The Score – Lethbridge 0 – Kootenay 2
What Happened – Kootenay scored two goals in the first half of the first period and looked to be running away with it. The Hurricanes recovered and pushed back but, in what could become a theme this season, couldn’t solve Nathan Lieuwen.
The Rookies – Drafted 3rd overall out of Calgary by the Hurricanes in 2010, forward Jay Merkley saw lots of ice-time for the Hurricanes. If the draft was held over many have said it would be Ice forward Sam Reinhart who would be in the top three of that draft class. You’ll get to see the fifth overall pick of that draft – Morgan Klimchuk – when the Pats visit the Rec Plex Friday.
The Goals – A neutral zone turnover – I thought it was Sam Reinhart who caused the trouble but it was credited to Joey Leach – Elgin Pearce ended up with the puck and gained the zone before finding Jesse Ismond with a great cross-ice pass. Ismond found the corner of the net on a one-timer to make it 1-0… The 15-year-old – he doesn’t turn 16 until November 6 – amazed the Ice faithful once again with a great effort to gain the puck off the wall and patiently walk out and roof his second of the season past Ketlo to make it 2-0.
The No-goal – The Canes started this one off right but might’ve got the shaft. A point-shot within the first minute changed direction and then hit the crossbar and landed on the stick of Graham Hood. He dumped it into the net but the goal was waved-off and ruled hit with a Hurricane high-stick. It hit a stick, whether or not it was high couldn’t be determined by replay. The ruling on the ice stood and the Ice caught a break, and then caught fire after that.
The Rookies, again - Tonight featured the regular season debut of D Mike Simpson, who notched his first assist in the Dub, and forward Jonathon Martin who returned from a four game suspension. The club has to cut two forwards out of Martin, Deschaneau, Philp and Wood-Schatz. After seeing all four, it is perhaps the toughest call the club has had to make in years. That 95-born draft class is dynamite.
The Return – The elder Reinhart returned to the Ice from the Calgary Flames training camp and instantly made the club better. He was all over the ice on this night and had, or set up, a ton of chances. At one point in the second the line of Max, Antilla and McKinlay hemmed the Canes in their own zone for almost a complete two minute stretch. No letter on his sweater yet but I imagine sewing the C on is just a formality.
The Turning Point – It was early but I’d give the nod to Sam’s goal. The Ice played with a lot of confidence the rest of the way and Lieuwen made it look easy.
The Hit – In the second Graham Hood was lined up by Ice forward Brendan Hurley at the Canes’ blueline for a big hit. The 6’3” 225lb D-man thought otherwise and it was Hurley who ended up flat on his back. Four minutes into the third however Hurley had his revenge, putting Hood on his keester in front of the Ice bench for the hit of the night.
The Banner – Okay, I agree with one of the comments that stated the 2011 Championship Banner looks empty. It’s needs some lettering in the middle.
Opportunity Knocks – The loss of 20-year-old James Martin was a huge blow to the club. D John Niebrandt, now in the four-hole of the club’s defensive unit, is taking every opportunity to prove he can be a top four guy in the WHL. Early indications are he’s done just that.
The Crowd – 2370 Low, really low. Good seats left? There were good sections to be had.
Up Next – Dryden Hunt, who also has a late birthday and won’t turn 16 until late November, makes first trip back to the Kootenays with his new team, the Regina Pats on Friday. Hunt, a former Kimberley product who relocated to Nelson five years ago, made the Pats as a listed player/walk on.
Rec Plex Three Stars
1. Nathan Lieuwen – 25 saves; Shutouts are never easy but he didn’t have to make a hard save
2. Damien Ketlo – 25 saves; He played well and kept it close.
3. Jesse Ismond – Big improvement over Saturday. Goal, assist.
Game Summary:
Hurricanes 0 @ Ice 2
CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Kootenay Ice; September 27, 2011
Goaltender Nathan Lieuwen stopped all 25 shots he faced and Jesse Ismond's goal 6:17 into the game stood up as the game winner as the Kootenay Ice beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 2-0 in WHL action Tuesday night.
Ismond took a cross-ice feed from Elgin Pearce and one-timed his second of the season into the corner of the net past Damien Ketlo to give the Ice a 1-0 lead. Ice rookie Sam Reinhart, who won't turn 16 until November 6, walk out from the half-wall and roofed his second of the season past Ketlo to give the Ice 2-0 four minutes later.
The two goals would hold up as Lieuwen stopped 25 shots for his 7th career WHL shutout. Ketlo stopped 25 of 27 shots to take the loss.
First Period
1. Kootenay, Ismond 2 (Pearce, Leach) 6:17
2. Kootenay, S. Reinhart 2 (Simpson, Ismond) 9:03
Penalties -- Johnston Leth (interference) 1:24, Pearce Ktn (hooking) 14:57, Hood Leth (slashing) 16:39.
Second Period
No Scoring.
Penalties -- Martin Ktn (interference) 1:39, Dirk Ktn (hooking) 13:29.
Third Period
No Scoring.
Penalties -- None.
Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 9 10 8 - 27
Lethbridge: 4 11 10 - 25
Goal -- Kootenay: Nathan Lieuwen (W, 2-1); Lethbridge: Damien Ketlo (L, 0-1).
Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 0-2
Lethbridge: 0-3
Referee -- Derek Zalaski. Linesman -- Steve Cochrane, Sean Donnelly.
Attendance -- 2370 (4264)
Scratches --
Kootenay: Spencer Wand, Luke Philp, Jesse Wood-Schatz, Drew Czerwonka (shoulder - two weeks), Levi Cable (leg - day-to-day).
Lethbridge: Tanner Kovacs, Tyler Kizuik, Brandyn Hulit, Juraj Bezuch, Adam Henry, Michael Sofillas, Austin Fyten, Tayler Balog, Harrison Harper.
6 comments:
Which 2 of the 4 - 16 yr olds should they keep??
The easy answer would be Philp and Deschaneau. They're higher picks on the depth chart and arguably have been better so far.
But Wood-Schatz Saturday and Martin last night demonstrated that they're big and can both skate. Martin's suspension hurt his chances of staying IMO but he can play at this level. They all can. It'll probably be the latter two that end up going. One this week and the other when Czerwonka is healthy. Throw Faith in there and project just good this team could be in two-three years.
Aren't Philp and Descheneau kind of both the same player? If the Ice decide to keep 1 of the 2 bigger guys [Wood-shatz or Martin, who do you pick between Philp or Descheneau??
Right now, Deschaneau and Martin would be the two if they go that route, IMO. Deschaneau has a little more poise with the puck and both are slightly better skaters.
I agree, very hard call on the 16 yr olds. They all look very good with promising futures. I guess it's a great problem to have and as a die hard fan-extremely exciting for the years to come.
I know it's early but I think the most important issue facing the club is the blue line and maybe looking at a 19 or 20 yr old on defence with Leach-to provide a strong anchor. I would think the most probable being a 20 yr old. We've seen the difference Lieuwen has made since returning and I think a mature blue line would offer similar results.
Secondly, we have to inject a little more grit into our top six-keeping in mind that with Fraser, King and Eakin, all gritty guys-it still wasn't enough to battle it out for the Mem Cup.
S. Rhinehart, Pearce and McKinlay are all great player's but come playoff time-we know the game changes and in a 7gm series grit will beat out skill every time. You can shut down skill but it's very difficult to shut down grit. Having said that, finding the right balance is not always easy. We saw that at last year's Mem Cup-the physical play of St Mike's beat us. It was also true in WHL playoffs with really our only competition coming from MJ-a big strong team and not having Beach around for all of it certainly helped us.
This is what I see after watching the past two games.
Like I said, early but I've watch enough games over the years to know what it takes to win in the playoffs-the only season that matters.
You also have to remember that a team doesnt make a Mem Cup run every year (exception: Windsor). This team is far from a Mem Cup contender in my opinion. They havge looked really good so far but their defense is pretty weak. Leach is logging huge minutes and they cant expect him to play that much all year.
As for the captaincy, I think Drew Czerwonka might factor into the discussion. Him or Reinhart will get the C. The other will most definitely wear an A.
I think the Ice keep Philp and Deschaneau. I noticed that Coach Knoblauch already likes giving Jaedon the tap, and seeing that young line go out. With bigger younger forwards like Benoit and Hurley, there is no need to rush the bigger guys into the line-up, although they have showed they belong here as well. For me foot speed is looking like the big problem for Deschaneau and Philp, but once they can esablish a cycle, they have been very effective in the offensive zone, and when you watch them play you can see that Ice hockey is already being strongly intsilled into their systems as they play a defense first system, very risk-free.
Overall I think the Ice are in very good shape. They have strong young core in corellation with their strong pieces from last years championship team. I am expecting them to undergo their growing pains at times, but all in all to be a very competitive team throughout the season.
Post a Comment