<div align="center">PART 1

WELCOME TO PART 2 OF MY SERIES DETAILING THE PRINCE GEORGE FIREBIRDS SEASON GAME BY GAME, GOAL BY GOAL AND BLOW BY BLOW!</div>

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Game 10: Vancouver Whalers @ Prince George Firebirds

Finally we’ve reached the final game of this basically mini-playoff series versus the Vancouver Whalers. Both teams are pretty fed up with having to fly back and forth, over and over, between Prince George and Vancouver. The Firebirds lead the season series three games to zero and there are rumors that the Whalers team had a “player-only” meeting after their last loss to the Firebirds. Vancouver to this point has zero wins and zero standings points in eight games so something needs to change quickly for them to turn this still very young season around. The game started off perfectly for the Vancouver Whalers as Tommy Salami scored his third of the season, from Latta, just four seconds into the game. Face-offs are important, people. Both teams were guilty of a few penalties throughout the period but you can tell both teams are just completely sick of playing one another. Rurik Razin doubled the Whalers lead just over halfway through the first period as Josh O’Brian got a nice shot on net which rebounded right to Razin. You can see the excitement on the Whalers bench as everything seems to be going their way. Believe it or not, the Whalers only had four shots on net in the first period and two went in; now that is efficiency. The Whalers went up by another goal early in the second period thanks to rookie Emiya Shirou who finished off a really nice passing play that included Yuriy Starkonov and Nicklas Bjornsen. Chris York immediately interfered after the face-off was taken and you can see some frustrations boiling over on the Prince George bench. Ultimately, the Firebirds only manage two shots on net for the entire second period which was tripled by Vancouver. The third period was a different story which saw the Firebirds pelt the Vancouver net minder with 13 shots but unfortunately for them, only one of them would go in. Smirnov Light tipped an Isaac Cormier-Hale shot home (off of a feed from O’Sullivan) but that would do it for the ‘birds. Harris did his best to keep his team in it by stopping everything in the third but ultimately the whole team effort just simply wasn’t there for the Firebirds and Vancouver is very deserved of their first win of the season. Vancouver 3, Firebirds 1


Game 11: Prince George Firebirds @ Kelowna Knights

Despite the standings being close at this point in the season, the Western Conference is likely going to be coming down to either the Prince George Firebirds or the Kelowna Knights so every game versus one another can be considered a “four point game.” The Knights have had the Firebirds number so far this year thanks to a lethal power play. You could tell that both teams have “grown” since the start of the season as the first period was a lot of feeling out between both of the squads. Other than a few penalties here or there, both teams only managed a meager shot total for the period. The second period though started with a few back to back penalties and saw Kelowna score, yet again, on the power play. Rookie Eddie Andrejeck scored the first goal of his SMJHL career four minutes in thanks to a setup by Cory Knouse and Vasily Horvat. As the period dragged on both teams started playing past the whistle a bit but the referees brought everyone back in line with a few choice penalties being given to both squads. However, late in the period, Langabeer doubled the Knights lead due to an ill-timed line-change by the Firebirds which eventually left Langabeer all alone with the goalie and he didn’t waste that opportunity. The Firebirds are, yet again, in a deep hole against their divisional rivals as the second period ended. Prince George fought its way back to a one goal game in the third period thanks to a Teemu Sirius goal via York and Cukurs about halfway through the period but that’s all they would get. Even though the Firebirds nearly tripled the Knights third period shot totals, they weren’t able to get it past Sebastian Thompson, who had a spectacular game, more than once. The Firebirds have dropped three straight to their rivals but thankfully it’s early on in the season so there is plenty of time to make up ground on the Western Conference favorites. Both goalies played well this game but unfortunately Kelowna’s top line was just too much to handle for the Firebirds D. Knights 2, Firebirds 1


Game 12: St. Louis Scarecrows @ Prince George Firebirds

Having dropped two straight games in a row for the second time this season, the Firebirds really need to pick up the pace and find some consistency to build upon. Even though it’s early on in the year a team with title ambitions cannot be losing too many games in a row because that simply does not work in the playoffs. Game 12 marks the first time the Firebirds and the Scarecrows have met this year and it looks to be a fun game with lots of offensive firepower out there on the ice. This game started out all Firebirds despite a few early penalties as the shot totals were lopsided through the entire period in the favor of Prince George. Rookie Xander Green managed to slot home his second of the season just over thirteen minutes into the first period thanks to fellow rookie Nick Dupuis and veteran Karl Hertzberg. Hertzberg would get his name on the scoresheet again as he scored his second of the season from Nick Celej and rookie Dani Forsberg, who has yet to score his first SMJHL despite being hailed as one of the best snipers in the draft. St. Louis rookie Brett Kennedy, chosen one pick before Forsberg, managed to get his name on the scoresheet in another way by committing two penalties and drawing another. The second period was a back and forth affair but both teams honestly had trouble converting good chances into shots on net. Both teams played a really structured defensive system which is surprising considering St. Louis was down two and they failed to really push the pace whatsoever. Isaac Cormier-Hale, the Firebirds resident fighter apparently, gave Prince George a three goal lead thanks to Smirnov Light and Jean Girard. Late in the period St. Louis got a beauty of a consolation goal curtesy of Anatoly Yanovich who put it top corner after a nice passing play between Minkus and Walker. Harris had yet another great game in only allowing a single goal on 20 shots while Haapanen let in three on 27 shots. The Firebirds are back to winning ways hoping to build upon this moving forward. Firebirds 3, Scarecrows 1


Game 13: Prince George Firebirds @ Vancouver Whalers

Game 13 featured a game between the recently hot Vancouver Whalers and the streaking Prince George Firebirds. Although PGF has gotten the better of the Whalers thus far in the season series, this is a much improved Whalers squad looking to get back in the mix for the playoffs as we reach the “third of the way” through the regular season at the conclusion of this game. Vancouver certainly got things started off right in front of the home fans when rookie Four Four managed to snipe home his first goal of the season on the power play. A bit of “karma” for PGF here as it was Harris who took the slashing minor and was eventually scored on. Starkonov and Latta had the helpers on that one. Late in the first however Chris York scored his 7th goal of this young season on a beautiful stretch pass from Caelan Fearghal which left him free with only the rookie Bart Cechove to beat and the seasoned sniper made no mistake. Prince George heavily outshot the Whalers in the first period with 13 shots on net to Vancouvers 5 but both teams went into the dressing room on equal footing on the scoresheet. The second period as a whole was a bit dull as both teams ultimately didn’t get a lot of good opportunities. The one thing that certainly stood out was Prince George’s discipline this game was really lacking. They took a lot of bad penalties that they just didn’t need to take and eventually it came back to bite them in the booty. Veteran Adam Kaiser capitalized on one of his teams four power play opportunities in the second period thanks to a nice feed from Josh O’Brian and Frankie Latta to give the Whalers a one goal lead with just under four minutes to play in the second. The third period would involve another three penalties taken by the Firebirds as the desperately tried to get back in the game but ultimately they would fall short. Vancouver got a hell of a performance from their rookie goalie as Cechove saved 25 out of a possible 26 shots and he really kept his team in the game in the first where it looked like things were going to get out of hand fast. Whalers 2, Firebirds 1


Game 14: Kelowna Knights @ Prince George Firebirds

Prince George would go into their game against the Kelowna Knights with a lot of fire in their stomachs. Coming off of a tough loss to Vancouver, Prince George was looking to bounce back against a team they have yet to beat this season in three tries (0-2-1). All of the fans in attendance were probably pretty disappointed with how the first period went as both teams combined for a meager 7 shots on net and it was turnover city in the neutral zone. The second period however would pick up as Teodors Cukurs would grab his third goal of the season off of a nice passing play between Kristy O’Sullivan and Nick Celej. Less than two minutes later the Firebirds would double their lead thanks to an absolute bomb of a shot that found its way through a mass of bodies from Karl Hertzberg. Rookie Xander Green did all of the heavy lifting though as he drew three Kelowna players to the corner before dishing a nice pass to Hertzberg who timed the one-timer perfectly. The third period would start with a ton of pressure by the Firebirds in the opening minutes but Kelowna would hold strong. Tides would turn and the last ten minutes of the period saw Kelowna throw ten pucks towards the net in under ten minutes and hold the Firebirds to only a single shot. Vasily Horvat, scoring his 8th of the season, started the scoring for Kelowna in the period. Kelowna’s lethal power play got an opportunity after O’Sullivan tripped a Knight and they made no mistake. Trev Legend would score with less than two minutes to go to tie the game up thanks to a beautiful play made by Robert Haugen and Halfdan Thorstein which culminated in a slam-dunk type goal by Trev Legend. Yet another Firebirds/Kelowna game is going to OT. This one ended a bit differently though as Chris York scored his 8th of the season just under 4 minutes into the extra period to give the Firebirds their first victory over Kelowna since last season. This was one of the more exciting games of this young season so far and Stephen Harris really stole the show stopping 25 out of a possible 27 pucks. This is sure to be a hotly contested rivalry in both the regular season and likely the playoffs. Firebirds 3, Kelowna 2 (OT)


Game 15: St. Louis Scarecrows @ Prince George Firebirds

After that huge win versus Kelowna, the Firebirds were looking to keep the intensity up and not drop a must-win game against the Eastern Division St. Louis Scarecrows. The Firebirds have had success versus this team this season but as with any young team, and St. Louis is no exception, they get exponentially better as the season goes on. With the home crowd fully energized, Prince George would only increase the noise level thanks to their first goal just over five minutes into the game scored by Teemu Sirius and assisted by Kristy O’Sullivan and Caelan Fearghal. The party wouldn’t stop until da roooof came off as Jean Girard doubled the Firebirds lead just 11 seconds later as Fearghal would pick up his 2nd assist in under half a minute. Rookie Jimmy Wagner really struggled out of the gate in this game but his team did him no favors as they were stuck in their own end for much of the first. Rookie Dani Forsberg would cap off a huge 1st period by scoring his first career SMJHL goal on an absolute snipe bardownski top-titty bangalangin shot. Fellow rookie Xander Green and resident goon Isaac Cormier-Hale registered the helpers on his goal. The second period was much of the same but both teams really struggled offensively. Prince George would go up by four goals on Hertzberg’s shot. Both Dani Forsberg and Xander Green would assist on his goal as the third line for the Firebirds was absolutely on fire. That would spell the end of Jimmy Wagner’s night as he allowed four goals on just nine shots faced. St. Louis would get on the scoresheet halfway through the third as rookie Niklas Zetterberg would take a pass from veteran Fletcher Carric and the puck would eventually find its way to the back of the net. Prince George would answer back in less than three minutes, also on the power play, as Smirnov Light Jr. would score his 5th of the season off a feed from Chris York and Caelan Fearghal. Harris again was my personal first star of the game as he played lights out despite not seeing a lot of shots thanks to both his defense playing well in front of him and St. Louis just showing how young they really are. On the other hand, Wagner finished with a .556 save percentage which is not what you want from your first overall pick. Firebirds 5, Scarecrows 1


Game 16: Prince George Firebirds @ Halifax Raiders

After winning their last two, the Prince George Firebirds were looking to continue their winning ways as they were about to go up against the leaders of the Eastern Conference in the Halifax Raiders. The game would start off great for the Firebirds thanks to a lot of sloppy play and a lot of penalties taken by the Raiders. Chris York, the OT hero from the Kelowna game, would start off the scoring with his ninth of the season on the PP after a nifty play made by Jean Girard set up Koittbulle who shot but it didn’t get through and York picked up the rebound and jammed it home. Halifax would take another penalty seconds after the first goal of the game was scored and the Firebirds struggling power play would convert yet another opportunity as Kristy O’Sullivan would score only her 2nd goal of the season. Teemu Sirius and Declan Reilly got the helpers on this one but this goal was all Kristy as she pulled the puck from the corner and grinded her way to the center of the ice for a golden opportunity which she didn’t miss. Just over twenty seconds later rookie Nick Dupuis would put the Firebirds up by three with just under six minutes played in the entire game. The third line of Herzberg and Green were feeling it again after a huge showing in the previous game as they got their names on the scoresheets with a few apples. Halifax would pull one back thanks to Greta Iversen getting her first of the year thanks to veterans Brandon Gauthier and Zander Rhys. All in all, Halifax was heavily outshot by the Firebirds in the first period by a total of 15 to 5. The second period would see only ten shots find their way to the goalies and zero penalties would be called. After a frantic first, both teams certainly settled down. The third period started off slow but eventually the Firebirds regained their three goal lead thanks to Smirnov Light’s goal just over eight minutes in. Rookie Reilly and Tapper Kottbulle were there for the assists. Just over three minutes late Prince George would make it a second straight five-goal outing thanks to their third line coming up aces yet again. Karl Hertzberg would slot home a beautiful feed from Dani Forsberg who got the puck from Nick Celej. Halifax would grab a consolation goal a few minutes before the end of the game as Niklas Flower got his 6th of the season via Zoidberg. Harris shined bright again as he saved 22 of 24 shots. Russakoff for the Raiders played well as well despite letting in 5 shots as he faced way more shots than Harris throughout the game. Firebirds 5, Raiders 2


Game 17: Colorado Mammoths @ Prince George Firebirds

Colorado would come into this game looking to take down the red-hot Firebirds in what is the fourth meeting of these two teams this season. PGF holds the season lead 2-1 in the little mini-series between the two Western Conference rivals. Teodors Cukurs would start the game off right for the home team by scoring just over a minute after the puck drop as Prince Georges top line looks to rebound from a poor showing over the last few games. Teemu Sirius and Nick Dupuis would be there for the assists on that goal. Rookie Finn Larsson would tie it up for the Mammoths four minutes into the game after an Isaac Cormier-Hale holding penalty sent Colorado onto the power play. Larsson’s fourth of the season was assisted by Lukas Muller and Vincent Garland. Finn would then give the Mammoths the lead just under halfway through the period with his fifth goal of the season and his second in under five minutes. Maverick O’Dooley did much of the work getting the puck into the zone and Larsson was there to add the finishing touches and put the puck into the back of the net. The second period would start as the first had ended and Colorado would double their lead over the Firebirds with a goal from Asvard Lyszczarczyk via O’Ryan and the rookie Rambo. Prince George would cut that lead down to won thanks to Chris York’s 10th goal of the season as the powerplay unit for the Firebirds has been improving over the last few games. The hope in the eyes of the Firebirds players and fans wouldn’t last more than two minutes as Serj Kovalchuk would restore the Mammoths two-goal lead. Rambo would increase the lead late in the 2nd period thanks to a beautiful pass from Salo (and Asvard) which fooled the entire defense of the Firebirds and leave big ol’ Rambo wide open in the slot. The Firebirds would grab a consolation goal halfway through the third period thanks to Teemu Sirius who was the beneficiary of a nice play between Kristy O’Sullivan and Chris York. Harris pulled a Jimmy Wagner and only saved 5 out of a possible 9 shots but back-up Dean Melanson had a heck of a game saving 16 of 17 and trying to keep his team in the game despite being outshot heavily. Mammoths 5, Firebirds 3

Keep a look out for Part 3 coming soon (probably tomorrow)!