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ontanis · 07-03-2019, 05:52 AM

Colorado Raptors vs. Vancouver Whalers Whalers

The Colorado Raptors visited the Vancouver Whalers, in what was a stunning come-back, mounted by the Colorado Raptors, only to fall short in the overtime.

The Vancouver Whalers last played an overtime game with the Halifax Raiders with the Whalers emerging victorious with a result of 2-1.

Colorado Raptors rallied to overcome a 3-goal deficit in the third period to force the overtime, almost snatching a win, if not for a Whalers’ third period goal. Raptors’ defenseman, Jules Watt, led the way with a goal and two assists in the third period. Watt was an absolute difference maker as he and Julio Tokolosh, Ja’Aj Coitus-Wagg and Calogero Crudelli helped the Raptors mount an offensive onslaught towards Whalers Casimir Stevens’ net in the third period.

"For the first two periods, I don't think you saw Raptors hockey," Jurgis Bulota, our hockey analyst said.
"As poor as Colorado played in the first two periods, it was nice to see their power play respond and the whole team respond in the third period and play as a group of five on the ice." – Bulota added.

First period:

Vancouver Whalers opened the scoring at 3:49 of the first period when Theo Morgan picked up a pass at the Raptors’ offensive zone before beating Alexander Thorstrom from long range, to make it 1-0 with a powerplay goal.

Colorado Raptors 0 – 1 Vancouver Whalers Goal

Jon Forty-One added for the Whalers ten minutes later, following up a rebound from Dale Millers’ attempt and beating Thorstrom to the glove side.

Colorado Raptors 0 – 2 Vancouver Whalers Goal

Second period:

The Whalers added to the lead at 4:45 of the second period with a powerplay goal, as Dale Miller deflected a puck from Bobby Bobcalf’s shot and slipped it past Alexander Thorstrom. The result was getting dominant and Whalers' fans were starting to get really excited about the prospects of winning this one.

Colorado Raptors 0 – 3 Vancouver Whalers Goal

Third period:

After taking a 3-0 lead, the Whalers went on the defensive. Bobby Bobcalf was issued a minor penalty for interference at 2:49 of the third period, resulting in a two-minute power play for the Raptors. Jules Watt capitalized on the power play and struck first for Colorado at 2:51 of the period.

Colorado Raptors 1 – 3 Vancouver Whalers

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Calogero Crudelli then added another at 5:01 on a goal-mouth scramble to make the game 2-3. The heat was rising and the Vancouver Whalers’ began to tilt.

Colorado Raptors 2 – 3 Vancouver Whalers
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First, it was Egor Kucherov whom was penalized for hooking at 7:05. Colorado, once again, made good on the man-advantage and Ja’Aj Coitus-Wagg deflected Emeka Valentine-Okoli’s shot right into the net. Whaler’s Casimir Stevens looked demoralized after letting in a third goal in the third period. Colorado Raptors looked unstoppable.

Colorado Raptors 3 – 3 Vancouver Whalers
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And unstoppable they were. Egor Kucherov once again could not keep his stick on the ice and was issued a two-minute minor penalty for high sticking at 10:07. And once again, Colorado Raptors dived head first into the Whalers’ offensive zone and started a barrage of shots towards Stevens’ net. Julio Tokolosh managed to tip the puck into the net after Jules Watts’ missed shot. Casimir Stevens was livid, throwing his water bottle onto the ice.

Colorado Raptors 4 – 3 Vancouver Whalers
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But alas, Igor Volkov put the Whalers back in the game at 11:58 of the third period with a goal from Aaron Wilson beautiful face-off pass, 4-4.

Colorado Raptors 4 – 4 Vancouver Whalers Goal

The score would hold through the remainder of regulation and the game went into overtime.

Overtime:

Less than 4 minutes into the overtime, Jean-Francois Mayer had a breakaway and almost ended it but Casimir Stevens came up with the save.

With 4:04 played in the overtime, Whalers’ Cullen Gray got behind the Raptors defense and scored to end the game 4-5.

Colorado Raptors 4 – 5 Vancouver Whalers Goal

FINAL SCORE:

Colorado Raptors 4 – 5 Vancouver Whalers

Final shots were 26-21 with Casimir Stevens making 22 saves.

Vancouver Whalers led faceoffs 43-28 and blocked shots were tied with 7 apiece.

GOALS:

Vancouver Whalers:
Theo Morgan (Sami Rieder, Jax Duggan)
Jon Forty-One (Dale Miller, Igor Volkov)
Dale Miller (Bobby Bobcalf, Jon Forty-One)
Igor Volkov (Aaron Wilson)
Cullen Gray (Egor Kucherov, Andy Kerr)

Colorado Raptors:
Jules Watt (Knute Knurtsson)
Calogero Crudelli (Eric Vanderberg, Jules Watt)
Ja'Aj Coitus-Wagg (Emeka Valentine-Okoli)
Julio Tokolosh (Jules Watt)

GOALIE STATS:

Vancouver Whalers:
Casimir Stevens, 22 saves from 26 shots - (0.846)

Colorado Raptors:
Alexander Thorstrom, 16 saves from 21 shots - (0.762)

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1 - Jules Watt (COL) – 1 G; 2 A
2 - Igor Volkov (VAN) – 1 G; 1 A
3 - Dale Miller (VAN) – 1 G; 1 A

FinnRhys · 07-03-2019, 09:40 AM

COMMENT 1: The driving factor behind the miraculous comeback bid by the Colorado Raptors was their power play offense, and three untimely penalties by Vancouver, all in the third period. The Raptors ability to capitalize on all three power play opportunities not only got the team back into contention for the game but, by having three power plays within a ten minute span, they were also able to wear down the Whalers defensemen and, in doing so, compound the effects of their continued offensive onslaught. Vancouver, on the other hand, was only able to score on two of their four power play opportunities. Fortunately for the Whalers, those two goals were enough to make the difference. (words = 114)

COMMENT 2: The Heel of the Night (most impactful player in the worst possible way) was undoubtedly Vancouver Whalers defenseman Egor Kucherov. While Kucherov did ultimately have a positive contribution by assisting on the game-winning overtime goal, it was his back-to-back penalties in the third period that allowed the Colorado Raptors to make their comeback and put the game into overtime. With only 8:11 in ice time, Kucherov was able to spend four minutes in the sin bin, which forced his fellow defensemen to spend more time on the ice in a shorter period of time than normal, thus burning their legs our and allowing the Raptors comeback. (words = 106)

COMMENT 3: It is a fact that numbers lie and do not tell the whole story of the game. While it is difficult to prove causation, it was evident in this game that there was a correlation between face offs, hits and winning/losing. In tonight's case, Vancouver dominated the face off circle winning sixty percent of the face offs (43 of 71). This clearly had an impact, especially in the first and second periods when the Whalers were able to choke off the Raptors offense from possessing the puck. This allowed Vancouver to gain an early 3-0 lead. Similarly, you would think that the team with more hits would probably be the more dominating defensively, and they were....for one period. The Raptors defense out-hit the Whalers 24-17, but while this implies a tough, physical defense that could out-muscle their opposition, the true tale behind the number is that the Raptors were in a position to apply more hits because they were forced to play defense so much and try to gain possession. In this case, leading in hits was an indicator not of a winning defense, but a team that was stuck on defense for much of the first and second periods. (words=200)

FINN RHYS

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Tate · 07-03-2019, 01:46 PM

Comment 1 – MVP – Igor Volkov
Even though Jules Watt is listed as the game’s first star, the true MVP is Igor Volkov for the Whalers. While Igor did land himself in a nice spot as the game’s second star, he should have had first star placement. During the thrilling 3rd period that saw the Raptors climb back and take the lead, it would Igor that would crush the Raptors hopes by sinking the 4th goal for the Whalers and putting the game back at a tie. It was this goal alone that squashed any effort the Raptors had left in them and it is the sole reason as to why Igor Volkov deserves MVP honors.

Comment 2 – Unsung Hero – The Colorado Raptors Powerplay
Just when you thought that the Raptors had no chance of coming back in this game, they were granted the gift of too many powerplays in a 3rd period by the Whalers, especially when Vancouver had no business in doing so. The Whalers got sloppy and the Raptors were ready to take advantage of it, and what we would see over the next several minutes of the 3rd would be marvelous play resulting in four consecutive goals by Jules Watt, Calogero Crudelli, Ja’Aj Coitus-Wagg and Julio Tokolosh. The Raptors powerplay during the 3rd period displayed for the world to see what kind of skill that envelopes this team, and it showed to the crowd watching that the Raptors are a threat anytime they have a man advantage.

Comment 3 – Turning Point of the Game – 3rd Period
Believing a game is already over before the clock has finished counting down is a mistake, and this game was proof of that. What looked like a royal beating from one team to another, turned into an edge of your seat-nail biting tilt. It may have taken two periods for the Raptors offense to wake up but when they did they put on a tour de force that was truly magical to watch. The talent that occupies out the teams in the SMJHL is no laughing matter and so it was that the Whalers were able to storm back and take the win. However, it was the 3rd period that provided the most excitement and intrigue surrounding this game and it was a period where either team had a chance to take control and claim the win.

396 words

StaticShocked · 07-04-2019, 09:56 AM

COMMENT ONE - GAME BREAKDOWN
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COMMENT TWO - SHOT BREAKDOWN
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COMMENT THREE - BLOCKED SHOT BREAKDOWN
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TheHockeyist · 07-04-2019, 09:28 PM

Igor wants to comment that he supports this article.

diacope · 07-04-2019, 11:30 PM

Very enjoyable read and liked the team effort. Highlights, comments and the scoring breakdown made this thread worth the visit. Will be tuning into future post game shows for now on

khabib · 07-05-2019, 01:09 AM

Comment 1:
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Comment 2:
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Comment 3:
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ontanis · 07-05-2019, 07:01 AM

07-04-2019, 11:30 PMdiacope Wrote: Very enjoyable read and liked the team effort. Highlights, comments and the scoring breakdown made this thread worth the visit. Will be tuning into future post game shows for now on

do them yourself, dude! easy TPE!

NONAME · 07-05-2019, 01:06 PM

Comment #1

Speciality Teams

This game was a high scoring affair with 9 total goals. 5 of the 9 came from each teams powerplay unit, 3 for the Raptors and 2 for the Whalers. 2 of the 3 first goals for the Whalers were from the powerplay unit and the powerplay is the reason the Raptors were able to come back in the game from a 3-0 deficit with 3 powerplay goals in the 3rd. Each team will definitely have to take a look at their penalty killing units after the embarrassing results this game as the penalty kill for both teams combined went 4/9.

Comment #2

Mount the comeback

The Colorado Raptors were down 3-0 early in the game but had an incredible 3rd period where we saw 4 goals scored to take the lead. Jules Watt lead the way by being in on 3 of the 4 goals including a goal for himself. In fact, Watt is the only person to have contributed to more than 1 goal in that incredible comeback. Unfortunately for the Raptors though Vancvouer was able to pot one shortly after the Raptors 4th goal to tie the game and to bring it to overtime where they would eventually win the game.

Comment #3

Battle of the Goaltenders

Generally when you hear a phrase such as "battle of the goaltenders" you assume each goalie is standing on their head and keeping the game a low scoring affair, however, this time it means the exact opposite. Each goalie was struggling to make the important saves so it became a battle on who could pull through and just make enough of them. Thorstrom saved 16 of 21 shots for a save percentage of .762% whereas Stevens saved 22 of 26 for a save percentage of .846% which was enough to edge out Thorstrom and to take the victory.

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