Sput
01-17-2007, 11:43 AM
from www.princegeorgecitizen.com
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Durand pulls trigger in Cats’ win
by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
Chris Durand needed a goal like that.
His team needed it more.
Durand, the 19-year-old centre acquired from Seattle on Boxing Day for overager Brett Robertson, provided the Prince George Cougars with the edge they had to have in a key divisional game Tuesday against the Kelowna Rockets.
With the Cats on a two-man advantage, Durand scored with 1:46 to play, making the comeback of the Okanagan boys fruitless in a 3-2 Cougars triumph that opened another sliver of breathing space for Prince George in the surprisingly close B.C. Division standings.
The Cougars, who also hold a game in hand, are six points ahead of the Rockets for third place. With two more divisional games this weekend at home, the Cougars couldn’t afford not to turn Kelowna away Tuesday.
Nor could they afford to let the three-game losing streak grow.
“It was nice to get that one, a timely goal that hopefully will give some confidence to the team going into the weekend,” said Durand, a former first-round bantam choice and a second-round NHL selection (52nd overall by the Avalanche, 2005) who has had trouble collecting points this season. Tuesday’s goal was the fourth-year veteran’s sixth in 43 games.
“It’s been a struggle for me this year, but I’ve got a fresh opportunity in Prince George and that made it great to get that one. We didn’t have a good weekend (on the road) last weekend and we wanted to come out harder. We got embarrassed by these guys (last Friday in Kelowna, a 4-0 Rockets win) so we wanted to get the points. They’re right behind us, and it’s tight in this division.
“We have to get these points at home, especially against a team so close to us.”
The Cougars (17-21-2-4) took a 2-1 lead into the third period, but Jesse Bernhardt got the Rockets back on even terms with 9:11 to go. To that point, the Cats had owned possession and territorial advantages – turning those into a scoreboard discrepancy was the problem.
“We showed a lot of character coming back, but in the first two periods we weren’t very good,” said Kelowna coach Jeff Truitt, whose team dropped to 14-25-3-3, four points ahead of the expansion Chilliwack Bruins.
“I thought (the Cougars) moved the puck well and had the better-quality chances for two periods.”
Both teams connected on their first power play chance of the night. Myles MacRae of the Rockets deftly changed the direction of Luke Schenn’s tip-ready point shot to open the scoring, and then Nick Drazenovic popped a shot past Kelowna goaltender Kris Westblom – after Drazenovic went against his coach’s wishes by trying a blind, shinny-like behind-the-back pass. Fancy plays have put this team in trouble all season.
The good news that came with the goal was that it ended the Cougars’ scoreless drought at 158 minutes three seconds. The relief was like a Chinook flowing through the half-empty building.
Seeing the puck go in at the other end was a welcomed sight for new/old goaltender Scott Bowles, making his first start at CN Centre after returning to the WHL and the Cougars. His psyche needed the win like a caffeine addict needs Hortons.
“It’s too long since I had a win in any league,” smiled Bowles, the 20-year-old who has played for Prince George, Owen Sound (OHL) and Windsor (OHL) in a dizzying final junior year.
“I’ve felt good since I’ve been back. I’m comfortable, in familiar surroundings, and most of the guys haven’t changed. It’s good to be with these guys again.”
Offensively, Tuesday’s game was the equivalent of two people who can’t swim attempting to cross the English Channel. The goalies finished with a combined 48 saves, none more controversial than Westblom’s flopping, twisting stop of Greg Gardner with 3:50 to play in the third, but for the most part the netminders benefited from shooters missing the net, hitting bodies or sticks in front of the net, or avoiding open nets.
As if on cue to illustrate the scoring struggles of these two teams, Cougars captain Eric Hunter missed an open net from 55 feet out with 30 seconds to go. Despite a WHL-high nine NHL draft choices on the roster, including five forwards in the lineup Tuesday, the Cougars are 17th overall in scoring, while Kelowna is second-last in the 21-team league.
“It certainly wasn’t pretty with the tic-tac-toe plays,” said Truitt. “The power plays were big tonight. Both teams needed to capitalize on those good chances.”
With 148 minutes plus of scoreless hockey coming into the game, Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck jumbled the lines. Dana Tyrell and Hunter had a new centre in Durand, their old pivot Drazenovic moving between Jared Walker and improving import Richard Rapac. The energy line of centre Gardner and wingers Evan Fuller and Jordie Deagle remained intact, and with Kyle Klym a healthy scratch and Devin Setoguchi still out with a knee problem, the fourth line was comprised of Dale Hunt, Steven Kajic and draw-taker Chad Hohmann.
KITTY LITTER: It’s being charitable, but referee Kyle Rehman’s performance was uneven. He went old-school at times, ignoring calls that are expected these days, then got overly involved at others, including two hooking penalties on the Cougars in the second period. In all, he gave the Rockets six power plays and the Cougars five. Kelowna scored twice on those chances and the Cougars, despite standing around too much, popped in two with the man-advantage… Shots ended up 33-20 for the Cougars, an accurate reflection of the play… Rapac assisted on the winner, his first WHL helper… The Cats are home to the Chilliwack Bruins this weekend, a CN Centre doubleheader that starts Friday and ends Saturday.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Durand pulls trigger in Cats’ win
by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
Chris Durand needed a goal like that.
His team needed it more.
Durand, the 19-year-old centre acquired from Seattle on Boxing Day for overager Brett Robertson, provided the Prince George Cougars with the edge they had to have in a key divisional game Tuesday against the Kelowna Rockets.
With the Cats on a two-man advantage, Durand scored with 1:46 to play, making the comeback of the Okanagan boys fruitless in a 3-2 Cougars triumph that opened another sliver of breathing space for Prince George in the surprisingly close B.C. Division standings.
The Cougars, who also hold a game in hand, are six points ahead of the Rockets for third place. With two more divisional games this weekend at home, the Cougars couldn’t afford not to turn Kelowna away Tuesday.
Nor could they afford to let the three-game losing streak grow.
“It was nice to get that one, a timely goal that hopefully will give some confidence to the team going into the weekend,” said Durand, a former first-round bantam choice and a second-round NHL selection (52nd overall by the Avalanche, 2005) who has had trouble collecting points this season. Tuesday’s goal was the fourth-year veteran’s sixth in 43 games.
“It’s been a struggle for me this year, but I’ve got a fresh opportunity in Prince George and that made it great to get that one. We didn’t have a good weekend (on the road) last weekend and we wanted to come out harder. We got embarrassed by these guys (last Friday in Kelowna, a 4-0 Rockets win) so we wanted to get the points. They’re right behind us, and it’s tight in this division.
“We have to get these points at home, especially against a team so close to us.”
The Cougars (17-21-2-4) took a 2-1 lead into the third period, but Jesse Bernhardt got the Rockets back on even terms with 9:11 to go. To that point, the Cats had owned possession and territorial advantages – turning those into a scoreboard discrepancy was the problem.
“We showed a lot of character coming back, but in the first two periods we weren’t very good,” said Kelowna coach Jeff Truitt, whose team dropped to 14-25-3-3, four points ahead of the expansion Chilliwack Bruins.
“I thought (the Cougars) moved the puck well and had the better-quality chances for two periods.”
Both teams connected on their first power play chance of the night. Myles MacRae of the Rockets deftly changed the direction of Luke Schenn’s tip-ready point shot to open the scoring, and then Nick Drazenovic popped a shot past Kelowna goaltender Kris Westblom – after Drazenovic went against his coach’s wishes by trying a blind, shinny-like behind-the-back pass. Fancy plays have put this team in trouble all season.
The good news that came with the goal was that it ended the Cougars’ scoreless drought at 158 minutes three seconds. The relief was like a Chinook flowing through the half-empty building.
Seeing the puck go in at the other end was a welcomed sight for new/old goaltender Scott Bowles, making his first start at CN Centre after returning to the WHL and the Cougars. His psyche needed the win like a caffeine addict needs Hortons.
“It’s too long since I had a win in any league,” smiled Bowles, the 20-year-old who has played for Prince George, Owen Sound (OHL) and Windsor (OHL) in a dizzying final junior year.
“I’ve felt good since I’ve been back. I’m comfortable, in familiar surroundings, and most of the guys haven’t changed. It’s good to be with these guys again.”
Offensively, Tuesday’s game was the equivalent of two people who can’t swim attempting to cross the English Channel. The goalies finished with a combined 48 saves, none more controversial than Westblom’s flopping, twisting stop of Greg Gardner with 3:50 to play in the third, but for the most part the netminders benefited from shooters missing the net, hitting bodies or sticks in front of the net, or avoiding open nets.
As if on cue to illustrate the scoring struggles of these two teams, Cougars captain Eric Hunter missed an open net from 55 feet out with 30 seconds to go. Despite a WHL-high nine NHL draft choices on the roster, including five forwards in the lineup Tuesday, the Cougars are 17th overall in scoring, while Kelowna is second-last in the 21-team league.
“It certainly wasn’t pretty with the tic-tac-toe plays,” said Truitt. “The power plays were big tonight. Both teams needed to capitalize on those good chances.”
With 148 minutes plus of scoreless hockey coming into the game, Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck jumbled the lines. Dana Tyrell and Hunter had a new centre in Durand, their old pivot Drazenovic moving between Jared Walker and improving import Richard Rapac. The energy line of centre Gardner and wingers Evan Fuller and Jordie Deagle remained intact, and with Kyle Klym a healthy scratch and Devin Setoguchi still out with a knee problem, the fourth line was comprised of Dale Hunt, Steven Kajic and draw-taker Chad Hohmann.
KITTY LITTER: It’s being charitable, but referee Kyle Rehman’s performance was uneven. He went old-school at times, ignoring calls that are expected these days, then got overly involved at others, including two hooking penalties on the Cougars in the second period. In all, he gave the Rockets six power plays and the Cougars five. Kelowna scored twice on those chances and the Cougars, despite standing around too much, popped in two with the man-advantage… Shots ended up 33-20 for the Cougars, an accurate reflection of the play… Rapac assisted on the winner, his first WHL helper… The Cats are home to the Chilliwack Bruins this weekend, a CN Centre doubleheader that starts Friday and ends Saturday.