Welcome, and here we are at the midway point for this years' season ofS30: A Look Back. By now you know the general format of the show, although today you'll see our analysis on the most important story line of the evening, rather than going over the raw stats. Without further adu, the Game 108 showdown against the Detroit Falcons.

This is only the second time these teams will have faced off this season, the last being at the Whalers' area, where they took care of business by way of a 4-2 scoreline. In that game a trio of rookies in Ace Redding, OG Bobby and Connor MacDonald earned the 3 stars, with 2 points a piece amongst them. Stalwarts Ross and Owen also notched points, along with rookie D man Tusk. Vancouver was looking to duplicate that performance, albeit after taking a long flight to Detroit. The Falcons; however, had other plans...


<center> Vancouver Whalers 0 at Detroit Falcons 2</center>

Highlights

<center> Period 1, 13:07: Goal by DET

All too often, mistakes lead to goals against. Discipline is one of the mos timportant, yet routinely underrates aspects of hockey, even at the professional level.</center>
As so many goals do, the goal to start things off came as a result of a sloppy turn over. Vancouver had just broken into the Detroit zone by way of some fine Connor MacDonald skating. The first line defense man moved the puck down the half boards to OG Bobby, looking to loosen up the opposing D. Bobby looked to quickly move the puck back to the point, but delayed a mere beat while processing his next move. This allowed SMJHL sophomore Nucky Toohoots to read the telegraphed pass, and jump into the lane, creating a quick break for the Falcons. It was Berkis and Moleman who had jumped into the rush with Toohoots, and the puck was moved quickly from Nucky, to Alex, and back over to Hans into the Whaler zone. Moleman blasted a rocket at the young Wehner, who proved unequal to the task. The Detroit crowd, very much enjoying the solid display of both defensive and offensive hockey, were on their feet (although they're not known for their excitement level, as you can see)...

<center></center>

<center> Period 2, 19:14: Goal by DET

The Whalers' D men were unable to stave off fatigue late in the period, allowing Falcons' skaters too much space to operate, as seen here by the amount of room Leclerc has on this pinch.</center>
The Falcons' second goal of the night came very late into the 2nd period, and really proved to be a back breaker for the Whalers... After a shot by Rising Hippo was sent begging beyond the net, D man Marc Leclerc was allowed to pinch all the way down to below the face off dot to retrieve the puck without contest. He quickly moved the puck back to Hippo, who had been following his shot and crashing the net- also unencumbered. The result was the puck in the back of the net, on a goal which shouldn't be so easily scored.

The Whalers were unable to muster any offense worthy of a goal this evening, which is unfortunate given the defensive effort. The Falcons are the top scoring team in the league, and with them being held to only 2 scores, you'd hope the Whalers would be able to at least give them a run for their money- especially after netting 4 times earlier in the year against Detroit. Alas, it wasn't to be.

The Story of the Night - Failed PP Opportunities

The biggest failing of the night came by way of the Whalers' PP unit. Given a whopping 6 opportunities by a Detroit team who was prone to hooking (4 of their 6 penalties, with the other 2 being interference and tripping), the Whalers were unable to produce a single point. The greatest onus to score on the powerplay belongs to the top forward line, of Conklin Owen, Jon Ross and Ace Redding. More so than anyone else, Conklin Owen- who has 6 of the teams' 20 PP goals (and of his 10 total goals) this year, must continue to produce in special team situations. In failing to do so here, he, and the rest of the line, destined their team for failure tonight. We really expect to see more out of that unit in the future, else Vancouver will continue to drop in the regular season standings.