Game 3 was last night at the NPA and the Huskies showed just why their record was so good on home ice this season. The Huskies came out flying against Slave Lake and were dominating play in the offensive zone leading to goals from Cody Kalb, Dustin Heitman with a beauty backhand shelf job on a breakaway and Linden Apsassin that were sandwiched around a fluke goal from the Wolves that deflected off Cash Brinkworth and past Zach Blain. The second period was more of the same and by the time the score was 7 - 1 I was on my way out of the NPA as I was sick as a dog and wasn't in doubt about who would win the game. Kyle Porter scored in the second and Jordan Hartnell added one as well to give a goal to all 3 of the guys playing on the 4th line. Cody Hildebrand scored as did Kole Norris on his return to the lineup as the Huskies rolled to a 10 - 1 victory and a 2 games to 1 lead in the series. Cody Kalb fought Nick Plourde and won the Jon Zacks decision.
Game 4 is tonight at the NPA and the Huskies can clinch the series and set up a second round match-up with either Peace River if they win their series or the winner of Dawson Creek and Beaverlodge if Peace gets upset by the lodge.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Huskies back at it tonight, Flyers on Sunday
Huskies get back at it tonight. Game 3 against Slave Lake is at the NPA at 8 pm. Let's pack that place. Apparently the Peace River fans have been setting attendance records so far in the playoffs. We can't let them outdo us, so let's set some records of our own. Look out for #87 Tyson Price from Slave Lake, he has 3 goals in the 2 game so far. Also, #51 Nick Plourde likes to run around and hit everything and takes A LOT of PIMs so keep you eyes on him as well. Looks like Kole Norris will be back in the lineup tonight as well.
Flyers schedule for round 2 against Spirit River has been released. Check it out here:
http://www.energeticcity.ca/news/02/26/09/senior-flyers-set-face-spirit-river-round-2
Flyers schedule for round 2 against Spirit River has been released. Check it out here:
http://www.energeticcity.ca/news/02/26/09/senior-flyers-set-face-spirit-river-round-2
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Playoff waiting game
Not a lot going on lately as we wait for the playoffs to get back underway. The Huskies are back in action at the NPA Friday night at 8 for game 3 against Slave Lake. The Huskies need to continue to work the special teams that were excellent for the most part and killed off 4 or 5 5 on 3 situations and they scored 3 times with the man advantage. Lots of offense from the back end through the first two games as well which is encouraging and needs to continue throughout the playoffs. The Huskies get offense from Spence and Wongstedt and even Disher has been chipping in with some assists lately and combine that with two very good scoring lines and the Huskies should have a nice balanced attack and that is huge in the playoffs. The top line does need to step up this weekend though and start scoring at a similar rate to the regular season when they were one of the best units in the league. The Huskies have made the NPA a fortress and they rarely lose on home ice, and i don't see them losing anymore games in this series.
The Flyers have been sitting around waiting to play round 2 as they need to find out who they will play next and that depends on Falher and Peace River. Game 5 of that series goes tonight so the Flyers will know who they play next and hopefully when and where they play next by tomorrow. Not sure if we will see Ryan Carter in this next round but if the Flyers do end up with Spirit River in the next round you might see Carter making the trip for a weekend. Matt Shuya was a beast in the first round. A lot of guys scored a lot of points during the series against Lakeland but Shuya had 18 points in three games to lead the team. It's good to see Shuya playing well and hopefully in a series against Spirit he will get his pay back for a broken nose by putting the Rangers to the sword offensively.
The Flyers have been sitting around waiting to play round 2 as they need to find out who they will play next and that depends on Falher and Peace River. Game 5 of that series goes tonight so the Flyers will know who they play next and hopefully when and where they play next by tomorrow. Not sure if we will see Ryan Carter in this next round but if the Flyers do end up with Spirit River in the next round you might see Carter making the trip for a weekend. Matt Shuya was a beast in the first round. A lot of guys scored a lot of points during the series against Lakeland but Shuya had 18 points in three games to lead the team. It's good to see Shuya playing well and hopefully in a series against Spirit he will get his pay back for a broken nose by putting the Rangers to the sword offensively.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
NWJHL playoffs
Dawson Creek lost game 3 last night in Grand Prairie so the Wheelers have a 2 games to 1 lead in that series with game 4 in Grand Prairie. Dawson Creek is in tough and are still without their top player Charles Radke who is down in the lower mainland for school but would be back if his mates can force a game 5. The final score last night was 3 - 0 for GP.
Peace River Stamps force game 5
Bad news Flyers fans. Falher lost to Peace River last night so that series is tied at two. If Falher wins that series the Flyers will play Spirit River in the next round of the playoffs and that is what we want. I am not sure when the deciding game 5 will be but I will let you know when I know who won and what the Flyers playoff schedule looks like.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The return of the Champions League
Today is the return of the Champions League.
There are several glamour matches in this the first round of the knockout stages of the Champions League. Arsenal v Roma, Real Madrid v Liverpool (two of the three most successful teams in this competitions history) and Chelsea v Juventus. But for me the clash between the defending champions of England and Europe who are currently leading the table in England against the current leaders in Italy is the draw that has me nervous. Inter have won the Italian crown the last two years and have a healthy lead again this year. As do my team in England.
For those of you who don't know me then I will let you know that above Hockey, above even Baseball the sport with the highest place of honour in my heart is Football. Not that American crap where they almost never use their feet. No the real Football. The Football of Pele, Maradona and George Best. The 5th Beatle as he was known. And yes I am a Manchester United supporter. Call me a glory hunter if you would like but my father has been a United supporter since the 50's. In fact I can pinpoint the exact day. May 3rd 1958. That's the day that Manchester United lost the FA Cup final to Bolton. A remarkable final because just months earlier Manchester United's plane crashed while trying to take off from the Munich airport. Several players died in that crash and one of the most promising young teams in the sports history was decimated. Duncan Edwards was killed in that crash and he was only 21 at the time and already considered one of the best players in the world and some people who saw him play saw he would have gone on to become the greatest ever to play. So a team with many of it's stars dead and it's coach in a coma managed to play a match just 13 days after the crash. And several months later they reached the FA Cup final and then lost with 4 crash survivors playing in the game along with a couple of new recruits and some young players called up from the reserve team. My father listened to that game on the radio and cried for days after United lost. And that is how Manchester United got into my blood. He stuck with them through the 70s and 80s when they weren't great and Liverpool were, but now we are the dominant force in England and long may it continue.
So I am nervous today. I am as nervous as a 10 year old at the Neverland ranch when the lights go out. I can't sit still. Manchester United play Inter Milan today in the first leg of the round of 16 in the Champions Leage. It's the knockout stage, you play two game one home and one away and whoever has the most goals wins. And Inter Milan is coached by Jose Mourinho a charismatic leader who stopped United's dominance when he was at Chelsea in England and who always seems to have United's number. And we are without several key defenders for the first game which is in Italy at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza or the San Siro as it is commonly known. This is an intimidating stadium to play in. But we have a ton of experience in this competition. We are defending champions and I am confident we can get a result. A score draw will do nicely. 2 - 2 would be ideal. Then we go back to Old Trafford for the second leg and take care of them on our turf. I can't wait.
There are several glamour matches in this the first round of the knockout stages of the Champions League. Arsenal v Roma, Real Madrid v Liverpool (two of the three most successful teams in this competitions history) and Chelsea v Juventus. But for me the clash between the defending champions of England and Europe who are currently leading the table in England against the current leaders in Italy is the draw that has me nervous. Inter have won the Italian crown the last two years and have a healthy lead again this year. As do my team in England.
For those of you who don't know me then I will let you know that above Hockey, above even Baseball the sport with the highest place of honour in my heart is Football. Not that American crap where they almost never use their feet. No the real Football. The Football of Pele, Maradona and George Best. The 5th Beatle as he was known. And yes I am a Manchester United supporter. Call me a glory hunter if you would like but my father has been a United supporter since the 50's. In fact I can pinpoint the exact day. May 3rd 1958. That's the day that Manchester United lost the FA Cup final to Bolton. A remarkable final because just months earlier Manchester United's plane crashed while trying to take off from the Munich airport. Several players died in that crash and one of the most promising young teams in the sports history was decimated. Duncan Edwards was killed in that crash and he was only 21 at the time and already considered one of the best players in the world and some people who saw him play saw he would have gone on to become the greatest ever to play. So a team with many of it's stars dead and it's coach in a coma managed to play a match just 13 days after the crash. And several months later they reached the FA Cup final and then lost with 4 crash survivors playing in the game along with a couple of new recruits and some young players called up from the reserve team. My father listened to that game on the radio and cried for days after United lost. And that is how Manchester United got into my blood. He stuck with them through the 70s and 80s when they weren't great and Liverpool were, but now we are the dominant force in England and long may it continue.
So I am nervous today. I am as nervous as a 10 year old at the Neverland ranch when the lights go out. I can't sit still. Manchester United play Inter Milan today in the first leg of the round of 16 in the Champions Leage. It's the knockout stage, you play two game one home and one away and whoever has the most goals wins. And Inter Milan is coached by Jose Mourinho a charismatic leader who stopped United's dominance when he was at Chelsea in England and who always seems to have United's number. And we are without several key defenders for the first game which is in Italy at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza or the San Siro as it is commonly known. This is an intimidating stadium to play in. But we have a ton of experience in this competition. We are defending champions and I am confident we can get a result. A score draw will do nicely. 2 - 2 would be ideal. Then we go back to Old Trafford for the second leg and take care of them on our turf. I can't wait.
Blades win game 3
Beaverlodge wins in double OT. The series between the Blades and the Navigators is now Peace River 2 - 1. Game four will be in Beaverlodge Saturday.
Let's break this down a bit.
Game 1 - Peace River 1 - Beaverlodge 0
Game 2 - Peace River 4 - Beaverlodge 3 (OT)
Game 3 - Beaverlodge 4 - Peace River 3 (2OT)
So they have played 2 plus OT periods and all three games have been decided by one goal. Could this series be any tighter? I guess it looks like it will go to game 5. I wish Peace River was closer to FSJ so I could go see game 5 if there is one. I can honestly see a scenario where Peace and Dawson lose their series. I think that you would obviously want the top seeds to progress and play each other but everyone loves an underdog.
Game 3 between Dawson and GP is tonight in GP. You can listen at peacefm.ca to Darren Dupont and the Jr Canucks broadcast. He does an excellent job and you can check out his and Dave Dawson's blog in my blog list. They both blog a lot about the NWJHL and have lots of good insight.
Let's break this down a bit.
Game 1 - Peace River 1 - Beaverlodge 0
Game 2 - Peace River 4 - Beaverlodge 3 (OT)
Game 3 - Beaverlodge 4 - Peace River 3 (2OT)
So they have played 2 plus OT periods and all three games have been decided by one goal. Could this series be any tighter? I guess it looks like it will go to game 5. I wish Peace River was closer to FSJ so I could go see game 5 if there is one. I can honestly see a scenario where Peace and Dawson lose their series. I think that you would obviously want the top seeds to progress and play each other but everyone loves an underdog.
Game 3 between Dawson and GP is tonight in GP. You can listen at peacefm.ca to Darren Dupont and the Jr Canucks broadcast. He does an excellent job and you can check out his and Dave Dawson's blog in my blog list. They both blog a lot about the NWJHL and have lots of good insight.
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