Ross' Multi-Point Night Brings Down House

<div align="center">St. Louis Scarecrows vs. <span style='color:green'>Vancouver Whalers
2-5</span></div>
Game 84

Synopsis
Let's see what happened tonight...

St. Louis came into Vancouver with wishes to end their pattern of going 1-1 over every two games (having gone W, L, W, L, W, L over the past 6 games) while Vancouver looks to start a winning streak (having won their last game in Prince George).

Jon Ross started his ultimo-night late in the first period off a feed from rookie Ace Redding. Ross wristed the puck top corner and the Whaler crowd absolutely lost it. Ross was a rightly and highly touted rookie last year who came into his own. Bill Cirocco scored his first of the year for the Scarecrows 19 minutes into the first period.

The second period saw more action as Redding blasted his fifth of the season off a spectacular pass from - you guessed it - Jon Ross. Five minutes later, the Whalers struck again as Dom Monarch launched a high-glove side shot past Kasper Haapanen. The Scarecrows would go on to cut the lead to 1 at the 13-minutes mark as rookie Nate Akeson tipped a blast from Danny Foster into the net.

The Whalers - and Ross - were up to some god-driven work in the third period as their powerplay started to fire on all cylinders. Farris scored his second goal of the season at the 2:40 mark of the third period - this prompted the St. Louis bench to pull Haapanen in favour of their regular starter, Kyle Wahlgren. Conklin Owen welcomed Wahlgren to the game and got his second point of the night off another terrific feed from Ross.

Vancouver moves to 12-7-2 after a successful night in their hometown while St. Louis drops another game and moves to 10-8-3 on the season.

HIGHLIGHTS
Who doesn't like slick highlights from a spectacular game?


Ross' first goal of the game.

As you can see, this was a powerful goal, and it set the arena in a frenzy. The Whalers had struggled against the 'Crows for some of this season, going 1-3 against the club. But with tonight's performances by the stars, they get one more in the W column.


Haapanen's early trip to the changeroom, courtesy of Carl Farris (and Jon Ross).

Vancouver went 2/3 on their powerplays tonight, and it was a bullet from Farris that started that train a-rollin'. As viewed in the image above, Farris was none-too-happy with his performance in the game. Haapanen's record would fall to 2-4-0.


The Whalers team celebrates near centre ice, to the thunderous applause of fans.

This night would continue an overwhelming Whaler charge as the group went on a 3-game winning streak (4-0 counting the previous game) where they outscored their opponents 11-6. If Ross and co. can continue this kind of run, they'll be favourites for the Four Star Cup.

STATS 'N' JUNK
A look at some of the numbers

2:The number of goalies that couldn't stop the Whaler's offense. Granted, Wahlgren had come into the game cold and after playing the night before, but that's why they have backups, right? Apparently not. Both goalies combined for 5.00 GAA and a 0.772 SAV %.

3 for 8: The number of Whaler players who had multi-point nights and their combined point total. When you add in the rest of the team, you get a total of 12 points for 7 players. That's not saying that the other players didn't pull their weight, but look at the impact these performers had - Redding 1-1-2, Owen 1-1-2, Ross 1-3-4 - just incredible.

1: The number of penalties the Vancouver Whalers took. Now, a club who can hold back their own penalties to one in a game is a club that is going places. Let's give a big round of applause to the Whaler coaching staff and players for playing the game clean. Everyone knows a Scarecrow powerplay can be scary, but Vancouver limited it to just one - and killed it off, lickety spit.

THREE STARS
These are the players you'll wanna give a handjob to

- Theodore Graham. The third star tonight has to be this young man. He is always a physical force that the opposing team must deal with and tonight was no different from the usual. Graham had an assist, 2 shots, 3 hits, and 2 blocks, as well as registering 22:31 of ice time.

- Conklin Owen. The second star tonight is Mr. Owen himself. He got two points, registered 5 shots, and won the one face off draw he was in, all while registering a high playing time of 19:23. This is exactly what the Whalers want to see out of their stars - dedication, and the stats to back it up.

- Jon. Goddamn. Ross. This wild child is undoubtedly the first star of the game. The recent Chief draft pick was unstoppable out on the ice tonight and I'm pretty sure doors wouldn't even do their job against him at this point. Ross had 1 goal, 3 assists, and 1 shot on the night. He also played the second-most minutes on the team (just below Teddy Graham) with a 20:21 minutes of ice time. Ross won 50% of his draws and lead the team all the way to the locker room with smiles on their faces. Now that's a star player.