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Jogurtaa · 01-08-2019, 11:10 AM

VS

Welcome to the 34th game of the new SMJHL regular season. This time it is the Knights versus Militia.

1ST PERIOD
First period was a bit of a snoozer. Both teams were testing out how they should play against one another and at the end the of the period both the spectators and rhe players were not really impressed. Both goalies were on point and did not let any pucks get past them. This period had more penalties than real scoring opportunities. With two penalties for Kelowna (Sharp 2min, Niedermayer Jr. 2min) and one for Montreal (Fisterbottom 2min). Kelowna did manage to get more shots on goal with 5, but Montreal answered with 4. The first period ended with a scoreless tie.

2ND PERIOD
At the start of the period Montreal had the edge and they did get rewarded for their efforts. Montreals second line controled the puck, overcame the Knight defence and at 5:06 in the 2nd Andreas Kvalheim scored his 3rd goal of the season after a rebound from Pavel Pivonkas shot (2nd assist). Willy Mack also got his 3rd assist of the season. Kelowna did try to get back in the game as soon as possible. They had good chances during their PP after O'Dowd got a 2min penalty, but they were just short. At the end of the period Kelownas player Vent also got a 2min penalty, but Montreal couldn't score. Shots for the period were 9 for Kelowna and 5 for Montreal and the period ended 0:1 for Montreal.

3RD PERIOD
It is all or nothing for Kelowna and the players and coaches seem to know it. But unfortunately for Kelowna, Kocsis got a 2min penalty and left his team short handed. Montreal saw the opportunity to make it a 2 goal game and they took it. After a great work on the offensive zone, the players who made the first goal did it again. This time Willy Mack after a great pass from Pavel Pivonka (4) scored his 3rd goal of the season. Both players got their second point of the game and it couldn't have come at a better time. Kelowna seems to be down on their knees. But it didn't take long for them to rise up again! Kocsis angry and hungry for goals took matters into his own hands, he set up Konstantin for a great shot and he did not miss. Vladislav Konstantin scored his second of the season and now it is a one goal game. Kocsis with 3rd assist and Icicle also helped with his 2nd assist of the season. Vent got another penalty in the middle of the period, but Montreal came up short. Kelowna is still in the game and Svensson gave them a chance by getting a 2min penalty with a little bit more than 7min to go in the 3rd. Kelowna pushed, but it was not enough and they came up short not only in the PP, but in the whole game as well. They had opportunities, but they just shot the puck wide or didn't take the shot at all and it shows in the statistics as well. Shots were 6 for Kelowna and 11 for Montreal. The game ends 1:2 for Montreal.

Shots (game)
Knights

20

20

Goals (game)
Knights

1

2

3 STARS OF THE GAME
1. - Willy Mack Militia

1+1 +/- +1
2. - Andreas Kvalheim Militia

1+0 +/- +1
3. - Pavel Pivonka Militia

0+2 +/- +1

LarksTongue · 01-08-2019, 03:45 PM

Comment 1 (Special Teams):

Special Teams were a big factor in this game. The Kelowna Knights took 5 minor penalties they had to kill off throughout the game. The Knights killed off 4 of the 5 but took a couple bad penalties at key times. The Knights took a hooking penalty near the end of the 2nd period and took another hooking penalty early in the 3rd which lead to the Militias game winning 2nd goal. There was a total of 14:38 minutes of powerplay time split between the two teams with some players playing 7 minutes of special teams across the PP and PK on both teams.

Comment 2 (Stories of the Game):

Although neither appeared as the three stars of the game, this was a classic goaltending battle. Neither goaltender faced a barrage of shots which meant they had to keep their heads in the game in order to not be distracted. Case in point, Vrana did not make a save till the 16th minute of the first. Obviously Pete Vrana came up big making 19 saves for a .950 save %.with 13 of those saves not having a rebound. The only goal allowed coming with a scramble in front of Vrana. Vivian Leblanc also had a good game despite the loss making 18 saves with a .900 save %. Leblanc did even better with rebound control with 15 of those saves having no rebound. Maybe the game could have opened up with a few more rebounds.

Comment 3 (Rookie D man Showdown)

One of the many meetings to come between the number 1 and number 2 draft choice of the S45 SMJHL Entry Draft; #1 Nikolai Evans and #2 Karlstrabe Scholz. Both have taken major roles on their respective teams with Evans taking the 2nd pairing LD spot behind Fisterbottom. Scholz on the other hand has taken the top pairing RD spot. Both players played large minutes with Evans leading the Militia, and Scholz 2nd in TOI behind his partner; Sanyi Kocsis. Scholz played a steady game going positive on the score sheet, and registering a shot and hit in a losing effort. Evans was on the ice for the goal against but was in the play all game making 2 shots, 3 blocks, and 1 hit. This looks like it will be a long time rivalry that will segue into the SHL.

Thanks to @FlappyGiraffe and @ToeDragon84 for the making these sick sigs!

Quote: First Goal (3rd Game): Commander Shepard 1 (Nick Brain 1, Noah Gallagher 2) at 8:48

karlssens · 01-08-2019, 04:25 PM

Karl's Stars

1st star - Willy Mack Militia

- the first star in the sim and the first star on here too. Mack attack got it done offensively with 1 assist and 1 goal, which would prove to be the game winner in a decisive 2-1 victory. His 3 shots were 1 shy of team leaders Hudson and Fisterbottom.
2nd star - Sanyi Kocsis Knights

- With a shallow blue line the Knights leaned heavily on Kocsis in this one and he did not disappoint. Leading the team in shots, shot blocks and ice time Kocsis was a consistent force for the Knights all night long. He also tallied an assist on the lone Kelowna goal early in the 3rd to help bring the team within one goal.
3rd star - Pavel Pivonka Militia

- with a pair of apples the second line center factored in to both of Montreal's goals and proved to be a huge difference maker for the winning Montreal squad.

Nerio · 01-11-2019, 04:26 PM

Petr Vrana Debuts with a Win

Petr Vrana gets his first win in as many games in net for the Montreal Militia, out dueling Kelowna's Vivian Leblanc. Vrana faced the Knight's hot powerplay 3 times without giving up a goal, and stopped 19 of 20 shots from the Knights, only letting one up from Vladislav Konstantin, one of the Knight's top scorers. Vrana only gave up six rebounds on the shots he stopped while he melted the other thirteen. One of those rebounded led to the Knight's only goal so one can only speculate how the game could have gone without Vrana's sound rebound control. Things look promising for the young goalie.

Pris · 01-11-2019, 11:02 PM

[I did actually interview Evans for this, fwiw.]

Russian spotlight prospect interview:

Tonight's game featured two different Russian players currently in juniors, one sophomore and one first-gen. During her off days from the SHL season, Russian federation head Pietra Volkova has been making her way to SMJHL games to scout out the next generation coming into her federation. Tonight, she finds herself at a Kelowna/Montreal match, where the Militia have taken a 2-1 victory from the Knights. She's decided to have a chat with one of the two Russians involved in the game, star rookie Nikolai Evans.

Volkova: Nice game out there, kid. You’re 6th in the league in shot blocks as a rookie. Talk a bit about what you value with regards to defensive play, and how you’ve been working towards that.

Evans: Look, defense isn’t sexy, and it’s probably not even what got me drafted first overall. But defense creates offense. I’d like to be contributing more offensively, but all I can do is keep playing my game and controlling what I can control. Letting my defense slip isn’t going to give me more puck possession, so you have to focus on the basics and keep grinding each night.

Volkova: Is this something you’re looking to carry onto the Russian roster? If not, what kind of role do you envision yourself having on the team down the road?

Evans: Sure. I mean, again, I’d like to have more of a two-way game, but you have to have the defense, too. You have to have the whole package to be the best player in the game, and that’s where I want to be.

Volkova: Do you think you’ll be able to crack the roster in your rookie season?

Evans: I hope so. I’d love to show up dad one last time before he hangs them up and gets in that rocking chair for good.

5ympathies · 01-14-2019, 02:07 AM

Comment #1 (Three Stars)

First Star: Willy Mack (MTL)
Mack finished the game 100% in the face-off dot! Granted he did only take 1 face-off the game, a win is still a win. The real reason for him being the first star of the game is because he scored the game winner 3 minutes into the third period. He finished the game with a goal and an assist each while playing for just under 16 minutes with 4 of those minutes being on the power play.

Second Star: Andreas Kvalheim (MTL)
Kvalheim finds himself being the second star of the game after scoring the first goal of the game for Montreal, 5 minutes into the second period. It was his only point of the night, but it was important as it set the tone early and it took a while for Kelowna to respond.

Third Star: Pavel Pivonka (MTL)
Pivonka is an easy third star for this game, as only 3 Militia players found themselves on the scoreboard and all of them are stars tonight. Not only did he manage to get assists on both goals, he took a total of 21 face-offs, tying Bohne for second highest on his team.

Comment #2 (Special Teams)
Special Teams appeared to decide the fate of this game tonight. Depending on which way you want to look at it, Montreal had a great penalty kill and/or the Knights had an awful power play. I'm leaning more towards the Militia having a strong penalty kill because, one, I'm biased, but additionally, Kelowna has had a strong power play unit, in fact at the time this comment is written, they are leading the league. The Knights had 3 opportunities to make something happen, but they just couldn't best the defense of the Militia.

Montreal, on the other hand, had 5 chances to capitalize with an extra skater and although they only managed to score once on the power play, they made it count as that goal was the game winner. Kelowna was playing sloppy hockey today with some unnecessary penalties, especially the first: delay of game. The penalty that allowed the game winner, however, was a hooking one.

Comment #3 (Unsung Hero)
The unsung hero of the game did not get a star, as that's what made him unsung. I believe it to be Sanyi Kocsis of the Kelowna Knights. Despite the fact that he was the one who took the hooking penalty which led to the game winner, Kocsis played a hefty 23 minutes tonight with 5 of them coming on the penalty kill. It is no stretch to believe that without him, the Militia would have been able to run up the score quite a bit more, especially considering the amount of power play chances they received. In addition to his strong minutes played, he managed to get an assist on Kelowna's lone goal, finishing the night with 4 shots.

Thanks to JSS for the signature

ztevans · 01-17-2019, 08:09 PM

TURNING POINT: VRANA STANDS TALL

After starting the season with the SHL’s San Francisco Pride, Petr Vrana returned to Montreal to play out Season 45. He had a strong showing, making 19 saves on 20 shots in Montreal’s 2-1 victory over the Kelowna Knights. Two of those saves came on a critical Kelowna power play late in the third period.

Montreal had taken a 2-0 lead, but Vladislav Konstantin’s goal cut the deficit in half at the 4:43 mark of the third period. Militia forward Kristoffer Svensson took a cross-checking penalty with 7:21 remaining in the contest, giving Kelowna a chance to tie.

Kelowna mustered a barrage of shots on the power play, but Vrana made key saves to preserve the one-goal lead and secure the Montreal victory.

GIVE THAT MAN A STAR: PETR VRANA?

At the risk of making this the Petr Vrana show, it’s surprising he didn’t get one of the three stars in such a low-scoring game. Vrana admittedly missed out on the shutout with the Vladislav Konstantin goal, but he still stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced for a .950 save percentage. No disrespect to the star-winners, of course, as Willy Mack and Pavel Pivonka contributed on both Montreal goals, with while Andreas Kvalheim scored one and tallied a game-high three hits. Still, show some love to the goalie, man! For me, Vrana was a second start behind Mack’s goal and assist.

BREAKING DOWN THE SPECIAL TEAMS

As mentioned above, Kelowna was unable to convert on a late power play that could have produced a game-tying goal to erase a 2-0 deficit. All told, the Knights actually had three attempts at the man-advantage during the game. Unfortunately for Kelowna, they also committed five penalties, one of which led to a power play goal for Montreal.

That goal came at the 3:04 mark of the third period, as Willy Mack scored off a feed by Pavel Pivonka. Kelowna was able to successfully kill the other four penalties, but this goal, along with their inability to convert on power plays of their own, doomed the Knights.

***micool132*** · 01-20-2019, 09:10 PM

Comment 1 :

Star Player Nickolas Klaus had a big game despite the loss, lacking finnish on his scoring chances but overall bringing a good performance to the Knights Offense. He played a total of 20:52 minutes, registered 4 shot and a hit but he also played 4 minutes 23 seconds on the pk, keeping Montreal on check for 4 of their 5 powerplays. he registered 3 shot in the second period while his team was tring to take a lead in the game, the last one in the final minutes of the third period. Most of the shot attempts were on net or deflected by a teamates showing a good level of confidence in his hands.

Comment 2:

We will also analyse Nathan Explosion's play, his first game as a Knight covered by a Post game show. The big rookie winger had an okay game, having left most columns with 0's but he registered 3 hits on Montreal players. The big winger is not an offensive asset yet for the Knights so being a positive player is a win for the team. The 3 hits victims were Pavel Pivonka, Siobhan Ryleigh who lost the puck and Commander Shepard who also lost a puck. The hits were relatively important as the opposing team lost possession after the checks. Let's say Explosion will always look for the check to make his opponent lose the puck and so far rthis season he is doing well in this regard.

Comment 3, what made Montreal win:

An in depth analysis of the militia's win demonstrates that the reason they beat the Knights was discipline. Kelowna took a total of 5 minors during the game with Militia Capitalising once for the game winning goal. Montreal took 3 penalties during this game but they managed to shut down Knights star players, Klaus and Sawchuk being pointless in the game. These 2 players are making Knights win games and keeping them out of the scoreboard is what gace Montreal the win. Montreal goalie Petr Vrana also managed a .950 save percentage which kept his team in the game despite the tight score.

gillon · 01-21-2019, 12:46 PM

#1 Unsung Heroes:
In a game that ended up being a very tight affair with not too much in the way of offense to speak of, the goaltenders where the ones who managed to make it even tighter. Petr Vrana managed to eek out a win over his opposing netminder, stopping a whopping 19 out of 20 shots, with Vivian Leblanc putting up a respectable 18 saves to the same number of shots. Despite the two of them not being mentioned in the talks of the games three stars, I'd argue that what we saw in this game was a classic goaltending match, with Vrana getting the upper hand this time. For future bouts I'm sure both teams would also be interested in trying to up the offense a bit, as the shotcounts didn't impress anyone.

#2 Rookie Watch: Kristoffer Svensson
The tight game seemed to fit the rookie center well - while he didn't contribute noticeably offensevily he played responsibly and took a lot of responsibility for the defensive side of things. At the end of the night Svensson had played a total of 12:40, serving 1:19 on the Militias successfull penalty kill. Points to improve upon would be to up the offensive creation as the rookie lacked any shots on target on the night, as well as trying to keep a more disciplined approach to game, as he picked up another minor penalty. On the positive side of things the performance in the faceoff circle was commendable - winning 9/13 bouts, something he'll be hoping to continue in the season going foward.

Off · 01-26-2019, 09:49 PM

Comment 4

A very defensive game, and in turn a seemingly slow one. Very strong performances from both Vrana and Leblanc, who has been doing very well in key games. The defenses really came out, almost as if they missed the ticket to their last game and needed to step up big time in tonight's showing. Of course, each take can be tilted either way, and the flip side is how the offenses seemed to dry up for both teams, with a grand whopping total of 3 goals between both teams. Defense is only have the battle, and unlike othersports, 95% percent of the team is tasked with both offense and defense.

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