Montreal Milita 5 at Vancouver Whalers 3

Game Link
The game was a low scoring, easy going game until the 3rd where it was blown wide open. The atmosphere was electric, and the fans were ravenous. Both teams came out ready to play, with neither giving an inch in this game of cat and mouse. With 5 goals from 4 different players Montreal came out on top 5 to 3.

Starting Lineups
Montreal Militia
LW - Nolan Angello C - Filip Granlund RW - Jason Forbrook
D - Ilmari Maatta D - Viatcheslav Orlov
G - Stephen Harris


Vancouver Whalers
LW - Conklin Owen C - Jon Ross RW - Ace Redding
D - Theodore Graham D - Brynjar Tusk
G - Triforce Link



With the first day now history on the 30th season of the SMJHL well recap Montreals first game. Being bounced around from the top of the East to the bottom in preseason predictions by many different experts, the Militia felt they had something to prove, and that they did.

Montreals first game of the season saw them flying to the west coast to visit the Vancouver Whalers. The game started out with a buzz in the air. The crowd was happy to witness the first game of the season, and the players looked to put on a show. It didn't take long for the first moment of excitement as at 6:19 into the 1st period Ieuan Llewellyn took offense to a comment Militia Captain Ilmari Maatta yelled to him in the corner. Llewellyn came up behind Maatta and put him in a headlock before dropping the gloves. After all was said and done both players received 5 minutes for fighting with Llewellyn receiving a misconduct for instigating. The 1st was pretty quiet until 3:08 left in the period when Levi Kubrak rang one in off the post to make 1-0 Vancouver.

The 2nd period started with a bang as OG Bobby shoveled one in on the powerplay 20 seconds in. There was lots of back and forth in this period as both team were still trying to feel each other out. This was a pretty stale period with a couple penalties and one more goal coming late in the period for Montreal. The 2nd ended 2-1 Vancouver.

The 3rd was the kind of periods fans live for. A high flying, action packed, high scoring period. Maatta tied the game up with a blast from the point on the PP just 3:42 in. However that tie wasn't long lived as Jon Ross of the Whalers replied just 20 seconds later, rushing off the face off from centre ice down to the Militia net and putting one five hole. This put the Whalers up 3-2. Nolan Angello and his line stepped on the ice to take the next face off and he had no intentions of letting the Whalers have the lead. Just 16 seconds after Ross' goal Angello took a pass on the tape, split the D and wired one in the top right hand corner of the Whalers net. With that the Militia switched to overdrive, with Wells potting his 2nd of the game and Zyvleski putting the 5th and final goal of the night into the Whalers net
As the final buzzer rang, it was Montreal 5, Vancouver 3.

Special teams seemed to have the biggest impact on the night with Montreal going 3 for 4 on the powerplay.

The TSN turning point of the game was Nolan Angello's goal in the 3rd. He replied quickly after Vancouver scored with his goal knotting it all up at 3. After that the Militia put the gad pedal to the floor, leaving Vancouver well behind in the dust.

The 3 stars for the game were:
#3 Viatcheslav Orlov : With his 2 assists, 2 hits and 2 shots blocked, he was a cornerstone of the Militias defense in this game. All over the ice and shutting down everyone. He was actually Pierre's choice for Monster.

#2 Zach Zyvleski : 1 goal , 2 assists, 2 PIM and 4 hits. It seemed like anytime a play was made, Zyvleski was in the middle of it. The preseason didn't seem to slow him down at all.

#1 Wesley Wells : With 2 goals in 13:57 of time played, Wells just seemed to have a nose for the net. Each one of his 5 shots were a legitimate scoring threat. A good start to his season, with hopefully the first of many goals to come.