Game 35:
<center>THE BATTLE, NOT THE WAR</center>

Whalers (3) vs Raiders (2) (SO)

While the Raiders were able to control most of the game, Vancouver, on the sticks of Pablo Biznette (for the tying goal) and Bernie Sanders (for the winning), were able to come away two points.

The first period saw goals from Felix Herzog and Diego Ramirez. Herzog opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the season on a Raider powerplay, assisted by Reinis Aumeisters and Leif De Bruin. The Whalers responded five minutes later with a goal from Diego Ramirez, assisted by Zach Zyvleski and Theodore Graham.

The second period was on the same level of excitement. Halifax once again opened the stanza with a goal. It came off the stick of Mike Ross, with helpers from Hunter Johnson and Montel Vontavious Porter. But the real hero of the period, and perhaps the game, was from Pablo Biznette, who scored his first of the season and first goal on the powerplay with a little assist-help from Charlie Conway. This really shaped the rest of the way the game was going to go.

Although the shots from Halifax climbed to near 40 by the end of the game, Vancouver got its confidence. The Whaler defense may have let the shots through, but they funneled them all into easily visible lanes for rookie goaltender, Stiv Dingels.

The third period saw almost no action in terms of boxscore – no penalties or goals. It really was reflective of how the game was – I mean that in terms of battles. It was a hard-fought game, to be sure.

<center>HIGHLIGHT REEL


Felix Herzog snaps one home on the powerplay



Pablo Biznette ties the game with minutes left in the second period



Stiv Dingels come up huge on a shootout save, denying fellow rookie, Reflieux for the Whaler win</center>


<center>STATS BREAKDOWN</center>
Halifax shot count climbed to heights it’d almost never seen before. They outshot Vancouver’s game total by the time they’d reached the end of the second period. This is indicative of an offense that cannot produce goals from shots or perhaps a weak Whaler defense. Either way, the game’s shots were 38-24 in favour of Halifax.

Leading the way for Halifax in the shot department was Aumeisters with 6 (and an assist) over his 18 minutes of play time. Charlie Conway tipped in 7 shots of his own (and an assist) to lead the Whalers in most shots by a player.

One thing that the Raiders kept consistent was their possession time. They spent most of the game in the Whaler defensive zone and kept pressure up on the young Whalers goalie. Yet the Vancouver defense were able to keep the goals to two over the course of the game. Kudos to them!

<div align="center">UNSUNG HERO</div>
Stiv Dingels: A rookie-star of a goaltender who won his second start against a very tough Raiders team. For one, he came into Halifax arena that was louder than imaginable. He gave up the first goal, but the last. This is a perfect example of keeping a level head over the course of a tough game. Dingels faced more shots than opposing goalie, Raider starting goalie, Richard C. Hocolate, and outlasted him during the post-overtime shootout. Stiv Dingels came away with a shiny 0.947 save percentage and 1.85 goals against average.

Rob Wright

Player Page | Update Page

Game 169
3
1

Synopsis

Wins this season have been few and far between for the Colorado Mammoths, but on this night the young squad pulled out the victory against the Vancouver Whalers by a 3-1 final. Despite Vancouver holding a 28-12 shots on goal advantage and the Mammoths recording no more than five shots in a period all game, Colorado was able to get two goals from Antoine Vietto and the game winner from Maverick O'Dooley, along with 27 saves on 28 shots in another standout performance from goaltender Jacob Andrews. Vietto's goals were his fifth and sixth of the season, while Andrews hit the double digit mark in victories, with his tenth of the season. For Vancouver, Lars Dahlstrom collected the lone tally in defeat, while netminder Triforce Link made just nine saves on 12 shots as he record fell to 13-12-3 on the season.

Highlight Reel (Part 1)

1. Vietto Gets The Party Started



Antoine Vietto has not been the most decorated name on the Colorado roster this season, recording just third line minutes and limited time on special teams, but today he took control of the game early with the first period's lone goal 8:21 into the game. Vietto collected the puck from Abed Nadir and cut through the slot, firing a shot on his forehand past Vancouver netminder Triforce Link to give his side a 1-0 advantage.

2. O'Dooley Fires Through The Traffic For The Game Winner



After Vancouver had tied the score in the second period after a commanding 12-5 shots advantage, defenseman Maverick O'Dooley took advantage of traffic in front to put his team ahead 2-1, a lead they would not lose. With the Mammoths on the man advantage with less than 12 minutes to play in the game, O'Dooley took a feed at the point from new acquisition Jack Dabkowski, waited for his teammates to create a wall in front, and fired a well-placed wrist shot through the traffic and between Link's legs for his fifth goal of the season.

3. Dover And Andrews Preserve The Win



The remainder of the third period was a tense battle, with just 10 total shots between the teams, but Vancouver was unable to capitalize on a golden opportunity in the game's final five minutes, prior to Vietto's insurance tally. The puck squirted through the slot to Winston Porter, who seemed to have a lot of net to shoot at, but a sliding Ben Dover saved the day with the original block. Dover's stop gave his netminder Andrews time to come over and make the second save, a sprawling effort to deny Porter's teammate Thor Peterson, who had collected the rebound.

Interview With Maverick O'Dooley (Part 2)

Q: Maverick, big win for you guys despite the shot differential, what does this one mean to you guys?
MOD: "We definitely needed this one," the young Irish defenseman said. "We knew that this was a big game for us, coming in against a third placed Vancouver team, and thankfully we were able to pull this one out. Jacob was great between the pipes and Vietto came through with a couple of goals. We needed that one."

Q: You got the game winner tonight, what did you see on that play?
MOD: "Usually on the power play, one of our keys is to get traffic in front of the other goalie and the forwards were able to do that on my goal. It seemed like there were five or six bodies blocking Link and I knew if I could get my shot through it had a good chance of going in. I focused on getting my wrister by the first guy and thankfully it snuck through for a pretty big goal."

Q: Talk about what it's like having that great last line of defense in Jacob Andrews.
A: "It's unreal having him back there. There's no way around saying this is a really young squad and having a safety net there on so many mistake's we've made is certainly a nice boost for us. Looking at a game like tonight, we felt that even though the shots looked bad, we were able to limit Jacob's difficult opportunities, but even if we did give one up we shouldn't have, we knew he'd bail us out. He's a huge asset to our team."

Three Stars (Part 3)


1. Antoine Vietto -

Vietto played his finest game of the season to date, as he netted the first and third goals in the 3-1 victory. Nietto, known usually for his defensive play on the checking line, took full advantage of both of his chances and powered Colorado through to a much needed two points in the standings.

2. Jacob Andrews -

Andrews was his usual composed self between the pipes, as he turned aside 27 of the 28 shots he faced. Despite playing behind a team that was overmatched for large stretches of the action tonight, Andrews was stout in net as he earned his 10th victory of the season.

3. Abed Nadir -

Vietto's linemate Abed Nadir was the game's other unlikely hero, as he collected assists on both of Vietto's goals for a multi-point effort of his own. Nadir's pass was the primary assist on Vietto's first goal in the opening period, before he began the play that led to his second and game icing goal in the third period.

Final Thoughts

While most likely frustrated with the result, Vancouver can take pride in their game, as they controlled much of the play throughout the game. Colorado will consider themselves fortunate to have won this one, but will take pride in their defensive effort and heart, with a gritty, never give up effort powering the team to a victory.

Game 200: The Final Fight!

VANCOUVER WHALERS VS ST. LOUIS SCARECROWS

Bienvenue and bonsoir! Tonight's Post-Game Show is brought to you by the fine folks over at Stride! Longest lasting gum this side of the St. Lawrence River! Actually, make that... the WORLD.

HIGHLIGHT REEEEEEL:
Tonight's game was a busy one, so let's get straight to the action.

Starting lines are as follows:
<center>VANCOUVER WHALERS
Diego Ramirez|Charlie Conway|Conklin Owen
Pablo Biznette|Theodore Graham

ST. LOUIS SCARECROWS
Sebastian Strange|Eugene Feist|Harry Hans
DarryL Landry|Kelly Rivet</center>

It'll be Triforce Link in net for the Whalers, mirroring him will be Casey Holmes backing the St. Louis net.

Tonight's game was Too Fast Too Furious to start. Right off the bat, scoring was opened by the Whalers with back-to-back goals. Firstly, Alfred Holiday slapped home a powerplay goal , with assists going to Jon Ross and Bernie Sanders. Then, nearly three minutes later, Pablo Biznette scored his eighth of the year on an unfortunate St. Louis bounce - Joe Kerr had blocked a shot, but the puck came right back to Pablo who fired it past Holmes and into the net.

<center>
Biznette's incredible goal</center>

But the Whaler lead was short lived. With a minute and fifteen seconds left to play in the first period, SMJHL leading scorer and rookie, Frans Erichsen, delivered one of the most beautiful goals to date, as seen below.

<center>
Erichsen drives through all oncomers to score his twenty-ninth of the season</center>

That was all the first period had. Onto the second period!

The second stanza was one of goals for one time - and that team was the Scarecrows.

The Scarecrows opened the second period scoring four minutes into the game off of a Bernie Sanders roughing penalty when Harry Hans scored :goal his twenty-second of the year, with assists from Strange and Landry. This was followed up a minute later when Landry collected his second point of the night on a follow-up powerplay goal ! Strange collected his second point of the night as well, with Rivet gaining a secondary assist on the powerplay goal. The 'Crows weren't finished though, because a minute after the last goal, Feist struck paydirt !!

<center>
Feist uses strong stick skills to get past the Whalers defense</center>

That was it in terms of scoring for the second period, although a handful of penalties were handed out to both the Whalers and the Scarecrows. Stiv Dingels was brought in to relieve the peppered Triforce Link after the Feist goal.

Onto the third period!

Action was scarce, but there was one goal to be had. A pity it had to come too little too late for the Whalers! But it was Charlie Conway scoring his nineteenth of the year - a powerplay goal! Assisted by Pablo Biznette and Alfred Holiday.

STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN:

Penalties and powerplay will be the focus of our breakdown today. For a powerhouse in the powerplay department like St. Louis, this was all regular - two powerplay goals over five attempts (40%). But what really stood out was the Whalers' powerplay. Over the regular season the Whalers had the worst powerplay percentage, but tonight they converted on two of their seven attempts (28.57%) - literally doubling their season average. Though maybe it wasn't as surprising as the Scarecrows have the league's worst penalty kill percentage. However, when comparing the two teams, St. Louis has a combined powerplay + penalty kill of 101.62% while the Whalers held the league-worst 95.05%.

What implications will this have for the playoffs? It remains to be seen (he says, after two games of the final have been simulated). But it will assuredly be an exciting series over the course of the following weeks as the playoffs get kicked off.

Which brings us to our final segment! The Three Stars of the game!

THREE STARS:
NUMERO THREE: Eugene Feist - He scored the game winner and was the last goal on Triforce Link that saw him yanked out of the game. Feist was also 50% in the faceoff circle, had three shots and two hits. That's why he's number three.

NUMBER THE SECOND: Frans Erichsen - What can I say? The kid's amazing. He's got all that raw talent and all that raw power, as evidenced from his play in tonight's game. Erichsen had one goal, three shots, and one hit over 15:48 of play.

THE FIRST STAR: DarryL Landry - Another rookie topping this personalized top three list. Landry had a tri-point night, including two powerplay points and an assist on the game winner. In addition to the three points, DarryL scored on his only shot of the game, and played over 20 minutes.

Rob Wright

Player Page | Update Page

You've doomed yourself with your hubris, Snuffalupagus. Posting a PGS with the Scarecrows beating the Whalers while we're in a dead heat in the finals so far?! Blasphemy!

Conklin Owen | LW | Texas Renegades | TPE: 1761

Player Type: Sniper

Number: 6

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 185 lbs

Shoots: Left

SHL Statistics

S32 TXR | GP:  50 | G: 11 | A: 7 | P: 18 | +/-: -10 | PIMS: 2 | H: 11 | S: 90 | S%: 12.2%

S33 TXR | GP:  50 | G: 12 | A: 7 | P: 19 | +/-: +1 | PIMS: 10 | H: 30 | S: 87 | S%: 13.8%

S34 TXR | GP:  50 | G: 21 | A: 19 | P: 40 | +/-: +8 | PIMS: 10 | H: 48 | S: 176 | S%: 11.9%

S35 TXR | GP:  50 | G: 18 | A: 14 | P: 32 | +/-: +8 | PIMS: 7 | H: 14 | S: 182| S%: 9.9%

S36 TXR | GP:  50 | G: 25 | A: 25 | P: 50 | +/-: +5 | PIMS: 0 | H: 10 | S: 238 | S%: 10.5%

S37 TXR | GP:  50 | G: 16 | A: 27 | P: 43 | +/-: +2 | PIMS: 12 | H: 37 | S: 205 | S%: 7.8%

S38 TXR | GP:  0 - SUSPENDED

S39 TXR | GP:  50 | G: 24 | A: 36 | P: 60 | +/-: +24 | PIMS: 18 | H: 87 | S: 210 | S%: 11.4%

S40 TXR | GP:  50 | G: 20 | A: 20 | P: 40 | +/-: -6 | PIMS: 18 | H: 107 | S: 176 | S%: 11.4%

S41 TXR | GP:  50 | G: 21 | A: 22 | P: 43 | +/-: -16 | PIMS: 9 | H: 21 | S: 205 | S%: 10.6%

Career...| GP:  450 | G: 168 | A: 177 | P: 345 | +/-: +16 | PIMS: 86 | H: 365 | S: 1569 | S%: 10.7%

SHL Playoff Statistics

S34 TXR | GP:  10 | G: 3 | A: 3 | P: 6 | +/-: +4 | PIMS: 8 | H: 14 | S: 26 | S%: 11.5%

S35 TXR | GP: 6 | G: 2 | A: 3 | P: 5 | +/-: -5 | PIMS: 0 | H: 0 | S: 21 | S%: 9.5%

S36 TXR | GP: 16 | G: 8 | A: 4 | P: 12 | +/-: -1 | PIMS: 2 | H: 3 | S: 56 | S%: 14.3% - Challenge Cup Winner

S37 TXR | GP: 4 | G: 1 | A: 2 | P: 3 | +/-: -4 | PIMS: 2 | H: 7 | S: 11 | S%: 9.1%

S40 TXR | GP: 5 | G: 1 | A: 0 | P: 1 | +/-: -2 | PIMS: 4 | H: 14 | S: 14 | S%: 7.1%

Career...| GP:  44 | G: 15 | A: 12 | P: 27 | +/-: -8 | PIMS: 16 | H: 38 | S: 128 | S%: 11.7%

SHJML Statistics

S29 VAN | GP:  50 | G: 9 | A: 5 | P: 14 | +/-: -13 | PIMS: 15 | H: 54 | S: 70 | S%: 12.9%

S30 VAN | GP:  50 | G: 24 | A: 25 | P: 49 | +/-: +15 | PIMS: 13 | H: 35 | S: 160 | S%: 15.0%

S31 VAN | GP:  50 | G: 16 | A: 19 | P: 35 | +/-: +20 | PIMS: 0 | H: 15 | S: 100 | S%: 16.0%

Career...| GP:  150 | G: 49 | A: 49 | P: 98 | +/-: +22 | PIMS: 28 | H: 104 | S: 330 | S%: 14.8%

SHJML Playoff Statistics

S29 VAN | GP:  18 | G: 7 | A: 3 | P: 10 | +/-: -6 | PIMS: 6 | H: 21 | S: 53 | S%: 13.2%

S30 VAN | GP: 6 | G: 3 | A: 3 | P: 6 | +/-: +3 | PIMS: 0 | H: 6 | S: 26 | S%: 11.5%

S31 VAN | GP: 14 | G: 5 | A: 2 | P: 7 | +/-:+7  | PIMS: 0 | H: 3 | S: 31 | S%: 16.1%

Career.....| GP:  38 | G: 15 | A: 8 | P: 23 | +/-: +4 | PIMS: 6 | H: 30 | S: 110 | S%: 13.6%

IHF Statistics

S29 IRL | GP:  8 | G: 1 | A: 0 | P: 1 | +/-: -7 | PIMS: 0 | H: 2 | S: 8 | S%: 12.5%

S30 IRL | GP:  10 | G: 0 | A: 0 | P: 0 | +/-: -11 | PIMS: 4 | H: 8 | S: 10 | S%: 0%

S31 IRL | GP:  10 | G: 1 | A: 1 | P: 2 | +/-: -7 | PIMS: 4 | H: 7 | S: 7 | S%: 14.3%

S32 IRL | GP:  10 | G: 5 | A: 6 | P: 11 | +/-: +9 | PIMS: 2 | H: 12 | S: 36 | S%: 13.9%

S33 IRL | GP:  10 | G: 3 | A: 1 | P: 4 | +/-: -2 | PIMS: 2 | H: 13 | S: 25 | S%: 12.0%

S34 IRL | GP:  10 | G: 1 | A: 5 | P: 6 | +/-: 0 | PIMS: 0 | H: 25 | S: 51 | S%: 2.0%

S35 IRL | GP:  10 | G: 3 | A: 2 | P: 5 | +/-: -4 | PIMS: 2 | H: 20 | S: 37 | S%: 8.0%

S35 IRL | GP:  11 | G: 7 | A: 4 | P: 11 | +/-: +2 | PIMS: 16 | H: 30 | S: 66 | S%: 10.6%

S36 IRL | GP: 11  | G: 7 | A: 4 | P: 11 | +/-: +2 | PIMS: 16 | H: 30 | S: 66 | S%: 10.6%

S37 IRL | GP: 13  | G: 3 | A: 15 | P: 18 | +/-: -4 | PIMS: 10 | H: 23 | S: 54 | S%: 5.6% - Silver Medal

S38 IRL | GP: 10  | G: 3 | A: 7 | P: 10 | +/-: -3 | PIMS: 2 | H: 24 | S: 58 | S%: 5.2%

S39 IRL | GP: 12  | G: 6 | A: 5 | P: 11 | +/-: +5 | PIMS: 4 | H: 33 | S: 58 | S%: 9.0% - Bronze Medal

S40 IRL | GP: 11  | G: 2 | A: 4 | P: 6 | +/-: 0 | PIMS: 6 | H: 18 | S: 26 | S%: 7.7%

Career...| GP:  125 | G: 35 | A: 50 | P: 85 | +/-: -22 | PIMS: 52 | H: 215 | S: 445 | S%: 7.9%

All Time..| GP:  807 | G: 282 | A: 296 | P: 578 | +/-: +12 | PIMS: 188 | H: 752 | S: 2582 | S%: 10.92%

TRANSACTIONS

S29 - Signed $2,000,000 (1 yr) w/ VAN

S29 - Transferred to Ireland for IIHF Play

S30 - Drafted 16th overall by the Texas Renegades

S30 - Signed a 3 year, $9,000,000 contract w/ TX

<S33 - Signed a 2 year, $7,000,000 extension w/ TX

S35 - Signed a 3 year, $20,000,000 extension w/ TX (NTC, Player Option) - Voided year 3 via Player Option

S37 - Signed a 3 year, $12,000,000 extension w/ TX (HTD)

S40 - Signed a 1 year, $3,000,000 extension w/ TX (HTD)

S41 - Signed a 1 year, $8,000,000 extension w/ TX

Career Contract Earning: 13 years, $55 million

Update Page      Player Page
Career Moments
S36 Challenge Cup Clinching Goal, 4 pt Night
S36 IIHF OT GWer to send IRL to the Medals for first time in 9 seasons
S39 1st Team All-Star

Hello, one and all, to another edition of SMJHL Today. In this installment, we take a look at an early-season matchup of inter-conference rivals. The Saint Louis Scarecrows, stalwarts in the Eastern Conference, were set to take on [at the time] the best in the west in the Kelowna Knights. This game sure was a tight one, and from what we'll see both teams pretty much stuck to their gameplans heading in. It literally came down to the very end.

Let's look at the Keys to the Game for each side:

St Louis

• Get the puck to Frans. Frans Erichsen, the rookie sensation, is having an incredible year. Although we're covering this game in retrospect to the regular season, he was leading not just rookies - but the entire league in points for the majority of the schedule. He finished the year with 29 goals. St Louis would need some of his offensive magic to assure themselves of the victory.
  
• Keep up the shots. Kelowna's defense is more finesse-oriented. They don't hit, but they sure do block shots. It's up to a high volume team like St Louis to not lose sight of the goals - literally.
  
• Maintain physical presence. St Louis has found themselves in a dominant position when the hits numbers are on their side, but the speed of Kelowna should have them worried on that front. It's up to especially the low liners of defense -- like Joe Kerr and Danny Foster to beat up on those speedy Knights forwards.
  

Kelowna

• Get a good game from Laukkanen. Kelowna's beast between the pipes, Mikke Laukkanen, needs to be on point. Should the Kelowna defense break down, St Louis is great at chasing rebounds. He's gotta limit the number of times the Scarecrows can crash the net.
  
• Get some production from the lower lines. The St Louis defense, as I just discussed, is going to be headhunting on Lines 2-4. That's simply because their first line is perhaps the most dominant set of forwards in the SMJHL. Kelowna, however, might see an early advantage in their forward depth. Dieter Dominique is sure to be a focal point as the 2nd-line center. The 4th line could take advantage of a tired Harry Hans who's on double-duty again tonight.
  
• Stay out of the box. For how little Kelowna hits, they need to avoid penalties when they actually decide to lay the lumber. Although this shouldn't be a problem, they have a few usual suspects when it comes to PIMs. Namely, Mia Landvik and Fedor Shirobokov.
  

Now that those are out of the way, let's get some highlights in, since we had a little bonus play in there:

1st period - Kelowna strikes first, St Louis counters
It took quite a while for these offenses to get going. A lot of missed passes, hits off the puck, and missed opportunities. Neither team even reached double-digit shots in the 1st period (St Louis with 7, Kelowna with 9). Very rare for these two teams to be held to such low numbers. It wasn't until the 12th minute that the tie was broken:

Holmes corrals the bouncing puck, gets it to Matteo who heads up the ice. He looks for Greenholm up ice - intercepted by Justice! It's an odd-man rush for Kelowna! It gets to Mazmiesis. He fires to Mia Landvik, she mishandles the puck! She had a shot there but didn't take it ... back to Mazmiesis. The St Louis defense files in but Kelowna is still attacking. Back to Landvik ... AGAIN to Mazmiesis ... he waits for an opening ... over to Zamloch, FIRES ... SCOOOOORES! the fourth line gets the first goal, just like we talked about pre-game ... Kelowna up 1-0!

Play was rather even for a few more minutes. But, in the final minutes of the first, a Kelowna miscue led to the equalizer:

The Knights are still playing with a lot of speed and spunk. It seems like that early goal really helped with morale ... Landry trying to get something going and Dolph Ziggler intercepts it for Kelowna. He gets it over to Bernard Frederic. Landry ... RACING over and STEALS the puck! He's got all the Kelowna defense behind him! Erichsen's all alone - the pass across Laukkanen ... GOOOOOAL!! Frans Erichsen thanks to DarryL Landry on a HELL of a hustle play. Wow, you don't see that too often. This St Louis team is something special.

3rd period - Landvik goes Crazy
The Scarecrows had put themselves up 2-1 a few minutes into the 2nd period by way of a great goal from Kevin Smith. Kelowna was doing their best to fight back, and they were even winning the battle in hits, but it wasn't til a powerplay with 5 minutes left in the game that Mia Landvik decided to take matters into her own hands.

...Going into the 2nd half of this powerplay. Holmes has played a great game for the Crows thus far, having a great start to this young season. But now they're in trouble. This PK unit for St Louis is VISIBLY tired as Mia Landvik passes it over to Dominique. He moves it back to Landvik. FIRES ONE and that's blocked by Feist. No one else around the puck, Landvik grabs it again. Gets it back to Dominique ... to Shirobokov ... he SHOOTS and Rivet was in front of that before his stick went up. But it's Landvik again SHE'S STORMING THROUGH! .... HITS THE POST! Holmes is scrambling, he doesn't know where it went ... Landvik gets it AGAIN! She dekes past Rivet ... SHOT ... SCORE!!!! Landvik was NOT giving up, what a play from the Knights superstar!

The Shootout: Down to their Last 'Out
Overtime was quite a defensive battle. It might not have been defense, though, as much as fatigue. Neither team could even complete three consecutive passes. It was a dismal five minutes of play, with only 2 shots on goal from each side. It was clear by the end that the players slated for a shootout were saving their strength. It only paid off for one player - who else but Harry Hans:

Hans stepping to center ice. Man, he looks mean. I'd hate to be Mikke Laukkanen right now. With Yanovich looking on nervous, knowing he must absolutely score, I'd say it all comes down to this.

Here we go! Hans shuffles up ice rather nonchalantly. Doesn't want to give Mikke a hint either way. A nice, large deke ... now he's shuffling the feet. Spins around - lots of pageantry, here ... finally rushes on net ... a flick of the wrist, IT'S IN FOR A GOOOOOOAL! Harry Hans has broken the tie with a simple wrister to the top shelf. I'd say that's all she wrote, folks! What a great game from both sides.

Naturally, as the commentary predicted, Yanovich missed his shot and the Scarecrows went home with 2 points.

Other key performances: Fedor Shirobokov kept himself out of the penalty box but, just as importantly, he laid people OUT. Five hits and three shot blocks in a great game ... Alexander Charlyb'y once again lived up to his specialty, winning 23 of 33 faceoff opportunities ... Joe Kerr didn't do much in one of his first games as a Scarecrow, and his partner Danny Foster only had two hits, but they didn't let up any goals on their line!

Final Score
St Louis - 3 (SO)
Kelowna - 2

Welcome YET AGAIN to SMJHL Today. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, since I JUST explained Keys to the Game and the like with these two teams going to battle, we're going to do things a little differently. But we'll get to that. Today's matchup, much like my last broadcast, is between the St Louis Scarecrows and the Kelowna Knights. The keys to this game are identical to the last one for two very specific reasons:

1. The last game was a dead lock. It went to overtime and was decided on the penultimate shot, a laser wrister from Harry Hans. The teams were virtually even up until them, so to change anything on either side would be asinine. Any one misstep could have changed the outcome of the game, so why mess with success?
2. This is the NEXT GAME for both teams. As part of a two-game series, both Kelowna and St Louis knew it'd be a doubleheader. Maybe that's why both teams were rather cautious and played evenly for 65+ minutes the night before. Maybe not ... but wishful thinking from a mere commentator. But yes, changing the gameplan would be impractical given just a day to prepare for the same team and, ultimately, the same lineups. All I know is, Mia Landvik can have another game like that and pretty much guarantee victory for the Knights. No way can a Scarecrows defense match that intensity we saw from her in the 3rd period.

Let's look at some highlights!

1st period - some goals, but more importantly, a fight
Danny Foster signed on with the Scarecrows just five games into the season. The St Louis organization knew that he was enforcer, and that his number one priority was to improve the already dominant and deep physicality of the Crows defense. It only took a few games, though, for Foster to get into his first scrap in the SMJHL:

The shot misses wide, and Bartok picks it up for Kelowna ... he sees what's about to happen and he's sort of just holding the puck in the offensive zone. Danny Foster has started discussing something with Shirobokov, and that's it, they're gonna GO! Shirobokov opens with a left jab. Foster grabs his shirt and has a BIG overhand right for Fedor's head. His helmet's off ... Foster is smiling. Oh no, he's gone Bananas! Both players absolutely WHALING on each other! The refs tackle them both down to the ground, and for good reason. Not much blood on either of them just yet, but it wasn't going to be long, that's for sure. I'll call that one a draw, good scrap though. Welcome to the league, Foster!

3rd period - redemption for both fighters
Once both Foster and Shirobokov had calmed down a little bit, they decided to get in on the action. The game was tied, 2-2, heading into the 3rd period. Halfway through the period, the Crows seized an opportunity:

...Still in a tie game here, as Linna receives the pass from Mikael Talo at center ice. Looking for a give-and-go ... picked off by Joe Kerr and he's going the other way! He gets it forward to McHale but he's going to slow it down a little bit. He knows he has time ... over to Danny Foster, bruised and battered as he may be. Moves it into the offensive zone ... Back to Kerr, who's now caught up. McHale files in, grabs the puck from Kerr. McHale dekes, goes on the attack ... back to Kerr, HUGE ONE TIMER ... SCOOOOOORES!!! Joe Kerr with his first of the year, and Foster's one step closer to a Gordie Howe Hattrick! What a cool, calm, collected display of passing.

Frans Erichsen added another goal at the 18th minute of the 3rd to give the Crows a late 2-goal lead. In a brief sign of urgency, though, Fedor Shirobokov found his play for redemption:

And the stadium is still buzzing after that goal from Erichsen, WHAT a shot to get by Laukkanen ... while the play hasn't been great from either goaltender some of these shots have been fantastic, so I can't be too hard on them ... the SHOT by Lever and it goes wide. Sven Bartok picks it up behind the St Louis net. Greenholm wrestles the puck away and he's headed to the blue line. Here comes Fedor ... he picks off the puck, now the numbers are still with Kelowna in the attacking side! He gets the puck across ice to Hohenberg. Hohenberg back to Bartok ... GOAL! Now Shirobokov has matched Foster with one fight to a draw and one assist tonight ... Bartok REALLY hadn't moved since he got the puck taken from him. Greenholm lost track and sure enough, he's the one to put it in the net. Now Kelowna has 2 minutes to tie it up!

Key Comparison - Stars from Last Game
As I mentioned before, two key players (not necessarily the three stars of the game) were of note going into this game. Let's take a look at how they fared in this contest.

Harry Hans -

• 22:49 TOI
  
• 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, +/-0
  
• 2 H
  
• 3 SOG
  
• 4 PIM
  

Even though he was probably riding high with that game winner in the shootout, it's clear that Hans didn't have his greatest game. Catching two minors is rough, especially since his first penalty - a tough goalie interference call that could have gone either way - led to the first goal of the game for the Knights. His two hits show that he was there physically, but three shots and no points while playing 23 minutes is rather inexcusable. Grade = C

Mia Landvik -

• 21:51 TOI
  
• 0G, 1A, 1P, -1
  
• 2H, 3SB
  
• 2 SOG
  
• 4 PIM
  

Landvik has never been known for her discipline. By that same token, she plays 100% all the time, and that's sometimes worth more on a team that very rarely gets themselves in PIM trouble. However, her PIMS really cost her team this time around - her delaying the game penalty in the second period allowed a powerplay goal that put the Scarecrows back in the game. You could argue that it gave them momentum to score their 3rd and 4th goals to open the 3rd period! She had great defensive numbers but the -1 rating in this case says it all, especially since she was on the ice for the first goal. Grade = C-

Other Key Performances: Kelly Rivet, after an off night in the last game, really picked up the defense with 3 hits and 4 shot blocks ... Eugene Feist had a bad game himself and couldn't even win the faceoffs, just 9 out of 19 opportunities ... Ty Justice cost his team dearly with 10 PIM and just one hit in 19 minutes of playtime ... Beau Bent should be one of the few Knights happy with his performance, scoring his first goal of his career with only one shot on net.

There you have it, folks. It was certainly a tale of two games, even though they were both decided by just one goal. The first matchup between St Louis and Kelowna was fundamentally sound and down to the very last shot. This game was sloppy by all accounts, and somehow the Scarecrows completed the sweep. Games like this are what make championship runs special, though; the true winners can mitigate the mistakes and come up with victories in any way possible.

Final Score
St Louis - 4
Kelowna - 3

GAME 45 - FIREBIRDS @ WHALERS




Rivalries are never more fierce than when they're local, and the one shared by the Vancouver Whalers and Prince George Firebirds is exactly that. Besides sharing a province, both teams share a goal to be the best team in their Western Conference, and as always it was a tough game for both sides as they faced off against each other.





1. Highlight Reel

First period, 13:01

"Thor Pederson receives the pass from Lars Dahlstrom in his own zone and will skate with it! He has the opportunity to pass but decides to skate ahead, and it's fired from just inside the blueline! Dafoe tries to stop it high glove side but it's beaten him, Vancouver takes the lead!"



Second period, 0:36

"Theodore Graham makes the breakout pass out of the Whalers zone and it will be received by Jon Ross. Ross skates it in, he has Sanders to his left, Ross passes it to Sanders who shoots and scores! The Whalers double their lead!"



Second Period, 11:52

"Kubrak possesses the puck for the Whalers, it's slid to Biznette. Biznette passes it down the ice to Carl Farris, Farris shoots from the point and it goes past Dafoe and into the net. Three goal lead for the Whalers!"






2. You and me got a whole lotta history...

Being local rivals means there's some bitter history between the Prince George Firebirds and the Vancouver Whalers, and this was really on show in their S28 playoff series. In the Western Semis, Vancouver were expected to do the business on Prince George who had traded away some players and were mostly looking to retool for the next season. However, fans of both teams were left stunned when the series lasted just 5 games, as the Firebirds delivered an emphatic 4-1 series win over the Whalers. Every game these teams play feels like it could erupt, but but game 5 of the series took this to an extreme. Penalties were constantly being called as the Firebirds took a convincing 3-1 win in the Whalers own Pacific Colosseum. A true rivalry between two teams that have a lot to play for again this season.

3. I have to praise you like I should...
The Game's Unsung Heroes.

Now comes the time when we pick a player for each team who stood out for something a bit less obvious than the usual statistics we consider. For the Vancouver Whalers, we have Triforce Link. Being a goalie isn't ever a easy job; so much expectation is placed on the shoulders of one player that they can crack even in games when they aren't called on too often. Triforce Link however delivered a good performance for the Whalers, saving 14 out of the 15 shots he faced to give a 0.933 save percentage, and most importantly, win his team the game. When it comes to the Firebirds, their unsung hero would have to be defenseman Tapper Kottbulle. A big bodied defender ho player big minutes, Tapper Kottbulle was on the ice for nearly half the game, managed to avoid being a minus unlike the majority of players on his team and delivered a point in the form of an assist. His hard working performance when his team wasn't firing around him earns him his place as the game's unsung hero on the Firebirds.

In conclusion

A fierce rivalry that did not disappoint, the Whalers played a comprehensive and impressive game that hints strongly at a chance at postseason success.

Final Score:

Prince George Firebirds - 1
Vancouver Whalers - 3

KEEGAN ANGELLO - CENTER - #91

<a href='index.php?showuser=1322' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-45'>mpc</a> since the claim thread is locked, this completes my cap

We're back again for another exciting game recap courtesy of SMJHL Today. Today's matchup was between the Halifax Raiders and the St Louis Scarecrows. The game was hard-fought on both ends, and some rather uncharacteristic statlines led to yet another Scarecrows victory. It's interesting to note that this matchup was eventually a first-round playoff series, and the Raiders posed the biggest problem to St. Louis - the Crows needed 6 games to move forward, when they only needed 5 to finish the Four Star Cup run as well as the Conference Finals.

Let's kick things off with some Keys to the Game for both sides.

Halifax Raiders

• Shoot early and often. Although Casey Holmes is no slouch in net (at this point in the season he was 9-3-1), he was prone to some inconsistent play whenever the opposing team would get an early goal and shoot often. It's up to those fierce snipers on the first line in Felix Herzog and Leif de Bruin to really kick things off and let momentum take its course.
  
• Don't get bullied. The Crows are stocked up on big hitters, and the Raiders don't have much to combat that. While they can simply avoid the physical play, it might be useful to stop the bullying by fighting fire with fire. Look for Montel Vontavious Porter to unleash a few hits should the going get tough.
  
• Keep the faceoff battle close. I bring this up every time, but Charlyb'y is a game-changer. If you lose 2/3rds of the faceoffs to him, you'll probably lose the game, given the offensive firepower that surrounds him. Hopefully De Bruin and rookie sensation Jean-Luc Reflieux can step up to the plate.
  

St Louis Scarecrows

• Get the puck to Erichsen. It's true, Frans Erichsen is having a great time out there for the Crows. He was at the top of the league in points for most of the season. Give him the puck and let him do what he does best - put a lot of shots on net and hope for a mistake from the opposing goalie.
  
• Block some shots. It's rarely mentioned by the media, but the Crows do have quite a few great shot blockers. The leader of this bunch is Kelly Rivet, who had 63 shot blocks over the course of the season. Vincenzo Matteo and Joe Kerr also had their fair share, with 47 and 44 respectively. If the Raiders get to shooting a little too much, look for these guys to take a dive.
  
• Don't overthink it. Coming into this game, the Crows have won 2 in a row. They played Halifax in the game before that, only to lose in OT, 5-4. Usually the idea of losing in overtime to a team and playing them again is daunting, but the depth of St Louis should leave them reassured. Not changing the gameplan too much is the way to go.
  

With those out of the way, let's check out a few highlights from the game.

First Period: Halifax Shoots 100%
The first 20 minutes of action was rather strange, for multiple reasons. For starters, the Scarecrows only managed 7 shots on net. That'd be the strangest stat of the period, if not for how many shots Halifax had: ONE. Yes, just a single shot in the entire first period. And we know exactly when it came, because it was a good one from Corey Eaves:

"And it's Travis Svahn finally making an offensive move for the Raiders, over six minutes into this game ... Svahn looks for Marner ... picked off by Adam Greenholm who stumbles and gives the puck right back! Now he's out of position! Matthew Shea takes the puck toward the net. He finds Marner, Marner fires back to Corey Eaves ... SHOOTS ... SCOOOORES! Corey Eaves makes the Raiders 1-for-1 on the night, and we have a tie game! What a counter attack when Halifax needed it the most, and Casey Holmes is NOT happy in the Scarecrows net right now ..."

As the commentary mentioned, Bill Pickle had put one away a minute before that. A few minutes after the Halifax goal, Frans Erichsen scored his 9th of the season on another brilliant offensive play set up by an Alexander Charlyb'y faceoff victory.

Second Period: Sugar Free C.Hocolate
Both defenses played absolutely brilliantly in this game. It's also fair to say, though, that not many shots actually made it to the net. Frans Erichsen picked up the scoring right where he left off, just seconds after Jack Dabkowski was put in the box for hooking. The powerplay has been a force for St Louis all season, and this just continued the streak. With the score 3-1 and Richard C. Hocolate sweating bullets in net, the Crows looked for the finishing blow in the closing minutes:

"Hocolate goes behind the net to gather the puck. He sends it forward to Marner ... Marner skates rather slowly to the blue line, looking for a long pass up ice - INTERCEPTED! It's Rogers looking the other way for St Louis! He gets the puck to Kelly Rivet. He's FLYING toward the net! Pass to Harry Hans - ONE TIMER! GOOOOOOOAL!! There was nooo doubt about that one! Hocolate is absolutely getting pulled after that, what a miscue by him and Marner. No sense of urgency in a 3-1 game ... well, now it's 4-1, and this game's all but over given the lack of shots ..."

Third Period: Holmes Takes it Home
Let's be honest; there wasn't much excitement after the 2nd period of play. The game was basically won after Hocolate got pulled, and although Carter Fleury did a decent job stopping the bleeding, the Scarecrows weren't necessarily looking for more goals. To the Raiders' credit, they certainly did not give up. They had 16 shots in the third period, which is only 2 fewer than both teams had combined through the first two periods. Was the Scarecrows defense getting careless? Absolutely. But you have to give credit to Casey Holmes for standing on his head and only letting in 1 of those 16.

Final Score
Scarecrows - 5
Raiders - 2

Other Key Performances: Felix Herzog had a rough game, with 6 shots (most of them in that 3rd period of craziness) that didn't net a single point, along with a -2 rating ... Victor Lindstrom and Colin Banning did most of the dirty work for the Raiders, combining for 5 of the team's 8 shot blocks ... Danny Foster had a game-high four hits and only managed a single penalty for interference ... Alexander Charlyb'y and Eugene Fiest were a combined 33/53 from the faceoff circle, which is 62%.

I'll add you in, <a href='index.php?showuser=1583' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>GCool</a>, but after that, we're done for S29. You had until the end of the playoffs, the rest of you.

Thanks for a great season, look forward to seeing you next season!