
The Tigers got to within two when Cole Grbavac scored his 10th of the post-season but two minutes later Eakin had another, his 8th of the playoffs, to restore the three-goal lead. In the third Reinhart notched his 5th of the night, his second short-handed goal, for a 7-2 lead.
Nathan Lieuwen (11-2) stopped 21 of 23 shots to get the win while Tyler Bunz (4-6) stopped 10 of 15 shots to take the loss.
Kootenay now awaits the winner of the Spokane-Portland series for the right to play for the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
First Period
1. Kootenay, Reinhart 10 (McNabb) 6:20
2. Kootenay, Reinhart 11 (Antilla, McNabb) 11:18
3. Kootenay, Reinhart 12 (Fraser, Antilla) 13:02
4. Medicine Hat, Tochkin 4 (Parkkonen, Busenius) 14:17
5. Kootenay, Eakin 7 (King, Ismond) 18:54
Penalties -- Carr MH (hooking) 0:16, Hamilton MH (slashing) 1:24.
Second Period
6. Medicine Hat, Grbavac 10 (Hamilton, Tochkin) 4:42
7. Kootenay, Eakin 8 (Rintoul, Ismond) 6:40
8. Kootenay, Reinhart 13 (Fraser) 9:15 (sh)
Penalties -- Konan MH (high-sticking) 1:31, Antilla Ktn (cross-checking) 7:17.
Third Period
9. Kootenay, Reinhart 14 (Fraser, Lieuwen) 4:50 (sh)
Penalties -- Kessy MH (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct) Ismond Ktn (dbl roughing) McNabb Ktn (slashing) 3:14, Carr MH (roughing) 5:48, Konan MH Pearce Ktn (fighting, misconduct) McNabb Ktn Etem MH (fighting, game misconduct) Kessy MH (slashing, misconduct) 12:25, Grbavac MH (roughing) 18:41.
Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 11 11 13 - 35
Medicine Hat: 10 6 7 - 23
Goal -- Kootenay: Nathan Lieuwen (W, 12-2) ; Medicine Hat: Tyler Bunz (L, 4-6 - 10 of 15 shots; Dubyk - 6:40 of the second, 18 of 20 shots).
Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 0-6
Medicine Hat: 0-2
Referee -- Trevor Hanson, Pat Smith. Linesman -- Jeff Jobson, Scott Sharun.
Attendance -- 3474 (4264)
Scratches --
Kootenay: Steele Boomer, Brock Montgomery (mono), Drew Czerwonka (neck).
Medicine Hat: Dawson McCauley, Sebastian Owuya, Tyler Pitlick (broken ankle - day-to-day), Spenser Jensen (healthy).
Summary courtesy Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman
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