Three-game skid ends. Ice dump Broncos

The Score – Swift Current 1 – Kootenay 5

What Happened – Kootenay’s power play clicked three times and the three-game losing skid is history.

The Turning Point – The Ice didn’t start particularly well but a backhand power play snipe by Brock Montgomery late in the first gave the Ice the momentum they never surrendered.

The Goals – After Ice forward Brendan Hurley took an undisciplined penalty 195 feet from his own net for roughing after the whistle the Broncos power play didn’t take long to convert as Reece Scarlett fired a slap-pass that Bronco leading-scorer Taylor Vause redirected past Lieuwen for a 1-0 lead 9:29 into the game… The Broncos had the Ice on their heels for the better part of the first period but a tripping penalty to Richard Nedomlel gave the Ice a late-period power play. After the first unit failed to generate anything a nice rush by Drew Czerwonka got the puck low to Brock Montgomery. He proceeded to pirouette out from behind the net with the puck on his stick – yes, he danced out – and at the end of the spin roofed a back-hand past Groenhyde to tie it at one… In the second with the Ice pressing Jagger Dirk stopped a Bronco clear. The puck ended up down low on Reinhart’s stick behind the net. With two strides he reversed and notched his 19th of the season on a pretty wrap-around… Less than a minute later, though he wouldn’t get an assist, Joe Antilla – still playing D – streaked in and fed the puck to the slot. After it bounced around and was swatted at twice by both Dylan McKinlay and a Bronco defender, Elgin Pearce batted his 16th past Groenhyde for a 3-1 lead… The carnage continued when the Broncos took a delay-of-game penalty at 9:03 when former Ice first round draft pick Colby Cave sent the puck into the stands. Five seconds later Max Reinhart wired his 20th of the year and second of the night through the legs of Groenhyde, giving the Ice a 4-1 lead and Groenhyde first crack at the hot water… Near the end of an uneventful third period the Ice capitalized on another power play when Jagger Dirk took a pass from Drew Czerwonka at the hash marks and slipped a wrist-shot through the legs of Smith for a 5-1 win.

The Hit – After the 4th goal Daniel Dale sent Ice D Jeff Hubic flying in the Ice zone after he finished his check. Hubic proceeded to skate almost the length of the ice to return the favour, catching the 18-year-old with his head down. The 216-pounder chased Hubic all over the ice looking for a tussle but Hubic wanted no part of it. Hubic levelled another kid later in the game in what is quickly becoming his forte.

The Hit Part II – Not long after, Brock Montgomery caught Bronco D Dillon Heatherington with a high hit in the Bronco corner. Josh Derko jumped him for his troubles.

The King – Graduated Ice forward Kevin King, second all-time in club history with 335 games played, left the ECHL Elmira Jackals this week and decided to use his WHL scholarship money and head to school. King, a Calgary product, will attend the University of Calgary. After an injury-filled half-season, King got into only 8 games with the Jackals, scoring a goal and adding four assists and five games with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL.

The Point-shot scare – Again in a busy second period, with Montgomery in the box, Nathan Lieuwen took a puck in the neck and was down on the ice for a spell. The Ice faithful held their breath but Lieuewen recovered and didn’t miss a shift.

The Infirmary – The Ice were missing D John Niebrandt and D Luke Paulsen to injury for the third straight game. Niebrandt, with a separated shoulder, should return for the weekend action but Paulsen with an upper body injury that’s a concussion, but nobody’s saying, will be out a while yet.

The Call-ups – F Jesse Wood-Shatz, a point-per-game player with the Alberta Midget’s Sherwood Park Kings (8g 12a – 21GP), got into his second straight game with the Ice, joining Luke Philp. D Tanner Faith returned to his Midget club but with a shoulder injury.

Odgers – Dakota, the 15-year-old son of former NHL tough guy Jeff Odgers, played his first WHL game tonight. Generously listed at 5’9” 155lbs, he’s a got a bit to go to match his dad’s size of 6’0 200lbs. He can score though, notching 16 goals and 11 assists in 27 games for Yorkton of the Saskatchewan Midget League.

The Reinforcements – I can’t honestly say I’ve seen a team miss it’s 16-year-olds but in this case, the Ice have. They’ll get Sam Reinhart, Jaedon Descheneau, Spencer Wand and Jon Martin back from the World U-17 tournament this weekend. Reinhart finished second in tournament scoring with 4g and 6a in 5 games. Is it too early to start projecting the 2014 NHL Draft?

The Crowd – 2575

Rec Plex Three Stars

1. LW Drew Czerwonka – Four helpers; carried the mail on this night
2. RW Brock Montgomery – Sweet goal, game-changer
3. C Max Reinhart – two goals

What it means – The Ice improves to 23-12-1-3 and 50 points. Good for a tie for third in the Eastern Conference standings with the Medicine Hat Tigers. The three-game skid is over.

Up Next: The Moose Jaw Warriors, on game six of an eight-game road trip, are here Saturday. The Tigers are at the Plex Sunday night to cap off the big weekend litmus test.

Summary:


Broncos 1 @ Ice 5

CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Swift Current Broncos and the Kootenay Ice; January 4, 2012

Max Reinhart had two goals and an assist as the Kootenay Ice dumped the Swift Current Broncos 5-1 in WHL action Wednesday.

The Broncos opened the scoring on the power play when Taylor Vause deflected his 22nd of the season past Nathan Lieuwen for a 1-0 Bronco lead. The Ice tied the game on a late first period power play when Brock
Montgomery spun out from behind the net and backhanded his 12th of the season past Bronco starter Jon Groenheyde.

In the second the Ice scored three goals in under two minutes and jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Two goals by Max Reinhart, his 19th and 20th of the season, sandwiched around Elgin Pearce's 16th of the year put the game out of reach and chased Groenheyde from the Bronco net in favour of Austin Smith.

Jagger Dirk added his 3rd of the season on the power play late in the third for a 5-1 finish.

Nathan Lieuwen stopped 33 shots for his 17th win on the season while Jon Groenheyde turned aside 13 of 17 shots in taking the loss.

First Period
1. Swift Current, Vause 22 (Scarlett, Nedomel) 9:29 (pp)
2. Kootenay, Montgomery 12 (Czerwonka, Reinhart) 18:24 (pp)

Penalties -- Leach Ktn (tripping) 0:15, Hurley Ktn (roughing) 8:58, Nedomlel SC (tripping) 16:57.

Second Period
3. Kootenay, Reinhart 19 (Dirk, Czerwonka) 7:24 (pp)
4. Kootenay, Pearce 16 (Mckinlay) 8:03
5. Kootenay, Reinhart 20 (Czerwonka, Montgomery) 9:08

Penalties -- Blanke SC (slashing, roughing - served by Derko) Hubic Ktn (roughing) 3:29, Cave SC (delay-of-game) , Derko SC (instigator, fighting, misconduct) Montgomery (high-sticking, charging, fighting) 13:06, Bench Minor SC (too-many-men - served by Mackay) 17:25.

Third Period
6. Kootenay, Dirk 3 (Czerwonka, Reinhart) 16:32 (pp)

Penalties -- Black SC (roughing) 15:41, Odgers SC (checking-from-behind) 17:19, Derko SC (roughing) 19:42.

Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 7 13 12 - 32
Swift Current: 11 9 14 - 34

Goal -- Kootenay: Nathan Lieuwen (W, 17-9-1-2); Swift Current: Jon Groenheyde (Smith 9:08 of second; 13 of 17 shots; L, 12-14-1-4).

Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 3-7
Swift Current: 1-3

Referee -- Sean Rapheal. Linesman -- Steve Cochrane, Mike Roberts.

Attendance -- 2575 (4264)

Scratches --
Kootenay: Spencer Wand (World U-17), Jaedon Descheneau (World U-17), Sam Reinhart (World U-17), Jon Martin (World U-17), Luke Paulsen (upper body - day-to-day), John Neibrandt (shoulder - day-to-day).
Swift Current: Jordan Evans, Shea Howorko, Adam Smith, Adam Lowry, Erik Fleming.