scamperdog
02-15-2007, 02:59 PM
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor www.blazerhockey.com
Stop the presses!
Dog bites man! Paris Hilton ignores red carpet and stays home! Globetrotters lose to Nationals! Chiefs beat Blazers!
The Spokane Chiefs, who have served as whipping boys for Kamloops over the last five WHL seasons, defeated the Blazers 4-3 on Wednesday night in front of 4,551 fans at the Interior Savings Centre.
The loss kept the Blazers from moving onto the top rung of the B.C. Division as they remain two points behind the Vancouver Giants, 5-2 losers to the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., last night.
The Chiefs (31-22-3-3) are third in the U.S. Division, four points behind the Americans.
"I don't even know what it is; I just know it's bad,"said Spokane head coach Bill Peters, referring to the Chiefs' recent record against the Blazers. "I don't want to know what it is." Well, Bill, you may want to skip the next paragraph.
Over the last five seasons, the Chiefs have been to the Blazers what the New York Nationals are to the Harlem Globetrotters. Even with last night's loss, the Blazers hold a 22-5-0-0 edge on Spokane over that span, including a 12-2-0-0 advantage in Kamloops.
"I don't know what it is or why it is," said Peters, who is in his second season as the Chiefs' head coach. "I just know it hasn't been very good." It would figure then that Spokane's game star would be Michael Grabner, who as recently as Friday was in the deepest, darkest corner of Peters' Chateau Bow Wow.
Grabner didn't play much in the third period of a 2-1 loss to the Silvertips in Everett on Friday and Peters was blunt about it, pointing out afterwards that "the game was at a physical level that he didn't want to play at. He's healthy. The only thing that might be hurt is his pride, and it should be hurt."
Last night, after scoring twice, including the shorthanded game-winner, Grabner admitted: "I had a bad game last week."
"I wasn't really into it," added the Austrian winger who was selected 14th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2006 NHL draft. "It was a really bad effort by me."
Grabner's effort was better last night, especially late in the third period when, with the score 3-3 and the home boys on the power play, he picked the pocket of Kamloops defenceman Keaton Ellerby and went in alone to beat goaltender Dalyn Flette with a deke to the backhand for his 28th score this season.
"I knew their d-man had tried to wheel the puck the whole game and I tried to step up on him," Grabner said. "He got a little nervous, I guess, with the puck. I had a breakaway . . ."
"I was trying to skate it out," Ellerby said. "I tried chipping the puck and didn't make a strong play and it rolled off my stick, right onto Grabner's. He's a good player and he capitalized on my mistake."
The goal, coming off Kamloops' 16th neutral-zone turnover, really stung the Blazers because they had managed the third period pretty well, getting a goal from defenceman Ray Macias - his burst from the Blazers line and the move he made on goaltender Kevin Armstrong were so sweet you could spread them on your morning pancakes - to forge a 3-3 draw at 4:43. And then, when Spokane's David Rutherford was penalized for putting the clutch on Ellerby at 15:11, the home side appeared to be in good shape.
Instead, the Chiefs shocked a team that now is 25-5-1-0 at home.
"This is a tough place to win," said Peters. "The guys gutted it out and found a way. We're happy to get the two points." And the coach was happy about Grabner's play, too.
"He played hard tonight," Peters said. "He used his speed. His speed is his greatest asset. He was rewarded for his effort tonight." "They have lots of skill," Ellerby said of the Chiefs. "They have lots of offensive skill. They have some good players and they capitalized on our mistakes. Down low, our d-zone wasn't the greatest tonight. They jumped on us and they jumped on loose pucks and made us pay." No one paid more than goaltender Dalyn Flette, who stopped 16 shots but was touched for three softies.
Flette, who blanked the visiting Portland Winter Hawks 8-0 on Sunday, was making his 12th start and his second in a row, the first time he got the call in back-to-back games since the fourth and fifth games of the season, or before Dustin Butler's arrival on the scene.
"We need better goaltending than we got," Dean Clark, the Blazers' GM and head coach, said. "We actually played a pretty solid game . . . and we get the power play . . . and then we give them one. Just by being selfish. Pass the puck up the ice. You get checked and you're the last guy and it's . . ." It's lights out or, in this instance, goal light on.
Derek Ryan and Adam Hobson had Spokane's other goals.
Terrance Delaronde and Juuso Puustinen, with his 30th, also scored for the Blazers.
JUST NOTES: Referee Andy Thiessen gave Spokane seven of 13 minors. . . .Spokane was 1-for-5 on the power play; the Blazers were 1-for-6. . . .Armstrong made 24 saves. . . . The linesmen were Kamloops residents Kris Hartley and Nick Swaine. It was the third time this season that they have worked a WHL game together, but the first time in their hometown. They previously did two games together in Kelowna together. . . . The Blazers, who have scored a WHL-leading 16 shorthanded goals, have allowed six such scores.
=====
THE SCORE
Spokane 4, Kamloops 3
WHAT HAPPENED
The Chiefs were more opportunistic, got better goaltending and three soft goals. That was the difference.
THE STANDINGS
The Blazers (38-16-2-1) are second in the the B.C. Division, two points behind the Vancouver Giants (36-12-3-6), who lost 5-2 to the host Tri-City Americans last night. The Giants meet the Cougars in Prince George on Friday and Saturday night.s
THE DEFENCEMAN
Kamloops D Ray Macias scored his 22nd goal of the season. It was his 58th career goal. Only Greg Hawgood (147) and Darryl Sydor (77) have more goals among defencemen who have played for Kamloops.
THE APPENDIX
Spokane LW J.P. Szaszkiewicz spent last night in Royal Inland Hospital where he had a laparoscopic appendectomy early in the evening. The Chiefs are hoping Szaszkiewicz, who will be out for three weeks, will be ready to board their bus this morning for the trip to Seattle where they play the Thunderbirds on Friday.
THE BROKEN BONES
Spokane C Seth Compton suffered a broken ankle in a 4-3 loss to the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Feb. 2. LW Drayson Bowman broke a wrist when he bumped with D Justin Falk in practice a week ago. Falk suffered a broken wrist during a 2-1 loss to the Silvertips in Everett on Friday. Compton could return for the second round of playoffs; the other two are out indefinitely.
THE GESTURE
The throat-slashing case is closed. The Vancouver Giants, upset with what they say was a gesture made by Blazers D Keaton Ellerby late in Friday's game, didn't get their request for supplemental discipline into the WHL office within its 48-hour deadline, so the league refused to act on it.
THE DAILY NEWS THREE STARS
1. RW Michael Grabner, Spokane. Big-league speed.
2. RW David Rutherford, Spokane. Plays well here.
3. LW Terrance Delaronde, Kamloops. His kind of game.
UP NEXT
The Blazers meet the Rebels in Red Deer on Saturday night and the Hitmen in Calgary on Sunday afternoon. They are back home Feb. 23 against the Chilliwack Bruins.
- 07 -
Daily News Sports Editor www.blazerhockey.com
Stop the presses!
Dog bites man! Paris Hilton ignores red carpet and stays home! Globetrotters lose to Nationals! Chiefs beat Blazers!
The Spokane Chiefs, who have served as whipping boys for Kamloops over the last five WHL seasons, defeated the Blazers 4-3 on Wednesday night in front of 4,551 fans at the Interior Savings Centre.
The loss kept the Blazers from moving onto the top rung of the B.C. Division as they remain two points behind the Vancouver Giants, 5-2 losers to the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., last night.
The Chiefs (31-22-3-3) are third in the U.S. Division, four points behind the Americans.
"I don't even know what it is; I just know it's bad,"said Spokane head coach Bill Peters, referring to the Chiefs' recent record against the Blazers. "I don't want to know what it is." Well, Bill, you may want to skip the next paragraph.
Over the last five seasons, the Chiefs have been to the Blazers what the New York Nationals are to the Harlem Globetrotters. Even with last night's loss, the Blazers hold a 22-5-0-0 edge on Spokane over that span, including a 12-2-0-0 advantage in Kamloops.
"I don't know what it is or why it is," said Peters, who is in his second season as the Chiefs' head coach. "I just know it hasn't been very good." It would figure then that Spokane's game star would be Michael Grabner, who as recently as Friday was in the deepest, darkest corner of Peters' Chateau Bow Wow.
Grabner didn't play much in the third period of a 2-1 loss to the Silvertips in Everett on Friday and Peters was blunt about it, pointing out afterwards that "the game was at a physical level that he didn't want to play at. He's healthy. The only thing that might be hurt is his pride, and it should be hurt."
Last night, after scoring twice, including the shorthanded game-winner, Grabner admitted: "I had a bad game last week."
"I wasn't really into it," added the Austrian winger who was selected 14th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2006 NHL draft. "It was a really bad effort by me."
Grabner's effort was better last night, especially late in the third period when, with the score 3-3 and the home boys on the power play, he picked the pocket of Kamloops defenceman Keaton Ellerby and went in alone to beat goaltender Dalyn Flette with a deke to the backhand for his 28th score this season.
"I knew their d-man had tried to wheel the puck the whole game and I tried to step up on him," Grabner said. "He got a little nervous, I guess, with the puck. I had a breakaway . . ."
"I was trying to skate it out," Ellerby said. "I tried chipping the puck and didn't make a strong play and it rolled off my stick, right onto Grabner's. He's a good player and he capitalized on my mistake."
The goal, coming off Kamloops' 16th neutral-zone turnover, really stung the Blazers because they had managed the third period pretty well, getting a goal from defenceman Ray Macias - his burst from the Blazers line and the move he made on goaltender Kevin Armstrong were so sweet you could spread them on your morning pancakes - to forge a 3-3 draw at 4:43. And then, when Spokane's David Rutherford was penalized for putting the clutch on Ellerby at 15:11, the home side appeared to be in good shape.
Instead, the Chiefs shocked a team that now is 25-5-1-0 at home.
"This is a tough place to win," said Peters. "The guys gutted it out and found a way. We're happy to get the two points." And the coach was happy about Grabner's play, too.
"He played hard tonight," Peters said. "He used his speed. His speed is his greatest asset. He was rewarded for his effort tonight." "They have lots of skill," Ellerby said of the Chiefs. "They have lots of offensive skill. They have some good players and they capitalized on our mistakes. Down low, our d-zone wasn't the greatest tonight. They jumped on us and they jumped on loose pucks and made us pay." No one paid more than goaltender Dalyn Flette, who stopped 16 shots but was touched for three softies.
Flette, who blanked the visiting Portland Winter Hawks 8-0 on Sunday, was making his 12th start and his second in a row, the first time he got the call in back-to-back games since the fourth and fifth games of the season, or before Dustin Butler's arrival on the scene.
"We need better goaltending than we got," Dean Clark, the Blazers' GM and head coach, said. "We actually played a pretty solid game . . . and we get the power play . . . and then we give them one. Just by being selfish. Pass the puck up the ice. You get checked and you're the last guy and it's . . ." It's lights out or, in this instance, goal light on.
Derek Ryan and Adam Hobson had Spokane's other goals.
Terrance Delaronde and Juuso Puustinen, with his 30th, also scored for the Blazers.
JUST NOTES: Referee Andy Thiessen gave Spokane seven of 13 minors. . . .Spokane was 1-for-5 on the power play; the Blazers were 1-for-6. . . .Armstrong made 24 saves. . . . The linesmen were Kamloops residents Kris Hartley and Nick Swaine. It was the third time this season that they have worked a WHL game together, but the first time in their hometown. They previously did two games together in Kelowna together. . . . The Blazers, who have scored a WHL-leading 16 shorthanded goals, have allowed six such scores.
=====
THE SCORE
Spokane 4, Kamloops 3
WHAT HAPPENED
The Chiefs were more opportunistic, got better goaltending and three soft goals. That was the difference.
THE STANDINGS
The Blazers (38-16-2-1) are second in the the B.C. Division, two points behind the Vancouver Giants (36-12-3-6), who lost 5-2 to the host Tri-City Americans last night. The Giants meet the Cougars in Prince George on Friday and Saturday night.s
THE DEFENCEMAN
Kamloops D Ray Macias scored his 22nd goal of the season. It was his 58th career goal. Only Greg Hawgood (147) and Darryl Sydor (77) have more goals among defencemen who have played for Kamloops.
THE APPENDIX
Spokane LW J.P. Szaszkiewicz spent last night in Royal Inland Hospital where he had a laparoscopic appendectomy early in the evening. The Chiefs are hoping Szaszkiewicz, who will be out for three weeks, will be ready to board their bus this morning for the trip to Seattle where they play the Thunderbirds on Friday.
THE BROKEN BONES
Spokane C Seth Compton suffered a broken ankle in a 4-3 loss to the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Feb. 2. LW Drayson Bowman broke a wrist when he bumped with D Justin Falk in practice a week ago. Falk suffered a broken wrist during a 2-1 loss to the Silvertips in Everett on Friday. Compton could return for the second round of playoffs; the other two are out indefinitely.
THE GESTURE
The throat-slashing case is closed. The Vancouver Giants, upset with what they say was a gesture made by Blazers D Keaton Ellerby late in Friday's game, didn't get their request for supplemental discipline into the WHL office within its 48-hour deadline, so the league refused to act on it.
THE DAILY NEWS THREE STARS
1. RW Michael Grabner, Spokane. Big-league speed.
2. RW David Rutherford, Spokane. Plays well here.
3. LW Terrance Delaronde, Kamloops. His kind of game.
UP NEXT
The Blazers meet the Rebels in Red Deer on Saturday night and the Hitmen in Calgary on Sunday afternoon. They are back home Feb. 23 against the Chilliwack Bruins.
- 07 -