Hello and welcome to the season opener episode of S30: A Look Back. This game will feature the season opener for entirety of the SMJHL season, the Game 1 match up between the Vancouver Whalers and the Montreal Militia.

As this is the season opener, let's take a very brief look at these two teams and how they fared against one another last season. In 10 games played last year, the Whalers were only able to muster 3 wins, and 1 OT loss, bringing their total to 3-6-1. Clearly, the Militia were the stronger squad... but then again, with the Whalers finishing 7th last year, most other teams were in the regular season.

So, bringing us in to season 30, it was the Whalers looking to jump ahead of Montreal in the season series in their own arena. Alas... it was not meant to be, and the losing ways against Montreal continued, with the Militia stealing one at home. Hopefully this isn't any indication of the rest of the season to come, but at this point, it's useless to worry, so we'll get right into the action- of which there is PLENTY!

<center> Montreal Milita 5 at Vancouver Whalers 3</center>

Highlights

Period 1, 16:12: Fight!!!
<center>
It didn't take long for Ilmari Maatt to take exception to what Ieuan Llewellyn was saying about his mother</center>
It was an exchange of fistcuffs between Frontdoor McGraw and Charlie Conway late in the first which brings us our first real highlight of the evening, with Ieuan instigating a fight with the Milita's Maatta. Neither was able to clearly come out on top, with the refs jumping in when it was apparent that they'd fought to a draw. With Ieuan being the clear instigator, he was sent off for the game as the refs tried to get control of this game early.

Period 1, 16:52: Goal by VAN
<center>
It was the old pro Levi Kubrak who got things started on the season for VAN</center>
The first goal of the game, and this S30 season came at the hands of SMJHL vet Levi Kubrak, with the assist coming via two new players in Max Wilburn, Adam Kaiser. This whole play was clinical... Kubrak won the faceoff in the neutral zone (after an offsides), with Kaiser moving into the Milita zone thereafter. Two passes- tick, tack, and the puck was coming off Kubrak's stick and heading past Stephen Harris via a one timer... toe. Vancouver starts things up, 1-0.

Period 2, 0:20: Goal by VAN
<center>
It didn't take long into the 2nd period for the Whalers to strike gold on the PP</center>
We almost chalked this up as a first period goal- because it came so early in the 2nd period, it was hard to believe. Only 20 seconds in, on the power play, it was SMJHL rookie OG Bobby getting his first point of his career. After a quick dump in by the PK unit, the puck was collected in the Vancouver zone by Connor MacDonald... A pass to OG in the neutral zone, and he was off to the races. In a very Phil Kessel way, took it upon himself to do it all... 2-0 Vancouver, and things were looking pretty rosy at this point.

Period 2, 15:55: Goal by MTL
<center>
Wesley Wells was the first to start a long Militia comeback, by netting this PP goal late in the 2nd period</center>
The Millita's first goal was truly a team effort on the power play... All 5 playesr touched the puck on 4 passes, from the time a dump in was collected in their own zone, to the time the puck was being scooped out of the back of the net by Triforce Link. Henrik Vikstrom to Johnny Watson, to Zach Zyvleski, to Nathan Russett in the neutral zone, to Wesley Wells in the Whalers zone, who ripped the shot home. Amazing display of passing and teamwork there.

And so the Whalers went into the locker room up 2-1, still in control of the game. The 3rd period is where it all started to come unraveled...

Period 3, 3:42: Goal by MTL
<center>
It was again on the PP that Montreal eroded the Vancouver lead.</center>
A Max Wilburn Penalty at 3:26 let Montreal back in the door to knot things up, only about 20 seconds into their power play. The Whalers could not put the pressure on nearly enough, allowing Filip Granlund to collect the puck in the neutral zone, move it into the Whalers zone, and get a pass off to a waiting Ilmari Maatta, who slid the puck home. Looks like Llewellyn shouldn't have talked so much smack, after all. 2-2, and we've got a new game on our hands.

Period 3, 4:02: Goal by VAN
<center>
Wait, didn't we just have a faceoff at center ice 20 seconds ago?!</center>
In a game of quick strikes, Vancouer jumped back out into the lead in short order, once their dangerous first line stepped back onto the ice. It was 3 SMJHL sophomores who connected on this play, to put Vancouver up 3-2. The play started with the astute defending of Brynjar Tusk. He fed an intercepted pass to Conklin Owen, who skated into the zone, taking a shot. The near miss was collected by D man Teddy Graham, who quickly moved the puck to wide open center Jon Ross. This time, the shot was on target, and past Harris. This was starting to look like one you could pen in for Vancouver.

Period 3, 4:18: Goal by MTL
<center>
Again, mere seconds between goals, as Nolan Angello brought things back to level</center>
For the 3rd time in 36 seconds, the puck would be in the back of the net, this time off a Montreal Militia stick. The world wind of scoring continued when the Militia put together a string of 6 passes, moving in on goal with each move of the puck. The final pass came to rest on the stick of Nolan Angello, if but only for a second. In the blink of an eye, he whistled a snap shot past the blocker of the in position Link Triforce. 3-3, and we're yet again, back to a new game- with only 15 minutes left to play.

Period 3, 15:55: Goal by MTL
<center>
This time, Montreal would go up for good, with Wesley Wells notching his second of this night</center>
In a goal which opitimized the hustle that Montreal put on display tonight, it was Wesley Wells getting his second goal of the night, the marker that put them again for good. After a series of passes which followed a Tusk turn over, Wesley took a shot on goal- which ended up being deflected by Zach Zyvleski. Triforce Link was up to the challenge of that shot, stopping it with his body- but, he hadn't seen the puck, it was his good positioning which helped him make the save. Due to that, he wasn't able to hold onto the rebound, and the puck trickled directly onto the stick of Wesley, who'd crashed the net after his initial shot. In a defensive lapse, he was allowed to come down the middle of the ice uncontested, shoveling the final dagger into the Vancouver goal.

Period 3, 16:27: Goal by MTL Montreal would go on to put one more insurance marker into the net, as Link surrendered his 5th of the night to the strong offensive Militia, and 3rd PP goal they racked up. Zach Zyvleski found the goal he'd been searching for all night, as he skated from the neutral zone and onto goal uncontested. Being down a man was just too much...


Stats

Shots
Montreal Militia: 30
Vancouver Whalers: 31
Shots were even, and quite high for both teams. Unsurprisingly, it led to plenty of goals. The quality of those shots went Montreal's way, despite the quantity not reflecting that. The high number of PP shots told a more accurate story.

Hits
Montreal Militia: 29
Vancouver Whalers: 17
The Whalers didn't even come close to matching the physicality of the Militia, who were suffocating the Whalers' offensive efforts all night, and pressing hard on the fore check. This was a big factor in the game.

Faceoffs
Montreal Militia: 40
Vancouver Whalers: 44
Montreal fell short in this stat column, but it didn't have much of a prohibitive affect on their game, as they managed to regain possession frequently via their physical play.

Saves
Stephen Harris (MTL), 28/31 shots (0.903)
Triforce Link (VAN), 25/30 (0.833)
Link was left out far too often by his PK unit, so his save percentage isn't reflective of his level of skill. On the other end, Harris had a solid game, doing enough to keep his team in the game even when they trailed. Despite the scorers at the game not giving him a 3 star nod, it may have been justified.

Special Teams
PIM:
Montreal Militia: 13
Vancouver Whalers: 25

PP %-
Montreal Militia: 75%
Vancouver Whalers: 33%

Vancouver lost the PIM battle, reflecting some poorly disciplined hockey. Their PK units left to try and save the day were severely undermanned, and they payed dearly for it. This was the undoing of a game in which the Whalers had the lead for most of the night.

Final Commentary
Vancouver played too loosely in this game, plain and simple. They allowed the Militia too much free space in which to work throughout the game. The low hit numbers, and the goals which were scored by players skating across large portions of the rink uncontested are a testament to that. It's clear they have offensive talent of their own, but their defensive core should be their strength, in front of a usually competent goalie. Poor discipline also cost them, as they gave up too many PP goals after cutting ruts to the sin bin.

If they don't turn around their discipline, and start playing a tougher game, it's going to be a long season. Here's hoping for a more concerted effort, and a win, next edition of S30: A Look Back.

(That's how it's done, rookies- lookin' at you, <a href='index.php?showuser=2273' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>bk1689</a> )