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S30 Regular Season PGS Thread

Game #82 Link
Montreal, Canada
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raiders Halifax Raiders 3
Militia Montreal Militia 5
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Final
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W - Jeff Kirkstone (6-6-1) 22 saves
L - Georgette Pel (3-3-1) 24 saves
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Three Stars of the Game

1st Star - Keisstone Light
2nd Star - Laraque Obama
3rd Star - Hunter Johnson
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Summary

Entering the game Halifax tries to continue to right the ship after dropping two of the last three, while Montreal tries to prevent falling back into what was a nine-game losing streak. In net would be Jeff Kirkstone, while opposing him is fellow rookie, Georgette Pel.

While many wondered just where the offense was going to come from in the game, the flood gates wouldn't remain closed too long. At only the 2:41 mark of the first period, Hunter Johnson found a loose puck that skittered away from Kirkstone and wristed it home for the first goal of his season.

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Shortly after the Militia would respond as Banning would leave a pummeling check to the upper body of Watson, only to leave the puck at the top of the circle for Keisstone Light to pick it up and dangle across the crease then roofed it short side for the 1-1 tie.

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This isn't where the scoring stopped. Pietra Volkova would bury one five hole, while Militia's Zylevski and Obama would both add tallies to close out the period to take the lead 3-2 heading into the first intermission.

After the puck dropped, the pace picked right back up as Montreal picked up right where they left off in pressuring the offensive zone. With Pel settling back in the grove, the Raiders were able to fend off the Militia and return the favor. At 7:32, Fenrir would tip in the puck for his first SMJHL goal and celebrate accordingly.

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With the game tied the Militia continued to carry out there strategy of overwhelming the Raiders defensive pairs. Simply throwing the puck on the net time and again, the Militia continued to create chance after chance. Finally the bounce, or lack thereof, went their way as Wells whiffed on a shot but yet had enough momentum to carry between Pel's legs, into the net and carry the Militia to a 4-3 lead.

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In attempt to squash any sense of urgency that Halifax had, Russet buried a puck only minutes in to make the game 5-3. The remainder of the game would see the Raiders continuing to pressure, but Kirkstone stood tall and was able to deliver a solid performance.

Three Stars

1st Star - Keisstone Light - Light was able to open the door for the Militia, added a helper and finished at a plus-2 for the game to lead a surging team.

2nd Star - Laraque Obama - Added the late go-ahead goal, in addition to the assist on the game winner in the second period.

3rd Star - Hunter Johnson - Opened the scoring in the first period, added an assist, and two hits. While finishing plus-2, it wasn't enough for the Raiders to suffer the loss.

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<div align="center">Whalers Vancouver Whalers: 1 at Colorado Mammoths: 3 Mammoths

Starting lineups:
WhalersVancouverWhalers
Conklin Owen - Jon Ross - Ace Redding
Theodore Graham - Connor MacDonald
Maximilian Wehner

MammothsColoradoMammoths
Master Maguku - Steven Stamkos Jr. - Frontdoor McGraw
Ben Dover - Maverick O'Dooley
Ekaterina Rudnikova

Game link</div>

The halfway mark of the season is almost upon us as Vancouver and Colorado meet for the fifth time this season. It’s been a pretty unbalanced series - Vancouver currently holds all four games, with Colorado struggling to even coming close to beating their system. Can the Mammoths shake the weight of the Whalers off their back, or will this duel in the West be a possible season sweep? Let’s tune in to find out.

First Period
Colorado got the game started quickly, as Ben Dover went off for roughing in the first ten seconds. Their penalty kill was strong though, with the Whalers only managing to get two shots on goal throughout the man advantage. The kill gave Colorado plenty of momentum, however.
Quote:And Dover’s out of the box now, back on the ice for Colorado. Eichelele dumps the puck into the Vancouver zone, and Wehner skates around to retrieve it, finding Farris up the right side. His pass - goes straight to O’Dooley, who’s got fresh legs in Dover - and he SCORES! Mammoths break the ice first to get on the board fresh after the kill.
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O’Dooley intercepts the pass before finding Dover for the goal

The Mammoths wouldn’t hold onto the lead for long, however, with Vancouver finding the back of the net only a minute later.
Quote:MacDonald sends the puck into the Colorado zone before going off for a change. Rudnikova picks it up, sending it around to Leetch, who loses the puck to Kubrak in the neutral zone! Passes to Kaiser, back to Kubrak, back to Kaiser, who finds Llewellyn right on the doorstep and he SCORES! Just like that, the Whalers are right back in the game.
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A tic-tac-toe passing sequence leads to a perfect shot for Llewellyn

If anything, however, this seemed to energize the Mammoths even more, as they scored their second goal of the period off the faceoff.
Quote:Stamkos and Bobby line up to take the faceoff, and Stamkos wins it cleanly back to Dover. He moves it back to Dover, who splits the defense and finds his way into the Whalers zone! He sends it back across to Stamkos, who doesn’t have a shot, and he sends it right back, and Dover - SCORES! Second goal of the game for Ben Dover, and the Mammoths are back on top.
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The Mammoths take the puck all the way from center ice to the Vancouver zone for a goal.

Penalties continued to plague both sides as the first period continued, with Dover and McGraw going off for the Mammoths, and Graham and Tusk both taking penalties for the Whalers. However, just when it seemed the Whalers were going to make it out of the first period only down by one goal, the Mammoths struck again.
Quote:Renninger dumps the puck into the Whalers zone before leaving the ice for a chance, and Yakikov is fresh off the bench and going hard after the puck. Holiday has it, but Yakikov steals it away easily, spinning out of reach in the neutral zone. Hagan is already past him, up in the Whalers zone, and he SCORES! Colton Hagan’s first SMJHL goal goes sailing over Wehner’s shoulder to give the Mammoths a two goal lead.
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Hagan scores his first juniors goal in spectacular fashion

The first period ended with the Mammoths holding onto the lead, but with two periods left to play, it was still anyone’s game.
Shots: Whalers 8-11 Mammoths

Second Period
The second period saw the Whalers settle down and really push harder agains tthe Mammoths, and the teams looked incredibly evenly matched throughout the period. The best chance for the Mammoths came almost 8 minutes in, but Wehner stood strong.
Quote:Goddard rips a shot low, and Wehner sends it away with the pad. Renninger is there to pick up the rebound though, and he’s got a wide open net to the left - and he misses the shot! The puck bounces wide and is cleared by the Whalers as they head back up ice.
The Whalers had plenty of chances as well, including this sequence 9 minutes in.
Quote:Graham is looking to shoot, but hits Rudnikova square in the chest. The puck is bouncing around the crease, and Owen gets a stick on it, lifts it high, going for that upper corner, but Rudnikova is there with the glove! The Whalers are still looking for two goals to even the score, and that can’t help but make them even more frustrated.
Both teams would end the period without another goal, as time wound down for the Whalers to make their move.
Shots: Whalers 15-18 Mammoths

Third Period
With only 20 minutes left to score two goals, the Whalers needed a boost of energy, and they had a solid chance as Yvel went off for hooking 5 minutes into the third. Yet they failed to register a shot on the power play, and instead the Mammoths had a solid shorthanded attempt.
Quote:Stamkos wins it off the face-off, and Dover is behind him to pick it up. He finds Browski already in the offensive zone, who sends it back to Stamkos. He rips a shot from the blue line, and it looks like Browski tips it - but Wehner is there, folding onto the puck to settle it down. The Mammoths definitely don’t look like they’re the ones man-down right now, that’s for sure.
Despite needing a desperate push, the Whalers only took three shots in the third period. Wehner stood tall against all 12 from the Mammoths, but his spectacular play wasn’t enough, and the Whalers lost their first game against the Mammoths.
Shots: Whalers 18-30 Mammoths

<div align="center">Stats Faceoff:
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Whalers 9-4-1 || Mammoths 6-8-0</div>

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<div align="center">Detroit Falcons 3 - Halifax Raiders 2
Game Link</div>

COLIN: Hello, and welcome! To another episode of Post-Game with Alex & Colin, the only postgame show that credits Alex Reed’s contributions as though they weren’t written by Banning.

ALEX: Thanks, Cap, and you’re right, this is an odd gimmick, I’m not sure it’s going to land.

COLIN: That’s fine, as with all my gimmicks, I’m probably going to fizzle out on the idea and we’ll never speak of it again. Now onto the game! We’re in Halifax tonight..

ALEX: Thank God.

COLIN: Right? We’re in Halifax, for the 4th game of the season series between the Raiders and the Falcons. Detroit leads the season series 2-1, despite presently being an awful team which we absolutely do not take seriously.

ALEX: That’s right, but Detroit made some waves today, upgrading their forward core by bringing in Henrik Vikstrom.

COLIN: Absolutely, and that’s the real story here. Detroit pulls a trade with Montreal, who is also very much in the toilet, and nab Hank Vikstrom. I think it could be a real coup for them, Alex.

ALEX: For sure, Vikstrom is a great pickup and if it wasn’t already addition by subtraction here, it’s addition by addition.

COLIN: I wouldn’t be surprised if Detroit went wild and took the division by Mid-August, to be honest.

ALEX: All for the price of a 5th and the 117th best ranked SMJHL forward. What a steal.

COLIN: Indeed, now on to the game. Roll the tape, monkey!

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ALEX: Not a lot happened in the first.

COLIN: No, but huge moment early as Georgette Pel is facing the Falcons PP. Berzins gets a good look and is denied, and the rebound gets moved to Rising Hippo, who is also denied by Pel.

ALEX:: And don’t forget, Rising Hippo has a shot that can destroy a goaltenders glove, so that’s basically two saves.

COLIN: I hear once, Rising Hippo missed the net, and the puck went out the arena and then into space and then it flew through space and now it’s on the moon.

ALEX: I would not be upset for the first human artifact to be found by aliens to be a hockey puck. It’s the highlight of our civilization.

COLIN: Indeed. So, we agree, the first period was boring and sucked for everyone. But, wait kids - Shit got interesting in the second.

ALEX: For real, Detroit has Muller in the box for tripping, and JLR sets up a pretty passing play, going give-and-go with Battle, then passing to Banning, who moves it across to Battle. Blake sets up Volkova in the slot and it goes right past Sivy McSieve, to put Halifax up 1-0 halfway through the second. Powerplay goal, it’s Pietra’s 3rd of the season.

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Now we can abandon the backup plan</div>

COLIN: I think she has 12 more in her, personally.

ALEX: Plus 30 in the playoffs.

COLIN: Obviously. Moving forward, nearing the end of the 2nd, Konstantinov picks of an Azarov pass and feeds Evans into the Halifax zone. He’s got Vikstrom on the wing for the odd-man chance, and Vikstrom gets the pass and puts it behind Pel for his first goal as a Falcon!

ALEX: What a shot! What a third line improvement!

COLIN: Luckily, Halifax would get another chance on the PP before the end of the period, after Marc Leclerc takes two for roughing up Toivo. Not cool, guy, Toivo is a champion.

ALEX: For real, and Victor Lindstrom picks up a lost JLR puck and puts one into Prince Daniel James’ ribs for good measure before putting it behind McSieve to put Halifax up 2-1 going into the intermission!

COLIN: About 9 minutes into the third, and Detroit has hard pressure on Halifax in their zone.

ALEX: Detroit certainly seems to have our number in the third this season, don’t they?

COLIN: That’s as accurate as it is embarrassing. Berkis moves the puck to James, who sees Hans Moleman off to the side. Moleman gets the one timer, but Pel finds it and smothers it for the whistle.

ALEX: Moleman is having an MVP year though, you really need to be careful whenever he’s on.

COLIN: Definitely, remember the time I did my first league rankings and I missed Moleman entirely?

ALEX: I wasn’t a member yet.

COLIN: I knew that, since I’m writing your part, but you’re only here for exposition anyways. For what it’s worth, he’s my Top Rated SMJHL Forward this year.

ALEX: So, let’s check the clip, there’s less than 90 seconds left and Halifax is still ahead 2-1, and Banning… ices the puck? Solid plan. We’d already been on the ice for a minute and change.

COLIN: I was tired and lazy. Was tired, am always lazy.

ALEX: Here I am, having to bail your ass out again.

COLIN: ORLY? Cause look who got kicked out of the draw! Azarov has to take it, because you’re jumpy and shitty at draws, and he loses it, because that’s YOUR job, not his.

ALEX: Toivo blocks a Siinikka shot -

COLIN: What a hero.

ALEX: - and Vikstrom gets the rebound and snaps it on net. Evans gets just the tip and it sneaks behind Pel for the tying goal!

COLIN: Dammit, of course it does. A lot of confidence shown by Detroit putting Vikstrom out there with the game on the line though, huh?

ALEX: Definitely, you’d have to think this is raising his draft stock. Also, not being a fucking garbage person.

COLIN: Has to help. Into overtime, Moleman has a good look at the net, but Banning steps in and takes one for the team! Leader.

ALEX: Banning, being a benefit to the team, for once.

COLIN: Later in the extra frame, Blake Fenrir takes a point shot that Alex Reed cleverly deflects wide!

ALEX: ….And then gets the rebound and puts it on net!

COLIN: ….But is easily stopped by McSieve?

ALEX: Almost had it.

COLIN: Hey everyone, the King of Almost is here!

ALEX: And the period ended while you were thinking up that C+ joke.

COLIN: Which means, everyone’s favorite!

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Pictured Above: Bullshit</div>

ALEX: Moleman gets the sole goal of the Shootout, and the less we have to talk about the dick wart of hockey, the better.

COLIN: Our utter refusal to practice shootouts as defiance isn’t helping our shootout game. I don’t think they’re going to remove it from the game because we’re protesting it, you know.

ALEX: But everyone makes the playoffs, and the shootout is stupid and can go to Hell.

COLIN: I guess, long story short, Detroit gets 2 points and Halifax gets one, because sometimes games are worth more points.

ALEX: We’re an independent league, why haven’t we gone to the 3 point system?

COLIN: I don’t know, I don’t engage people outside of the Raiders discord too often.

ALEX: Cool. Three Stars time! Third star goes to Cikgnar Konstantinov!

COLIN: A bit of an odd one, to be honest. Good enough game, an interception leading to the first Detroit goal and was +2. Bad in the circle tonight, but this line basically carried the team.

ALEX: Which naturally leads us to the 2nd star, Zach Evans. Game tying goal, 3 shot blocks, solid all around game.

COLIN: And finally, 1st Star, it’s - obviously - Henrik Vikstrom. 1 goal and 1 assist, he was everywhere, and it really goes to show, when you show up to play, 16 minutes is a lot of time to make a good hockey.

ALEX: Indeed. A solid game from a great pickup, and really, a very good draft steal. Won’t light the league on fire like this every game, but can contribute really nicely to Detroit, assuming he keeps on working like he has.

COLIN: Anyways, I think we basically nailed it. So, until whatever I do next time, thanks for reading.

Wahlgren Continues Mastery Between Posts

<div align="center">St. Louis Scarecrows vs. <span style='color:green'>Vancouver Whalers
2-0
</span></div>
Game 59

SYNOPSIS
Let's recap the past, the present, and the future

ST. LOUIS -
We're going to be taking a look at another meet up of these West and East conference rivals the St. Louis Scarecrows against the Vancouver Whalers.

Off the bat, things have changed since these teams had met up in the Four Star Cup Finals. Players have been called up from each team, rookies have been drafted, and people have aged (time passing tends to do that to people). This game is important for the Scarecrows as they've gone 0-3-0 in their last three games and it's their last road game before a two-game homestand. Vancouver, on the other hand, are coming off of a loss to Colorado after 4 straight wins.

Tonight was a hard-fought battle between the two goalies - the 'Crow, Wahlgren, against fellow rookie goalie Max Wehner. The two goalies were perfect until pussy-slayer, Darryl Landry, slapped one in from the blue line midway (exactly midway) through the second period. Kelly Rivet chipped in an empty net goal with seconds to spare when Vancouver pulled Wehner to try the man-advantage.

After tonight's contest, St. Louis moves to 8-4-3 and Vancouver moves to 9-5-1.

HIGHLIGHTS
A look at some of the finer moments from tonight's game

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Wahlgren flashes his hot glove to deny Theodore Graham's shot

Vancouver seemed to have St. Louis running through a loop. The St. Louis defense was a mess and Vancouver looked to capitalize. After 3+ minutes in the Scarecrow zone (from a Bill Cirocco penalty), Wahlgren puts a definitive end to the shenanigans with an insane glove save.

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Llewellyn and Visser settle a gentlemenly disput

It seemed to be a battle of the double-letters. Ieuan Llewellyn and Jason Visser dropped mits a minute-and-a-half into the third period. I guess the Vancouver goal-drought frustration was getting to Llewellyn and he decided to spark something by fighting Jason Visser. Unfortunately, it didn't decide much as the men fought to a draw, but you've gotta give points for trying!

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Theodore Graham lays a questionable hit on Scott Escobar

It was a theme of the night for Teddy "Bear" Graham. He laid the smackdown on 6 separate Scarecrow players (he spread the love, so to speak). He may have put the fear in the Scarecrow players, but, unfortunately, it was not enough for a win.

STAT COMPARISON
A look at some of the numbers in tonight's match up

26-for-26: The number of saves goalie Kyle Wahlgren snatched up. He only let 6 of those 26 shots bounce out of his grasp. The fact that Wahlgren didn't allow rebounds for 20 of his 26 shots means that Vancouver didn't have a chance to power in any of those loose pucks.

43-of-74 or 58%: That's the number/percentage of the Whalers' faceoff wins. Turns out that possession isn't 9/10ths of the game (for this one at least). Vancouver may have dominated the circles but it wasn't enough for the win. Jon Ross won 64% of his draws, along with OG Bobby winning 67% of his.

4x20 vs. 2x20: Vancouver spread their minutes-played among their players well, with four separate players playing 20+ minutes. St. Louis on the other hand only played two players for over 20 minutes. This has been a problem for St. Louis all season. Theodore Graham logged a team-high 23:29 for this team while Kelly Rivet logged 24:09 for his.

Three Stars
A look at the three most impactful players of the night

GoalGoalGoal - Theodore Graham. Graham was a defenseman possessed - 3 shots, 6 hits, 1 shot blocked, 23+ minutes played, and a -1 rating. A force to be reckoned with, Graham was the reason why the score wasn't higher than 2-0 and one of the biggest positives offensively

GoalGoal - Kelly Rivet. Another defenseman, but an important cog in tonight's match. He had a goal, an assist, 3 shots, and 2 shots blocked. He also played a team-high 24+ minutes. Rivet gave a secondary assist on the first goal -- the game winner. He also put the dagger in the heart of Vancouver by putting in the empty-net goal.

Goal - The first star has to be Kyle Wahlgren. Tonight was his third shut out of the season - a nigh unheard of accomplishment for a rookie goalie. As stated before, Wahlgren was 26-for-26 over 60 minutes played. He increased his record to 8-4-3 and continues to be a source of inspiration for his teammates. Look out for this goalie, I'm tellin' you.

Platoon Rob Wright Battleborn

Halifax Raiders (10-14-2) vs Vancouver Whalers (15-9-2) - Game 103
Score: Halifax 1 - Vancouver 4

Starting Line up
Halifax
Left Wing|| Center || Right Wing
Niklas Flower|| Jean-Luc Reflieux|| Reed Laing

Defense|| Defense
Blake Battle || Greta Iversen

Goaltenders
Georgette Pel

Vancouver
Left Wing || Center || Right Wing
Conklin Owen || Jon Ross || Ace Redding

Defense || Defense
Theodore Graham || Connor MacDonald

Goaltenders
Maximillian Wehner

HERE. WE. GO.

Tonight’s matchup is a first for this season. Oddly enough past the halfway mark for most this is the first time these cross conference rivals have met. The Whalers struggling to find some consistency in their game although they are on the winning side of the fence, and the raiders showing flashes of hope but struggling to string it together into some prolonged wins. Both teams are sporting some impressive rookies and return players and this game really feel like it could swing in either teams favour.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the rookies

Highly touted are 4 of the Raiders rookies in Volkova, Flowers, Iversen and Ryan. All taken in the top 13, at 4,6,9 and 13 Respectively. Much was hoped from these young promising players coming into this year but they just have not been able to adapt to the SMJHL pace yet. But with half a season to go, I wouldn’t lose all hope yet. They need to start producing soon to generate some wins for this team though.

6th Round, 43rd overall Reed Laing has been a pleasant surprise for this team. Leading all rookies in scoring, he is one of the bright spots from this last draft.

The Whalers club is more of a mixed bag, with some rookies excelling and other being a bit disappointing. The top rookies for this club are easily Ace Redding and Connor MacDonald. With Ace challenging consistently for top scorer on the team, and consistently topping prospects ranking at mid-term it’s hard not to notice the young winger and the work he’s putting in. Connor has the eyes of many scouts as well. Playing on a weaker team overall than most of the other consensus top 3 D men, he is still excelling with reduced playing time, and helping to quarterback an extremely effective power play. Honourable mention to Max Wehner as well, as he has had an up and down season so far, but continues to shows signs of being an effective goaltender moving forward.

Some of the immediate let downs from the draft so far are in the forward and Defensive group. Max Wilburn, and Olson Stuart, are just not generating enough offense and it is hurting the team from its lower end goal totals. With the 2nd overall pick the team selected Brynar tusk who shows promise still on paper, but his game so far has left much to be desired.


1st Period

Vancouver Whalers , OG Bobby 5 (Max Wilburn, Thor Pederson) at 17:18(PP)
Wilburn after receiving a zone clearing pass from Pederson, skated up the ice and slowed down as he entered the zone to provide some space to let a shot off on Pel, she managed to get a piece of it to kick out, but OG Bobby found himself open without time for her to react to put this one home.
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2nd Period

Vancouver Whalers , Theodore Graham 1 (Ace Redding, Jon Ross) at 14:01 (PP)
After a clean face-off win after the penalty, Redding was the receiver of the pass where he fired the shot but missed the net, as the puck came whipping around the boards where Uncle Theo found himself open enough to float one in beating Pel cleanly. His first of the season!
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Vancouver Whalers , Jon Ross 7 (Theodore Graham, Conklin Owen) at 19:22

After some good work on the boards Owen was able to squeeze the puck out to Graham where he found an already streaking Ross down the wing, Ross made quick work of the advantage and proceeded to beat Pel and put this one in.
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3rd Period
Halifax Raiders , Niklas Flower 5 (Jean-Luc Reflieux, Reed Laing) at 12:30
A Raiders face off win proceeded to create utter chaos in the Whalers end, as Reed Laing fires the puck at Wehner on 3 separate occasions having the apparent aim of Dion Phaneuf on the power play and missing the net completely. With an additional block by Alfred, a save by Wehner, Flowers finds the puck to finally put the raiders on the board moving late into the 3rd.
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Hunter Johnson beats up Frankie Latta at 15:08 of 3rd period

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Maybe it was out of frustration, the need to make a statement, or maybe it was mabelline but it seemed Hunter Johnson near the tail end of the game, either saw something on Latta’s face or felt the need to rearrange it, but what we witnessed was a pummeling. It may not have generated anything for the Raiders but it was brutal none the less. One has to ask, where was Ieaun L during this incident?

Vancouver Whalers , Ace Redding 8 (Connor MacDonald, Conklin Owen) at 15:32 (PP)

Another scramble like play on the power play finds the back of the net, with after a shot block, a save and a few extra passes Redding finds the space to put on in on Pel, to pretty much seal the deal for this game.

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Post game notes

Goalie Stats
Georgette Pel (HAL), 16 saves from 20 shots - (0.800), L, 3-4-1, 60:00 minutes
Maximilian Wehner (VAN), 22 saves from 23 shots - (0.957), W, 6-5-1, 60:00 minutes

Shots
VAN: 20
HAL: 23
A close game in shots, both teams had chances to put the puck away, the Whalers just seemed to cash in at the right time more than the Raiders were able to. Pel has another night where she can’t seem to decide whether she wants to carry the team, or struggle. She needs to find her game if she intends to take over as starter.

Power Play
Halifax Raiders - 0 on 5 Attempt(s) - 0.00%
Vancouver Whalers - 2 on 5 Attempt(s) - 40.00%
Dominant as usual the Whalers power play continues to capitalize when needed and is a big part of this team limited offense this year. A bright spot amongst some other concerning issues.

3 Stars
1 - Ace Redding (VAN) G:1|| A:1|| PTS:2|| MP 19:21
Effective as always Redding has put in yet another complete, well rounded game which helped lead his team to victory. Contributing to both ends of the ice he was able to help lock down defensively and drive the offensively as well.

2 - Jon Ross (VAN) G:1 ||A:1|| PTS:2|| MP 20:09
As he continues he’s high level of play for the Whalers, Ross seems to be pushing hard to be this teams MVP this season fighting tooth and nail with Redding. Although maybe slightly disappointed about being a send down, he is making the most of his time this year in the SMJHL and seems determined for his team to win every night.

3 - Maximilian Wehner (VAN) .957%|| W 6-5-1
The captain of the sea saw. Wehner comes through with a solid outing helping the Whalers to a win over the Raiders. Maybe this will be his turning point to string together some wins that the Whalers need badly in a tight divison, but as of right now, he looked great tonight.

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(Game #104)St. Louis Scarecrows Scarecrows 5 @ Colorado Mammoths Mammoths 4 F/OT

Denver, CO – The defending Four Star Cup Champion St. Louis Scarecrows came rolling into Denver today to take on the Mammoths in a battle of two teams on a bit of a down point of their respective seasons. The Mammoths (9-16-1) have struggled to put the puck in the net, and conversely, keep the puck out of the net at the same time. Colorado is currently last in the league in Goals For, and they’re pretty close to last in the league in Goals Against. The Scarecrows (13-10-3) have found themselves on a skid since starting off the season leading the league for a few weeks. A lot of that can be contributed to the 6-game suspension of rookie goaltender Kyle Wahlgren. Kasper Happanen was less than stellar in relief, going only 2-4, and cost the Scarecrows the division lead in the process.

However, Wahlgren is back between the pipes, as St. Louis looks to regain that early season magic. It looked like the cure for ails them would be a game against Colorado, as St. Louis leads the league in Goals Against with a paltry 2.42 Goals allowed per game. St. Louis finally tinkered with their lines a bit to see if they can spark more offense, and given the 5 goal output tonight, they managed that, at least for one game. There was a lot of action in this one, so let’s get to what you’re here for: The Goals.

With Trev Legend getting a Hooking call only 5 seconds after Colorado killed off a William Goddard penalty, It would be DarryL Landry to open the scoring on the Power Play:

Quote: How do you like that? Legend takes a Hooking call just after Colorado killed off the first penalty and they’re back at it again. St. Louis is putting out Feist, Kurczewski, Akeson, Landry, and Rivet. Colorado counters with Stamkos, Browski, Goddard, and Dover. Feist is going to take the draw in the Colorado zone against Stamkos. Puck is dropped and he wins it back to Landry. Landry moves towards the middle of the ice and takes his shot and HE SCORES! Well, that power play went better than the last one, and DarryL Landry has the Scarecrows up 1-0!

Landry’s 5th of the year comes at 3:11 of the period, only assist going to Feist. St. Louis would then continue to build momentum shortly after to make it 2-0. Those new lines for the Crows would work some magic, as Ronnie Westbrook, recently moved up the first line from the fourth, would hit pay dirt.

Quote: Ben Dover has the puck and with nobody to give it to, he’ll just dump it down into the St. Louis zone. Ronnie Westbrook will be the first one back to get the puck from the corner and he’ll skate behind the net. Westbrook starts up ice and sends to Landry in the neutral zone. Landry, the only scorer so far today, takes the puck into the Mammoths zone. He’ll send it over to Rivet who gives it right back to Landry. Landry holds it, and St. Louis gets set up in the Colorado zone. Landry fakes a shot and sends it back to Rivet, who again sends it right back to Landry. Landry will try a different approach and send it down the wing to Kurczewski. Kurczewski curls off the boards and slides the puck to an open Rivet. Rivet finds Westbrook in front of the goal with his back to the net. He’ll slide it Kurczewski who takes the shoottt and it goes wide, puck ends up back in play and THEY SCORE. This time it was Westbrook who saw the puck before anyone else and he jammed it home before Colorado realized what was happening! 2-0 St. Louis!

Westbrook gets his 3rd of the year from Kurczewski and Rivet at 6:24 of the period, and its beginning to look like the route would be on. However, the final goal of the period would end up coming from Colorado and the magic stick of Master Maguku.

Quote: Feist taking the draw against Stamkos in the Colorado zone. Feist wins another draw and it goes to Erichsen, QUICK SHOT, goes wide. Ben Dover grabs it&nbsp; and tries to send up quickly, intercepted and kept in by Targaryen. He sends it over to Akeson. Akeson tries a quick pass but its picked off by Dover. Dover finds O’Dooley on the breakout pass and Colorado has a chance 3 on 1. O’Dooley sends it to over to Stamkos who taps it over to Maguku and he buries it! Maguku places the puck in the empty net on the wonderful pass from Stamkos, and the lead is back down to 1.

Maguku gets his fifth of the year, and the period would end 2-1 in favor of St. Louis. While the Mammoths would have visions of a comeback in the second period, it wouldn’t come to fruition. St. Louis would end up outshooting Colorado 11-5, while Colorado would keep shooting itself in the foot, as the Scarecrow Power Play would continue doing some damage:

Quote: St. Louis still on the power play as Stamkos lines up to faceoff against Visser. Stamkos wins the puck to Sim Browski. Browski looks to pass back to Stamkos AND OH MY TARGARYEN JUST LEVELED STAMKOS AND TOOK THE PUCK. He sends the puck to Erichsen and they have a 2 on 1. Erichsen winds up and sends it over to Targaryen and HE SCORES. Frans Erichsen faked his shot and froze the goaltender and gives Targaryen an easy tap in! What a play, on the power play, 3-1 St. Louis!

Targaryen gets his 4th of the season on a fantastic effort by himself and Frans Erichsen. And just like that, Colorado looked like a defeated team. The Mammoths would take another penalty later in the period, a Tripping call on Matthew Leetch, and the St. Louis Power Play would find its 3rd goal of the night:

Quote:Time is almost up in the Leetch penalty, Targaryen with the puck. He’ll dump it in the Colorado zone as the Scarecrows go off on a line change. O’Dooley back to get the puck, sends it up to Hagan in the neutral zone. He tries to go around a St. Louis player but instead he loses the puck to Rivet. Kelly Rivet passes quickly up to Escobar and he takes the puck inside the Mammoth zone. Escobar slows up and allows his power play unit to set up properly. He sends the puck up to Landry at the point. Landry with it now and sends it over to Erichsen. Frans Erichsen looking, sends it up to Rivet who goes back over to Landry. Landry sends it down low to Escobar in the corner. Escobar takes the puck and powers towards the net and HE SCORES. A great effort by Scott Escobar gives St. Louis a power play goal yet again, 4-1 St. Louis, and this one looks to be just about over folks. Oh and it looks like its over for Rudnikova early, as Allison is getting ready on the bench.

And with that third power play goal, St. Louis was in the driver’s seat, leading 4-1. Curtis Allison would come in for Rudnikova, and he wouldn’t allow a goal the rest of the second period, as St. Louis stepped off the gas a little bit. Shockingly though, St. Louis came out in the final twenty minutes looking like they’d already won the game, and as a result, Colorado would go on to have the best minute of its season.

Quote: Foster with the puck now and he’ll send it down the ice as the Scarecrows make a change with less than half a minute to go in the penalty to Reine. O’Dooley goes back to get the puck and he’ll start up ice. O’Dooley makes a pass but its picked off by Feist, who puts the puck back deep into the Mammoths zone. Allison slows the puck down for Eichelele. Eichelele moves the puck up to Ben Dover. Dover slides it up to Renninger as the penalty expires. Jacob Renninger now enters the zone, and holds it for a second. He skates over to the slot and TAKES A SHOT THEY SCORE!. It was Frontdoor McGraw deflecting the puck between his own legs, through the legs of Wahlgren, and its 4-2.

And then. . . .

Quote: Colorado with a bit of life there, as Feist will take this draw at center ice against Yakikov. Feist will win it back to Landry. Landry under pressure and he’ll dump it down the ice into the Colorado zone, no icing. Yvel is back to get the loose puck. He is hit hard by Feist and loses the puck. Wowzers. Yvel gains his footing and is able to get the puck back before Feist can take it, great individual effort by Yvel! He passes up the boards to Trev Legend, who dumps it into the St. Louis zone. It’ll be Feist back to get the puck and he’ll slide it up the wall to Erichsen. Erichsen brings the puck in the zone and he’ll send it back up to Landry. Landry looks to send the puck across AND ITS PICKED OFF BY YVEL. YVEL SENDS IT UP TO CASH MONEY AND COLORADO HAS A 3 ON 0 THE OTHER WAY. MONEY BACK TO YVEL, YVEL FAKES HIS SHOT AND SENDS IT OVER TO HAGAN, HAGAN SHOOTS AND HE SCORES! AND JUST LIKE THAT, COLORADO CASHES IN ON THE TURNOVER AND THIS GAME HAS NEW LIFE! 4-3 SCARECROWS.

But wait, there’s more. . . .

Quote:Svensson taking the faceoff against Westbrook as Colorado has St. Louis back on their heels now with two goals in 28 seconds. Svensson wins the draw back to Goddard. William Goddard decides to take it up the ice himself and moves into the St. Louis zone. He’ll pull up around the halfwall and looks to pass. Goddard still looking, sends it up to Leetch at the point. Matthew Leetch has it now and he finds Sim Browski down low as Colorado has set up in the Scarecrow zone. Browski with it, he’ll send it around the net to Frontdoor McGraw who already has one goal this period. McGraw, over to Svensson. Svensson back to Goddard. Goddard takes his time, find Browski down low, but he’ll give it right back to Goddard. Goddard again back to Browski. Browski is pressured and gives it back to Goddard who works a give and go with Browski right to the net HE SCORES. SIM BROWSKI BEATS KYLE WAHLGREN WITH A NIFTY BACKHAND MOVE AND THIS GAME IS ALL TIED AT FOUR A PIECE.

Three goals in one minute ties the game up for Colorado, who just barely stopped the final nail in the coffin. The tied game woke up St. Louis and Wahlgren and Allison put on a show the rest of the way, stopping all the shots they faced and this game got sent into overtime. As the horn sounded to signify the game going to overtime, St. Louis was notably upset by how they let this one get away. It would only take them 28 seconds to get back the game, and the victory.

Quote: Visser to take the draw against Stamkos to start the overtime. Visser wins it over to Kurczewski and he’ll start up ice. Kurczewski skates into the Colorado zone and takes a shot that’s kicked away by Curtis Allison. The puck travels towards the point and it’s picked up by Kelly Rivet. Rivet sends the puck down low to Jason Visser looking for a lane to the net, can’t find one and he’ll send it back to Rivet at the point. Rivet slides it to Landry. Landry sends it back to Rivet. Rivet can’t find a shooting lane and he’ll casually give it back to Landry. Colorado on their heels early in the overtime period. Landry can’t find a man down low so he gives it to Rivet once again. Rivet finds Kurczewski in the slot, he turns and takes the shot AND HE SCOOOOOORESSSSSSS! JOE KURCZEWSKI STEALS THE WIN BACK FOR THE SCARECROWS AND HE WINS IT IN OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRTIIIIIMMMEEEEEEEE!!!

Joe Kurczewski’s 5th of the season would be a big one, giving the Scarecrows back a game they tried to give away. Let’s look deeper into the game stats.
St. Louis dominated most of the game, which lead to a 33-22 edge in shots. The key statistic though is Penalty Minutes. Colorado spent much too much time in the box, giving the Scarecrows 7 different power plays! St. Louis made them pay for that lack of discipline, getting 3 goals with the extra man and building the 4-1 lead in the first two periods. Rudnikova didn’t have much of a chance with the team constantly playing down a man in front of her. Colorado would go on to lead defensive stats such as Hits (18-11) and Blocked Shots (10-5) mostly because they were killing a lot of penalties, and then once they tied the game early in the third, they stepped up the toughness.

THREE STARS
1. Scarecrows Joe Kurczewski (1 goal (GWG), 1 assist).
Kurczewski scored the overtime winner and added an assist early on too. He had a game high 5 shots and even won 5/9 Faceoffs today, which is unusual for the winger to take so many draws.
2. Scarecrows DarryL Landry (1 goal, 2 assists)
Landry had a lovely game with 3 points including the power play goal that opened the scoring. He also made a nice pass that lead to the Escobar goal as well. Smart play all around today.
3. Scarecrows Kelly Rivet (3 assists)
Rivet just keeps piling up the points, getting another 3 helpers today, including the main assist on the OT winner. He played a Scarecrow game high 23 minutes, and also blocked two shots. Great play from the St. Louis points leader tonight.

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Feist Snaps Two in St. Lou'

<div align="center">Colorado Mammoths vs. <span style='color:red'>St. Louis Scarecrows
1-3
</span></div>
Game 76

Synopsis
Let's take a quick look at the game

ST. LOUIS -
We come to the 76th game of the S30 SMJHL season where we see the many-new-faced team, the Mammoths (8-11-0), take on the defending champions, the St. Louis Scarecrows (10-6-3).

On to the actual game.

The first period saw the most action by any one team. Eugene Feist struck twice in that opening stanza - one, a rocket that went high over Ekaterina Rudnikova's shoulder, and the second that was a goddamn bar-down-beauty. Shots were 9-8 in favour of the Mammoths. The second period had a glimpse of light for Colorado as sophomore Steven Stamkos Jr. scored his 5th of the year, going five-hole through backup goaltender Kasper Kapanen's legs. Colorado pulled their goalie in the third period and Jasson Visser dumped one into that open net leading to the game final, 3-1 for St. Louis.

HIGHLIGHTS
A look at some of the shiny moments of the game

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Feist's first goal. Right over Ekaterina's shoulder and in. This Feist guy is a human-highlight-reel

Feist's first goal opened the scoring and set the tone for the first period. Although Colorado outshot St. Louis, Feist's next level (some might say SHL-level) play allowed St. Louis to have the upper hand. Assists came from Casper Ek and "Bananas" Foster.

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Feist's second goal of the night.

The beautiful twang you hear when the puck strikes the top bar is beautiful, iddnit? This goal came in with two seconds left in the first period and on the powerplay. Assists came from Dos Diablo and "Pussy Slayer" Landry.

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It was a war to get that empty netter, but they (Jason Visser]) did it.

The empty netter was the last nail in the coffin for Colorado. Although they showed signs of coming back in the second period, they were unable to mount an offense due to St. Louis winning most of the face off draws.

A LOOK AT STATS!
We take a peek at some of the stats in tonight's game, and their importance

40-of-60 or 67%: The face off win/percentage for St. Louis. I think that St. Louis winning a majority of the draws led to the team's dominance over the game. Those face off wins meant more possession time and easier defensive plays to make.

21 v. 13: The advantage of hits that Colorado had over St. Louis. While St. Louis had the lead the entirety of the game, Colorado's strong play on the puck and the man kept them in the game.

4 & 8: The PIMs for Colorado and St. Louis, respectively. The league average for PIMs/GP is 10.35, so this game showed some pretty well-behaved boys and girls. Colorado, however, has a more successful powerplay than St. Louis (19.40% v. 18.70%), so that discipline by both teams was pretty important.

THREE STARS
A look at three impactful players tonight

GoalGoalGoal - Darryl Landry. The pussy slayer himself is making an appearance in our three stars. Landry was an offensive beast. He had a primary assist on the empty net goal and a secondary assist on the Feist's first goal. Along with that, Landry had 2 hits and 1 shot blocked.

GoalGoal - Danny "Bananas" Foster. St. Louis' Enforcer had a very big impact on the game tonight. He had an assist, a shot, 3 hits, and 1 shot block, all while playing 21:25 minutes of the game. Foster also played a majority of the penalty kill time on the team and helped brick 2 of the 3 Colorado penalties.

Goal - Eugene Feist, baby - Feist was all St. Louis needed to win this one. He was a possession hound as well - and only played 13 minutes. He had 2 goals and 4 shots, he also won 9/12 draws to keep the puck in the Scarecrow hands. The game winner is also a pretty important statistic. When a veteran like Feist scores for your team, it rallies you.

Platoon Rob Wright Battleborn

Colorado Mammoths vs Vancouver Whalers
Link McLinkerson


1st period
Corey Bearss Snipes one past Ekaterina Rudnikova, to give the Whalers a 1-0 lead. Ieuan Llewellyn and Levi Kubrak assisted on the goal.
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1. Vancouver Whalers , Corey Bearss 1 (Ieuan Llewellyn, Levi Kubrak) at 11:44

just over 2 mins later, another Whaler finds the back of the net for the 2-0, looks like this game isn't going to be a close one as Defenceman Connor MacDonald scores his first goal of the season.
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2. Vancouver Whalers , Connor MacDonald 1 (OG Bobby) at 13:54

2nd Period

William Goddard Skates up the ice, he passes it to Evgeny Yakikov, who is on a 2 on 1 with Jacob Renninger, Yakikov fakes the shot, passes it to Renninger, he shoots and he scores!!!. The lead is cut in half.

with 2 mins left in the period. Vancouver have pressure Adam Kaiser to Adam Kaiser, and he shoots, Rudnikova stops it , rebound goes to Thor Pederson and he scores!!!! 3-1 Vancouver
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third period
Master Maguku passes the puck to the point, Dooley faes the shot, and gives it to his partner, Dover and he shoots and he scores!!!! 3-2!

Alfred Holiday and Taro Eichelele score back to back as the Whalers take the game 4-3.

Three Stars:
1: Alfred Holiday
The man played an amazing game today as he scored the Game Winning Goal and assisted on the 3rd goal for his team. Plus 3 shots and 2 blocked shots. was also a +2.

2:Ben Dover
This offensive defenceman with a goal and a assist, +1, 3 shots on net, 1 hit and 23:37 MP

3:Maverick O'Dooley
2 assists, +1, 3 shots 1 hit, 2 blocked shots with 23mins played.

Turning Point:
Olson Stuart (VAN) for Hooking (Minor) at 0:20
Vancouver Killed this off and started off with the momentum of the hockey game and they never backed down from the fight.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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

GoalGoalGoal - 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.

GoalGoal - 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.

Goal - 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.

Platoon Rob Wright Battleborn

Prince Daniel James Reigns Supreme

<div align="center">Detroit Falcons vs. <span style='color:yellow'>St. Louis Scarecrows
3-2
</span></div>
Game 92

Synopsis
A look at what happened tonight

We had an intense battle here at the Scottrade Centre tonight. The fiery falcons took on the stationary Scarecrows.

The first stanza had little to no action from St. Louis as they only registered 3 shots on goal in the first 20. Detroit, on the other hand, handily took the offensive upper hand with 10 shots on goal. There were also 6 penalties dished out between the teams.

Detroit and St. Louis finally found their mojo in the second period as both teams combined for 4 goals - 2 aside. Rising Hippo proved his power by scoring his 10th of the year less than two minutes into the period. Akeson scored his 9th, leading to a tie game near the five-minute mark. Metzler scored his 3rd of the year on a Falcon powerplay with a little help from Marc Leclerc. Rivet notched his 7th of the year from Stach and the Pussy Slayer, Landry. Along with those goals, 4 more penalties were dished out.

Our story ends in the third period as Detroit was able to score the game-winner 19 seconds into the period. Prince Daniel James proved to everyone why he is, indeed, the prince that was promised. Moleman improved his point-leading total with an assist on this Detroit powerplay.

A win tonight increases the Falcons record to 13-8-3 while a loss would bring St. Louis to a measly 11-9-3

HIGHLIGHTS
But not the kind in your hair

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Rhaegar Targaryen reeling from taking one in the leg

St. Louis really put their body in front of pucks tonight and apparently it wasn't enough, as Detroit still out shot St. Louis 31-20 by game's end.

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Rising Hippo starts the scoring, with an assist from Daniel James and Zjang

Rising Hippo, the recent Admiral draft pick, was a juggernaut tonight. He registered 2 shots, 1 goal, and 5 hits in 20 minutes of ice time. His goal set the tone for the Detroit dominance for tonight.

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Prince Daniel James' game winning goal

It didn't take him long to score it, but James was able to put away the game winner on behalf of a very tired St. Louis defense. There was a scramble in front of the net, the puck went loose, and Jame found it to put St. Louis away. PDJ went 1-1-2 with 4 shots on net and 1 hit in just shy of 22 minutes of ice time.

STATS
Let's look at significant numbers

8 for 14:20 The number of penalties St. Louis took trying to keep Detroit from increasing their lead and the amount of time Detroit had a man-advantage over St. Louis. Anytime you see a number this severe, you've gotta wonder what got into the players. When a team spends 3/4 of a period on the powerplay, you've gotta control your players - something the St. Louis bench had trouble doing.

1 man, 10 minutes Danny "Bananas" Foster had 10 penalty minutes tonight. I don't want to rehash this, but I believe the Detroit powerplay was what won them the game. St. Louis was hard pressed to start any action when the puck is always in their defensive end. Foster needs to calm down and not take bad penalties. That being said, Foster had a game-high 7 hits and 3 shot blocks tonight, playing just 17:31 minutes.

31 v. 20 The shots tonight. 5 separate Falcons registered 3+ shots tonight and that offensive storm was just what it took to overpower rookie goaltender Wahlgren. And those are just the ones that found the net; 11 Detroit Falcon shots were blocked by the St. Louis defensive core. Detroit needs to continue this kind of play to be a fearsome force in the Western conference.

THREE STARS
Some of the best boys and girls out there

GoalGoalGoal - Rhaegar Targaryen. Rhaegar was one of the biggest reasons why the Detroit lead wasn't increased. He gave his body up to keep his team in it - all while missing his defensive partner. Rhaegar went +1 with 1 shot, 2 hits, and 5 shot blocks, while playing 21:33.

GoalGoal - Rising Hippo. This physical force is what set the tone for the night and kept the pressure on. The second line winger opened the scoring, threw his body, and played 6+ minutes of powerplay time. He is the second star because of his ability to set the tone for a game. No one wants to go after a Hippo.

Goal - PDJ - Prince Daniel James. He was one of the best defensemen in S29 and he's trying to make sure he is the best defensemen this season. Daniel James played 7:44 of powerplay time (out of his 21:56 of ice time), scored the game-winner, and had an assist on the opening goal. PDJ was a player that St. Louis was unable to stop. The offensive defenseman managed 1-1-2, with 4 SOG and 1 hit. All praise be to PDJ.

Platoon Rob Wright Battleborn

Montreal Militia @ Halifax Raiders

SMJHL rivals Montreal and Halifax put together a compelling game on day 31 of the regular season. Entering the game as the bottom two teams of the SMJHL’s Eastern Division, but both looking for a spark to ignite their rise in the standings. Montreal has put together a very good record over their last ten games, while Halifax’s young roster is still looking for consistency. Both teams have a strong goalie tandem, sporting a pair of highly motivated young goalies each. Let’s take a look at the starting goalies:

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Jeff Kirkstone #39
Kirkstone has struggled over the early parts of his rookie season, but the growth in his game has been tremendous. A lot of that is owed to his calm demeanor, and the rocky start never slowed him down in the gym. He still leads his team in all goalie categories, but like many young players on the Militia roster he has struggled with consistency early on.

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Richard Hocolate #35
Hocolate is a third year goalie in the SMJHL, and one of the more seasoned veterans in the league. He brings a strong personality to the locker room, which has made him one of the more loved players in Raiders history. His numbers have been great this year and he is on pace to beat his previous best in the SMJHL. If Halifax can turn their season around it will be with Hocolate between the pipes.

First Period

The first period opened with some early pressure from Halifax, but Kirkstone was up to the task. Not to be out done, Hocolate also stood tall on the shots he faced, and neither gave up any rebounds early on. Montreal dominated in the faceoff circle, and 7 minutes into the game they took a crucial draw in the Halifax end. Jeziak won the draw to Laraque Obama who whipped the puck on net before Hocolate could get set
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Halifax had some pressure following the goal, but after Montreal weathered the brief storm they went back to work on the Raiders defense. Another lost faceoff in the defensive end for Halifax ends up with Zyvleski tipping a shot from Nerokov past Hocolate
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Late in the period a frustrated Victor Lindstrom began firing the puck toward the net, taking a total of four shots towards Kirkstone. Angello blocked the first, the next two missed the net completely, but finally on the fourth try Lindstrom rips a slapshot past Kirkstone to get the Raiders on the board
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Second Period

Halifax had a strong second, outshooting Montreal 11-5, but their lack of faceoff proficiency continued to be a problem. Six minutes in and Nerokov restore Montreal’s two goal lead on a rebound goal
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After the goal the puck stayed in Montreal’s end for the majority of the next few minutes, and while Kirkstone looked strong on the majority of quality scoring chances, Toivo Kosonen was left wide open six minutes later to cut into Montreal’s lead
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Halifax continued to pepper Kirkstone for the rest of the period but had to settle for a 3-2 scoring going into the third.

Third Period

Halifax carried momentum into the third, but again Kirkstone seemed determined to keep the score at 3-2. Seven minutes into the third and a familiar situation arose, a faceoff in the Halifax end. Alex Reed won the draw, but Zyvleski didn’t give up on the play and laid a hit on Reed to turnover the puck to Nolan Angello who made no mistake burying the 4-2 goal
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That was the end of Hocolate’s night, and while he had a strong game it seemed the coach saw nothing in his team’s effort to justify risking his starter’s health. Georgette Pel took over between the pipes and looked pretty good on the shots she faced. Late in the third, on the powerplay, Montreal won another faceoff in the Raiders’ zone and put the game to rest on a shot from Marcos Maciel
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Final Score

Montreal Militia - 5 @ Halifax Raiders- 2
3 Stars

1 - Zach Zyvleski (MTL)
Zyvleski had his best game of the season, dominating the faceoff circle, and scoring 1G 1A to lead Montreal to the win.

2 - Viktor Nerokov (MTL)
Zyvleski’s linemate for most of the night proved Montreal made no mistake in acquiring him. The young Russian tallied 1G 1A and had a very strong showing at both ends of the ice.

3 - Marcos Maciel (MTL)
Maciel had the late back breaking goal, but before that he threw 5 hits and wore Halifax down over the course of the night.

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Highlanders Highlanders



Aurora Argonauts Stars Battleborn Czechia

<div align="center">Whalers Whalers Vancouver Whalers VS <span style='color:orange'>St. Louis Scarecrows Scarecrows Scarecrows
</span>
Whalers Goal 3 Goal VS 1 Scarecrows

Game #47 Post-Game Show</div>


<div align="center">Summary of Game</div>

First Period

First period stared off high energy for Vancouver, both sides playing some relatively clean hockey with zero PIMs on the board by the buzzer end at 20 minutes. St. Louis ran into some truly foul luck at the start with a few bad deflections of players in the crease, including Willy Mac and Bill Cirocco. Wahlgren, staying relatively unchallenged until a hard push by the Whalers late in the second minute helmed by Jon Ross who sends the puck to the back of the 'Crows net without much challenge. Poor shooting and good puck control on the dot found rookie Corey Bearss with the puck on his stick and shooting one past Wahlgren not even a full three minutes later. Two errors in goal seemed to revive Wahlgren and get his mind back in the game, allowing him to stop the remaining 7 shots on STL's goal that period, but the 'Crows offense remained a mess until the buzzer sounded, with barely 5 scoring attempts for the full 20 minutes of play.

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Second Period

Second period found both teams frustrated in both a shooting and a scoring drought; plenty of missed shots, poor puck management, and blood running hot -- both Vancouver and St. Louis racking up a minor for slashing a piece. Conklin Owen and Danny Foster both letting their irritation be known with some ankle swats, handing each team a 2-minute powerplay a piece -- both of them killed without production. Big hits on rookie Vancouver offense from more seasoned St. Louis defense kept the Whalers firmly in their place for the second twenty minuets. Both teams returned restless and exhausted to the locker rooms for this period, neither with anything to show for their efforts.

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Third Period

Right out of the gate on the 3rd, Vancouver's Owen managed to bait Foster into another minor penalty -- the two of them having chirped each other all over the ice following their respective ankle love-taps from the second period -- this time with a high sticking call. Whatever suppressive magic St. Louis had going on their penalty kill during the second period wasn't able to sustain itself into the third, as the Whalers finally made good on their powerplay with Owen himself putting up the point at 5:01 with Ross and Graham for the assists. 'Crows scrapped together a response way too late in the period at 17:31, but by that point in time, Vancouver's defense had hunkered down into a viciously physical machine blocking and subduing all efforts at puck movement in their zone. At the end of this period, Vancover walked away with the win.

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<div align="center">Five Stats Not to Brush Past</div>
  • Whalers Talk about a difference in effort -- Vancouver came close to outshooting St. Louis at a ratio of 2-to-1 almost every period; the Whalers racked up a stunning 28 shots on goal to the 'Crows measly 15.
  • Scarecrows St. Louis had almost dead-even ice time across all four forward lines, each playing for around 15 minutes a piece. Vancouver's forward groupings had a more standard staggering to allow for refreshed pushes from lower-minute lines, and a more intelligent idea of which team veterans have the endurance to allow for prolonged ice-time. Could St. Louis' immature line strategy been contributing to their stymied efforts on the ice offensively? Coach should probably sit down with his boys and make sure they're putting their boys to the best of uses before setting out for another string of games.
  • Scarecrows There were a total of 32 shots on goal in the game that went wide of the net. While overall, Vancouver shot twice as much St. Louis, the statistics when dealing only with shots that went wide of the net tell a very different story: of the 32, 19 belong to St. Louis, and only 13 to Vancouver. St. Louis has a problem with their aim, and when they're being outshot 2-to-1, they should not be skewing high of even in undisciplined shooting.
  • Whalers Well, the Whalers as a whole can take this game to the bank -- the overall +/- of the game came up with no names on the roster sporting negative numbers at all. The boys that were out on the ice for the one Vancouver managed to let in late in the 3rd were all part of the producing team earlier in the game, and walked off with 0s, if not +1s for their efforts.
  • Scarecrows While both teams put up similar numbers of blocked shots for the game, Vancouver's efforts are spread out evenly across their boys on the D -- St. Louis has a few clear contenders they would do well to groom into big body defensemen. Rivet, Celej, and Targaryen have 8 blocked shots between the three of them, and Rivet and Celej have body hits in their name as well. If the organization focuses on supporting these men in their efforts to shut down the 'Crows defensive ice, they'll see great returns. These guys are clearly willing to do the legwork.
<div align="center">Unsung Hero</div>

Vancouver’s Ace Redding wins this distinction for this game for an absolutely mind-bending 7 hits, helping beat what's been an otherwise vicious St. Louis offense into a sloppy mess. Granted, he only otherwise put up one blocked shot and an assist, but for a game that was defensively about disorienting and wearing out the opposing team, Redding's contributions in the hits department are truly no small feet. Keep up that Hulk Smash, kid -- you're going places!

<div align="center">Game 112: St Louis Scarecrows v Detroit Falcons
Game Thread
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Goals

DET- Prince Daniel James (Wiljian Zjang) at 13:45 (PP) (1st)
STL- Dos Diablo (Geoff Reine, Taylor Stach) at 10:56 (2nd)
DET- Kaspars Berzins (Jari Sinikka, Prince Daniel James) at 4:18 (PP) (3rd)
STL- Joe Kurczewski (Kelly Rivet) at 19:29 (3rd)

Penalties

DET- Nucky Toohoots for Hooking (Minor) at 0:07 (1st)
STL- Dos Diablo for Hooking (Minor) at 11:48 (1st)
STL- Danny Foster for High Sticking (Minor) at 17:32 (1st)
DET- Rising Hippo for Cross Checking (Minor) at 0:43 (2nd)
STL- Frans Erichsen for Hooking (Minor) at 8:28 (2nd)
STL- Ronnie Westbrook for Roughing (Minor) at 14:18 (2nd)
STL- Kelly Rivet for Tripping (Minor) at 3:32 (3rd)
DET- Nucky Toohoots for Fighting (Major) at 10:20 (3rd)
STL- Casper Ek for Fighting (Major) at 10:20 (3rd)
DET- Nucky Toohoots for Instigating A Fight (Game Misconduct) at 10:20 (3rd)

The Game</div>

Detroit failed to defeat a hard hitting St Louis team in front of a packed arena at home last night, giving up the game equaliser with just 31 seconds to go in the third period, and eventually losing an epic ten round shootout characterised by the amazing efforts of goalies Sivy McSieve and Kyle Wahlgren.

The game started with another trademarked Nucky Toohoots early game penalty, this time just seven seconds into the first period, and the crowd made their opinion known accordingly. Fortunately for the Falcons, it didn't result in any goals, and a penalty to Dos Diablo of the Scarecrows halfway through the period allowed Prince Daniel James to score the first goal of the game (and on a power play to boot), giving the lead to Detroit.

St Louis retaliated in the second period with a much more physical game than the Falcons, and eventually Dos Diablo redeemed himself to the Missouri faithful, scoring the equalizing goal 11 minutes into the second period. Detroit tried to counter the aggressiveness of the Scarecrows players through control of the puck, but the period still ended at even score.

Detroit finally took back the lead five minutes into the third period, but five minutes later saw Nucky Toohoots receive a game misconduct for instigating a fight with Casper Ek. The loss of the veteran first line Detroit forward hurt the Falcons, and enabled St Louis to go on the offensive. The Scarecrows nearly didn't manage to equalize the game in time, but eventually Joe Kurczewski tied the game up again with just thirty one seconds to spare.

Detroit again took control of the game during the five minute overtime, but neither team was able to break the deadlock. Thus began the one of the most incredible shootouts yet this SMJHL season, requiring ten rounds to resolve. Goals were only scored in the first round, by Willy Mack and Hans Moleman; Sivy McSieve and Kyle Wahlgren both stopped their next eight shots. Eventually, Sivy failed first, and St Louis took home a much needed two points.

<div align="center">The Crucial Point</div>

St Louis nearly didn't even make it to overtime, but for the efforts of Joe Kurczewski. Kyle Wahlgren was pulled from the net, but it wasn't necessary- it happened at the same time as a pass by Alexander Odegaard was intercepted by Kelly Rivet, who in turn sprung Kurczewski for the breakaway and the Scarecrows second chance at winning the game.

<div align="center">Three Stars</div>

3rd- Geoff Reine was important for St Louis, assisting their first goal of the game and blocking three different shots where Kyle Wahlgren was caught out of position.

2nd- Joe Kurczewski scored the last gasp goal for the Scarecrows, giving them the opportunity they needed to win the game outright.

1st- Prince Daniel James did all he could for Detroit, scoring one goal, assisting on the other, and blocking a team high three shots.

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<div align="center">Game 105 Detroit Falcons @ Kelowna Knights</div>
A potential Grand Final preview was on display when the high flying Falcons made the trip to Kelowna to play a Knight’s side who were sitting pretty atop their conference standings. The game was set to be a close, exciting encounter, and delivered in full.

1st Period.

Goal. Kelowna Knights.
Trevor Wilson (Alex Light, Kornel Kasparek) 0:42
It didn’t take long before the pre-game hype began living up to itself. After just 42 seconds Kornel Kasparek wove his way through the traffic before delivering a pass to Trevor Wilson, who directed the puck towards the waiting stick of Alex Light who sent a rocket, narrowly missing the net. Trevor Wilson pounced on the loose puck and flicked it into the top left corner, sending the crowd into raptures.

Goal. Kelowna Knights. Trevor WIlson (Adriana Starosta) 9:24
There were no prizes for guessing who scored the next goal… A rare mistimed pass by Rising Hippo allowed Adriana Starosta to swiftly intercept the puck before sending it downfield to Trevor Wilson who foresaw his teammates interception, allowing him to get into free space. As quickly as the puck got to him it was in the back of the net, after a slight deflection of the Detroit tenders blocker.

Kelowna entered the third period on top, leaving the Detroit outfit to regroup before heading out for the next period.

2nd Period

TSN Turning Moment
Goal. Detroit Falcons. Rising Hippo (Alexis Metzler, Marc Leclerc) 18:39
This goal turned the tables completely on what had previously been a one sided affair. After a wayward pass by Kelowna, Marc Leclerc capitalised by sending the puck towards Alexis Metzler, who had no hesitation in flicking it to Rising Hippo who didn’t think twice about burying the puck in the back of the net.
This goal signalled a major switch in momentum which saw Detroit score two more unanswered goals, which ultimately won them the game.

Both teams went into the sheds positive about their position in the game. For Kelowna, they had to find their earlier form. Whilst Detroit needed to continue their late surge and capitilise on recent momentum.

3rd Period

Goal. Detroit Falcons. Kaspars Berzins (Alexis Metzler, Marc Leclerc) 1:09
A boarding minor to Dieter Dominique allowed Detroit to get on the scoreboard once more with the Detroit Power Play. Marc Leclerc fed a pinpoint pass to a charging Alexis Meltzer who took on the Kelowna defence head on. The speed of Leclerc stunned the Kelowna defence allowing him to lay the puck off to an unmarked Kaspars Berzins who sent the puck straight down the 5 hole of the Kelowna tender.

Goal. Detroit Falcons. Alexis Metzler (Kaspars Berzins, Rising Hippo) 8:10
It was once again the Detroit Power Play that caused the damage to Kelowna with a bone crunching hit by Rising Hippo sending the puck stumbling to the eventual goalscorer, Alexis Meltzer. The puck was sent to Berzins who's cannon of a shot was blocked by Jason Aittokallio, only to fall fortunately for Alexis Meltzer who didn’t need to be convinced to shoot straight back at an off balance Jason Aittokallio.

Goal. Kelowna Knights. Dieter Dominique (Cara Hohenberg, Justs Sirmais) 9:15
Dieter Dominique stopped the Detroit onslaught with a Power Play goal that came on the back of some quick thinking by Cara Hohenburg which lead to Dominique regaining the wayward shot behind the net, catching the Detroit tender on the wrong side of the net before poking the puck into the bottom right corner.

Goal. Detroit Falcons. Prince Daniel James (Nucky Toohoots) at 12:01
Kelowna’s lack of discipline was really starting to cost them with the third Power Play goal of the period coming off a huge hit by Nucky Toohoots, which allowed Prince Daniel James to charge into the Kelowna zone, toe-dragging the puck past the Knights defence and launching the puck past the reaching arm of the goaltender to score a lead taking goal for Detroit.

Goal. Detroit Falcons. Marc Leclerc (Kaspars Berzins, Alexis Metzler) 19:14
The final goal of the game came on the back of some high pressing defence by Kelowna. This last ditch effort to tie the game allowed the Detroit offense to slip the puck into their attacking zone which allowed Berzins to get a shot on goal which was deflected away only to be recovered by Marc Leclerc, who had no trouble in flicking the puck above the tenders leg and into the net.

This game may be a preview of the Grand Final this season, with both teams leading their respective conferences and showing no signs of slowing down. Although Detroit won on this occasion the result could have gone either way. Tonight, both teams showed reasons why they could be this years champions.
Detroit must work on converting half chances into goals in order to start scoring as many goals as they're capable of
Kelowna's Power Play kill tonight was poor, and is something they must work on if they want to take it all the way this season.


<div align="center">Final score: Detroit Falcons 5 - Kelowna Knights 3</div>

3 Stars
1 - Alexis Metzler (DET)
2 - Trevor Wilson (KEL)
3 - Marc Leclerc (DET)

Power Play
Detroit Falcons - 3 on 5 Attempt(s) - 60.00%
Kelowna Knights - 1 on 6 Attempt(s) - 16.67%

Penalty Kill
Detroit Falcons - 5 on 6 Attempt(s) - 83.33% - Score 0 goal in Penalty Kill
Kelowna Knights - 2 on 5 Attempt(s) - 40.00% - Score 0 goal in Penalty Kill

Team Stat
Detroit Falcons - Hits : 19 - Faceoff Wins : 47 - Blocked Shots : 10 - Penalty Minutes : 14
Kelowna Knights - Hits : 16 - Faceoff Wins : 42 - Blocked Shots : 6 - Penalty Minutes : 12

Game 105 - Detroit @ Kelowna link

S30: A Look Back presents the 4th episode of the year, and we're looking to brighten you spirits some after the last edition covered a loss. This time around, we're looking at the Game 121 contest between Montreal and Vancouver on our ice.

Season to Date
This was the 5th meeting between these two teams on the year, so at this point, trends are really starting to surface. In the first 4 games, it was the Militia taking the win 3 times, to Vancouver's lone win. Not only were 3 of them defeats, but the Whalers couldn't force extra time in any of those losses, losing out on at least gaining a single point on occasion. The whalers had been outscored 7 to 16, their PP was only scoring on 13.33% of their opportunities (the lowest percentage against all teams in the league), and the PK was only at a 68.4% success rate (again, lowest against all teams in the SMJHL).

Needless to say, this has been a series which was dominated by the Militia pretty handily thus far. Montreal was dominating in ever facet of special teams, and stymieing Vancouver in 5 on 5 play. But, in tonight match up, the Whalers were able to figure out a way to win the special teams battle, and with it, the game. Let's see how it happened:

<center>Militia Montreal Militia 1 at Whalers Vancouver Whalers 2</center>

Highlights

<center>Goal Period 1, 0:04: Goal by VAN Goal
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Vancouver didn't waste any time in making a statement in this game</center>
If there's one way to flip the script on an opponent who has had your number over the course of the season, it's to go ahead and score in under 5 seconds on home ice. Ross won the face off back to Connor MacDonald, who skated in on Jeff Kirkstone, ripping the puck over his shoulder. The shock and awe repercussions of such a goal were strong... driving Kristofer Hallfredsson to a hooking penalty a mere 11 seconds later. The Whalers didn't convert on it, but it was clear that their opponents were on their backs immediately-

<center>Goal Period 1, 2:52: Goal by MTL Goal
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Montreal Struck back quickly, but they never truly regained their usual form...</center>
Winning faceoffs proved to be a large factor in this game. While the Militia's goal didn't come as a direct result as Vancouver's had, it allowed them to start the play which led to the score. Marcos Maciel won the face off against Frankie Latta while filling in for the ejected Zach Zyvleski... which started a series of passes which ended in a shot by Zach Zyvleski. Whaler goal tender Maximilian Wehner saved the initial shot, but was unable to collect the rebound. The loose puck was scooped up by sniper Nolan Angello, whose quick shot was too much for Wehner to handle. So ended the scoring in the first period... but there was still a dramatic moment worth mentining to come...

<center>Period 1, 19:58: Penalty on MTL
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Nerokov couldn't help but try and get his team going with a big hit with seconds left in the period... his teammates just wish he hadn't used his stick in the process.</center>
Despite drawing even, Montreal made their displeasure clear, with Viktor Nerokov committing a high sticking penalty with merely 2 seconds left in the period. An entirely unneeded penalty, at a foolish point in the game.

<center>Goal Period 2, 0:04: Goal by VAN Goal
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It worked so well the first time, why not try it again?</center>
So here we were, 1 period in the books, and the Whalers had kept the Militia at bay, which had clearly been frustrating for them. As the puck was about to drop for the 2nd period (albeit down a man this time), they had no idea how frustrated they would soon be... Again, Ross won the face off back to Connor MacDonald, who again skated into the Montreal zone, and yet again, drew down on Kirkstone. You'd think after being beaten earlier in the game, Kirkstone might expect the same move coming- since this was the exact same situation... But alas, he was caught unaware yet again, and it was another lightning strike goal for Vancouver. Yet again- how did MTL respond? Poorly, again- 11 seconds later, another hooking penalty, this time by Ilmari Maatta.

The effect of the first goal on Montreal was clear enough as it was, while the second Vancouver goal took any remaining drive out of the legs and sticks of the Militia. They'd play out the rest of the game, going through the motions, but there was never any real threats after the fact. Vancouver was able to lock down 5 on 5 play, and even saw a 100% success rate on the PK, as the Militia were clearly ready to head back to their own building to lick their wounds. So expired the final buzzer with a 2-1 score line in favor of your home town Whalers.

Our 3 Stars
The 3 stars from the game are mostly derived from who racked up the stats. We like to look at a bigger picture, so our 3 stars don't always align perfectly with the stat sheet's suggestions. This week, it was these guys who made the real difference:

3. Brynjar Tusk - Tusk didn't show up on the score sheet in a way that makes one think third star right away... with no shots, a -1 rating, and no shots blocked- but his physical play kept the air out of the lungs of the Montreal Militia attack. Posting 5 hits in just under 20 minutes of ice time, he made his presence felt often. Honorary mentions go out to Farris and Llewellyn for also bringing physicality to the ice- but with both serving a penalty, they put their team in a compromising position.


2. Jon Ross - It was Ross' prowess in the face off dot which put his teammates in a position to succeed. Posting an impressive 21 of 31 in the dot (good for 67.7%), he consistently helped the Whalers dominate possession, and keep their opponents shots to a minimum. His 2 assists on opening face offs were pivotal in the win.


1. Connor MacDonald - A perfect 100% shooting percentage, notching his 2 goals on only 2 shots. His ability to convert on the opportunities he had earned him the first star on this evening, and fully deserved.

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