Ice come out of the break hungry

The Score – Lethbridge 2 – Kootenay 4

What Happened – G Mackenzie Skapski got the nod and took advantage of the start and was the better of the two goalies on this night.

The Turning Point – Late in the second with the Ice nursing a 2-1 lead Phil Tot found himself wide open in front of Skapski off a bad Ice clearing attempt. Tot started to stickhandle but Skapski pulled a Johnny Bower and poked-checked the puck off him before he could make a move.

The Goals – After a particular slow start through the first two minutes the Ice were the benefactors of a fortuitous bounce off the corner boards right to a wide-open Jagger Dirk, who was allowed to step into his 2nd of the season to make it 1-0 Ice… With the Ice on a tail-end of an uneventful power play Joe Antilla – playing D on the PP – coughed up the puck in his own zone to Maxwell. Skapski made a great save on Maxwell but couldn’t stop the rebound as Watson roofed the tying goal. 1-1… The Ice started the second strong and it paid off when Rossignol dragged a defender towards him on a broken 2-on-1 and found Brock Montgomery in the slot. He seemed to fan on the one-timer but got enough of it to have go through Ketlo’s legs for a 2-1 lead… In the third Joe Antilla atoned for his earlier gaffe on the Hurricane goal with a great shift in the Canes zone and then on the neutral zone turnover took a pass from Elgin Pearce and came off the wing and beat Ketlo along the ice. 3-1 Ice… Later in the period Ismond found Drew Czerwonka streaking down the left-wing but was about to be caught by a Cane defender. He instead wired a slapshot that started to trickle through Ketlo’s pads but stopped, only to have a hard-driving Czerwonka poke the loose puck into the net behind him. 4-1 Ice. With the game well in hand late the Canes scored on a power play when Brody Sutter scored on a nice feed from Graham Hood. 4-2 final.

The Melee – The Christmas tidings didn’t last seven minutes on this night as a Jeff Hubic hit on Yakubowski at the Ice bench was followed up by a late hit on Hubic by Russ Maxwell. Adam Henry ended up taking a beating from Simpson after going after Simpson as the culprits paired-up. Yakubowski decided to take out his frustrations from the hit on Levi Cable and, being the second fight, both were tossed. With about five minutes left in the period Brock Montgomery hit Nick Buonasissi with his head down – the puck was in his skates – and took off his helmut and thankfully not his head. Brady Ramsay then jumped Montgomery to save the day. Roughing minors all around except Ramsay took an extra one in which the Ice gave up a shortie. All in all the first period ended up with 64 minutes in PIM’s. Guess the good will towards all men didn’t extend to tonight. The bad blood continued to the end of the second period when Joe Leach and Cam Braes screamed at each other for almost a minute after the buzzer. When Braes didn’t accept the challenge presented by Leach, Leach got a hold of Braes helmut in the pushing and shoving and proceeded to through it down the ice. It was entertaining to say the least.

The Save – Skapski had to be and was sharp to start the game. Mid-way through the first he stopped a point-blanke Hurricane chance and then the wrap-around chance on Nick Buonasissi – extending his pad across the crease. In the second killing a penalty Skapski poked-checked Phil Tot who was left along in front of him. A few posts helped the cause but Skapski continued with the hot-hand with an unconscious glove save off Maxwell late.

The Fast-one – Canes Coach Rich Preston tried to pull the switch on an icing by trying to switch two guys – Harper a rookie AP call-up and Watson, who was gassed. He got an earful from Thiessen. The next time his club got caught he burned his time-out.

The Rookies – C Luke Philp and D Tanner Faith have been recalled by the Ice from their respective clubs to fill the void left by four Ice 16-year-olds away at the U-17 tournament starting tomorrow in Windsor. Philp, a late cut from the Ice, is the leading scorer in Canmore with the Eagles of the AJHL with 10 goals, 23 assists in 30 games. Faith suffered a shoulder injury in camp and returned to play AAA Midget at Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. He was a scratch tonight but should play Friday. Philp was used in a limited role tonight but did have a scoring chance in the first.

Rumour de jour - This one had former Ice D-man James Martin, who is 20, being returned from the AHL's Abbotsford Heat to the Ice. It's a non-starter. Martin's been cleared to return to the ice after a thumb injury has kept him out the last few weeks. A few text messages killed this one pretty fast. The subject of the trade deadline - a scant two weeks away - is obviously starting to foster some talk.

The Zebras – Busy on this night as Andy Thiessen doled out 90 minutes in PIM’s. Was it me or was he also in the way a lot tonight?

Oh those Russians - F Alex Kuvaev, who spurned the opportunity to join the Ice and instead signed a contract in Russia only to have that go sour and then join the Giants after the Christmas break after the Ice dropped him from their list, scored a goal and the shootout winner for the G-men over the Blazers tonight in a 4-3 win.

The Sutter - The Hurricanes' 6'4" son of Duane Sutter, Brody - drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes last June - seems to be a bit of late-bloomer. The 20-year-old looks like he could, or should, dominate in this league. A bit of an enigma considering the bloodlines. Scored a nice goal at the end of the game and probably should've had more.

The Former 'Tender - The goaltender Skapski beat out for the back-up spot, Brett Teskey, has landed back in the WHL at least on a temporary basis. Teskey was called up to back-up Ty Rimmer of the Tri-City Americans for the next ten days with 16-year-old Eric Comrie away at the World U-17 tournament. Teskey was 9-3 in 12 starts with the SJHL's Weyburn Red Wings with a 3.29 GAA and .868 Save percentage.

The Crowd – 3076; lots of energy, should be a couple hundred more for Friday's tilt against the Chiefs.

Rec Plex Three Stars

1. G Mackenzie Skapski – Played a big game just off the break. A sign of things to come?
2. RW Brock Montgomery – Big second period goal
3. C Russell Maxwell – Lots of chances, genuine pest

What it means – The Ice improve to 22-10-1-2 and 47 points, good for third in the Eastern Conference keeping a point clear of the Tigers who beat the Rebels 2-0 and four points back of the front-running Oil Kings who waxed the Blades tonight in Saskatoon.

Up Next: The Ice travel to Red Deer Thursday night for a date with the still-slumping Rebels. Friday the Spokane Chiefs are at the Plex.

Summary:

Hurricanes 2 @ Ice 4

CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Kootenay Ice; December 27, 2011

The Kootenay Ice got goals from four different skaters as the Ice beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-2 in their first action back from the Christmas break.

The Ice opened the scoring when Jagger Dirk wired his 2nd of the year past Canes' goaltender Damien Ketlo to make it 1-0. The Hurricanes tied it up when Jamal Watson ripped a breakaway rebound past Mackenzie Skapski to knot the score at one after the first period.

In the second Brock Montgomery scored his 11th of the season to put the Ice up 2-1 on a shot from the slot that beat Ketlo through the legs.

The Ice extended their lead in the third on goals by Joe Antilla, with his 5th of the season, and Drew Czerwonka with his 10th of the year before the Hurricanes scored late on a goal by Brody Sutter to make the final 4-2.

Skapski stopped 26 of 28 shots to get the win while Ketlo turned aside 26 of 30 in taking the loss.

First Period
1. Kootenay, Dirk 2 (Reinhart) 2:11
2. Lethbridge, Watson 3 (Maxwell) 17:20

Penalties -- Hood Leth Neibrandt Ktn (roughing) 1:14, Paulsen Ktn (delay-of-game) 3:38, Henry Leth Simpson Ktn (fighting) Yakubowski Leth Cable Ktn (fighting, misconduct) Maxwell Leth (interference) Hurley Ktn (dbl roughing) 6:47, Ramsey Leth (dbl roughing) Montgomery (roughing) 15:13, Watson Leth (slashing) Hood Leth (unsportsmanlike conduct) Dirk Ktn (slashing).

Second Period
3. Kootenay, Montgomery 11 (Rossignol, Benoit) 2:16

Penalties -- Ismond Ktn (interference) 2:44, Montgomery Ktn (boarding) 7:05, Watson Leth (tripping) 18:57, Braes Leth (roughing) Leach Ktn (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct) 20:00.

Third Period
4. Kootenay, Antilla 5 (Pearce, McKinlay) 7:59
5. Kootenay, Czerwonka 10 (Ismond) 14:55
6. Lethbridge, Sutter 16 (Hood, Oslanski) 19:41 (pp)

Penalties -- Buonasissi Leth (tripping) 0:24, Neibrandt Ktn (holding) 4:41, Bloomqvist Leth (interference) 8:19, Benoit Ktn (slashing) 11:40, Galbraith Leth (boarding) 12:02, Dirk Ktn (tripping) 16:00, Neibrandt Ktn (cross-checking) 18:24.

Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 8 8 14 - 30
Lethbridge: 10 8 10 - 28

Goal -- Kootenay: Mackenzie Skapski (W, 6-2); Lethbridge: Damien Ketlo (L, 10-10).

Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 0-6
Lethbridge: 1-9

Referee -- Andy Thiessen. Linesman -- Mike Roberts, Scott Sharun.

Attendance -- 3076 (4264)

Scratches --
Kootenay: Spencer Wand (World U-17), Tanner Faith, Jaedon Descheneau (World U-17), Sam Reinhart (World U-17), Jon Martin (World U-17),
Lethbridge: Macoy Erkcamps, Tyler Kizuik, Juraj Bezuch, Austin Fyten, Craig Leverton, Jay Merkley, Max Moline.

Summary courtesy Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman