Pats vs. Americans (Feb. 27/07)

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=2969869e-f5a9-4ad7-aae7-d5689e85de63


Boogaard on the card for tonight's fight

Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Ding! Ding!

It's the last round for Aaron Boogaard, a 20-year-old enforcer who plans to go out swinging tonight when the Tri-City Americans pay their lone visit in two seasons to the Regina Pats.

Barring an unlikely playoff scenario, it will be the final homecoming of Boogaard's WHL career. The Regina product is in his last season of junior eligibility.

"It's nice being home, seeing the family," Boogaard said Monday after a brief skate at the Brandt Centre. "We came here when I was 18 and I've progressed that much further. Now I'm 20 and I play a bigger role so my family gets to see me play a little bit more. It gives you a whole new energy playing in front of your home-town crowd."

Boogaard will have the support of his own cheering section, including family, friends and former co-workers. The only ones missing will be his older brother Derek, a fellow enforcer with the NHL's Minnesota Wild, and younger sister Krysten, a member of the national junior women's basketball team.

"My mom has (this day) circled on her calendar," noted Aaron, a 6-foot-3, 245-pounder. "She doesn't get to see me play very often. It's big for her and my dad obviously."

Boogaard plans to give his fans their money's worth. He and Pats enforcer Myles Stoesz have already talked about putting a final touch on one of the WHL's biggest heavyweight feuds.

"It's an old rivalry but it's always good to refresh it," Boogaard said with a smile.

Stoesz, 19, tangled with Boogaard on numerous occasions during his time out west with the Spokane Chiefs and Chilliwack Bruins. They've already dropped the mitts once this season and had planned for a rematch on Jan. 10 -- the day Stoesz ended up getting traded to Regina.

"I went up to him and said, 'Man, I'm sorry; I wanted to fight you one last time,' " recalled Stoesz. "He was like, 'Oh, I'm coming to Regina on Feb. 27th.' "

Needless to say, it's a date.

"It's pretty much a done deal," confirmed Stoesz with a grin. "I enjoy fighting and we have respect for each other. In warm-ups we'll ask how each other's families are doing and whatnot. I know off the ice we'd probably be buddies. We'll probably go out one day and have a couple drinks together. Whatever is done on the ice stays on the ice. We know we both have to stick up for our teammates. That's our job."

Both do it well.

Stoesz is currently ranked No. 3 in the WHL with 18 fighting majors while Boogaard sits close behind with 16. Boogaard, a graduate of the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians, is also having his best season statistically with eight goals and nine assists, along with 186 penalty minutes.

"I would say he's probably the toughest guy I've fought," offered Stoesz. "I've fought him (about) six times in my career. He definitely has the hardest punch I've ever felt. One time he hit me in the ear with my helmet on and it hurt for like three weeks."

Although neither player is willing to claim an edge in their feud, Stoesz did get the upper hand last season during Spokane's home-opener when he knocked Boogaard out cold.

"Other than that, I'd say they're all pretty even," said Stoesz.

"It is a close battle right now," added Boogaard, who'd love to re-claim bragging rights in his home town. "He's a tough guy. It's a battle every time we fight. Hopefully I can put on a good show (tonight)."

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=65e52940-a5e1-4c3e-b546-62fc29d80b64


Pats hope Price isn't right for Tri-City tonight

Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Head coach Curtis Hunt wants the Regina Pats to pay the Price.

That's the simplified version of Regina's gameplan heading into tonight's clash with the Tri-City Americans, whose last line of defence is none other than world junior MVP Carey Price.

"He's a good goalie, there's no question about it," offered Hunt, an assistant with the Canadian team that -- backstopped by Price -- won a gold medal at the recent world junior championship in Sweden.

"We need to play our game and do the things that give us success. It doesn't matter who is in there. We have to put pucks on the net, get traffic to the net and create some chances."

Kyle Ross took it one step further.

"The important thing about (facing Price) is we have to get to the net for second chances," said the veteran centre. "He's obviously a great goaltender. We have to realize he's going to make some saves and not get frustrated (when he does). It's just a matter of battling through and getting to those second chances."

Easier said than done against Price, who boasts a resume that should be the envy of every goaltender in the WHL. The highlights include being selected fifth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2005 NHL entry draft and winning a gold medal at the 2007 world juniors, adding top-goalie and MVP honours for his trouble.

"That's the most important position on a team," noted Hunt. "He doesn't get rattled. The next shot is the most important shot to him and that's the way he plays his game. He has great poise in the net -- he's big, he moves (well) and he's square to the puck. He also has the ability to handle the pucks like a third D.

"He did a great job (for Team Canada) and made the saves when we needed them."

Price enters tonight's contest having won his past five starts, establishing a new career-high with 25 wins (25-11-1-0). He's also among the league-leaders with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.

"This has definitely been the best year of my junior career so far," said Price. "It has definitely been the most fun -- and not just because of the world juniors or my training camp in Montreal. The season (with Tri-City) has been just a blast. Our GM has done a really good job of bringing in the right guys to make us a winning hockey club."

Price expects to experience a few more blasts tonight -- courtesy of the Pats.

"The style of play out here is really different from the U.S. Division," he said. "It's a little bit more run-and-gun out here. Sometimes (the defences) cheat offensively and all these teams are really fast, they have a lot of speed up front. We're really systematic in the U.S. Division. Everything is pretty compact. You don't see as many shots as I have so far (on this road trip)."

This will be the last visit to the East Division for Price, who's expected to play somewhere in the Canadiens' system next fall. With that in mind, he's trying to savour every part of the experience, even though the season has been a bit of a blur with all the demands on his time.

"It does get tiring after a while, especially when I haven't had a whole lot of time off," he said when asked about the Price of fame. "It was obviously the best time of my life over there (at the world juniors). It has been quite the run so far, but I keep it in perspective. There are only a couple months left in my junior hockey career. I just keep my eye on the prize and keep moving forward."

- - -

SCOUTING REPORT

Tri-City (39-20-1-1) at Regina (29-27-2-4)

Today, 7 p.m., Brandt Centre

Radio: 620 CKRM

Key injuries: Regina -- G Linden Rowat (back, day-to-day); Tri-City -- D Jarret Toll (jaw, one week), F Colton Yellow Horn (ankle, day-to-day).

Overview: The Americans are making their fourth stop on a six-game East Division road swing. They opened with two wins (4-1 in Swift Current and 4-3 against P.A.) before suffering a 5-1 setback against the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak . . . Yellow Horn, who has missed Tri-City's last six games, is still tied for the league lead with 39 goals . . . The Americans were successful on 89 of 93 penalty kills before giving up three power-play markers against Saskatoon . . . Tri-City is just six wins shy of tying a franchise record (45, 1995-96) . . . The Americans lost three players to the Canada Winter Games: D Tyler Schmidt (Team Manitoba), D Eric Mestery (Manitoba) and C Kruise Reddick of Manor (Team Saskatchewan). Regina is without leading goal-scorer F Jordan Eberle (Alberta) and D Colten Teubert (B.C.) . . . Tri-City's roster includes 10 Saskatchewan products, including Regina's Aaron Boogaard, Emerald Park's Taylor Procyshen and Moose Jaw's Tanner Gillies . . . Pats overage centres Garrett Festerling and Kyle Ross are tied for the team lead with 60 points apiece. That's a career-high for both players . . . Rowat, who has missed four straight games, returned to practice on Monday but may not be ready to dress until the weekend. Tommy Tartaglione gets the call in his place . . . The Americans are an impressive 18-12-1-0 on the road this season. Regina is 19-8-1-2 at home.

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

[JDubb]

Well the heavyweight tilt for the night sounds like a good one. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint. As for the game I expect Tartaglione to come out and play really well after basically getting called out per one of the articles about the Brandon game.

I expect a lower scoring game, unless of course we can light up a gold medalist. Stranger things have happened, but not anticipating.

Go Pats!

Jeremy

[nivek_wahs]

I really didn't know what to expect from this game other than the Stoesz vs. Boogaard tilt (mentioned in a previous message) and Carey Price coming to the Brandt... So here's my thoughts...

Notes
Starters
Goalies
Regina: Tartaglione
Tri-City: Price

Defencemen
Regina: Deck & Pyett
Tri-City: Swaby & Teslyuk

Forwards
Regina: Ofukany - Reich - Saulietis
Tri-City: Boogaard - Aldred - Procyshen

Scratches
Regina: Rowat (back), Teubert (Canada Games), Elder (flu?), Snellman (?), Eberle (Canada Games)
Tri-City: Lazo (took warm-up but didn't dress), Schmidt, Mestery, Reddick, Yellow Horn, Gorman, Inglis

Shots
Regina: 13-12-10--35
Tri-City: 6-8-14--28

Powerplays
Regina: 3/10
Tri-City: 1/5

Scoring
1. REG Deck, (6) (Festerling, Pyett), 18:09 (PP)
Pats work the puck around in the Americans zone and the disk ends up at the point for Deck and he fires a slapper that appeared to deflect in off of an American D-man.

2. TRI Procyshen, (27) (Felde, Cornish), 14:01 (PP)
Scramble infront of the Pats net and Tartaglione makes the first save and Procyshen jumps on the rebound and roofs the puck past a sprawling Tartaglione.

2. REG Saulietis, (13) (MacAngus), 19:47
Moments after a highlight reel type of move (stopped by Price with the right pad)... Saulietis is able to beat Price with a wrister that beats Price over top of him... Kind of a disputed goal I can't say for sure if it was in or not Vetter called it a goal none the less to give the Pats a 2-1 lead.

3. REG Ofukany, (23) (Saulietis, Schira), 3:21
Breaks in to the Americans zone and beats Price blocker-side (between the arm and body). 3-1 Pats.

3. REG Ross, (17) (Ross, Schira), 6:39 (PP)
Pats again on the powerplay Kyle Ross scores 5-hole with a nice slapshot that squeeks thru Price's legs. 4-1 Pats.

3. REG Jagow, (8) (MacAngus, Festerling), 15:35 (PP)
Once again on the pp, the Pats are doing a good job working the puck around the American zone, where the initial shot is stopped by Price and a mad scramble ensues and Jagow is able to fire home the loose puck. 5-1 Pats.

Scraps
The much anticipated Stoesz vs. Boogaard @ 18:11 of the first. Good tilt. Both combatants landed some shots but Boogaard had the upperhand. Nothing to write home about. Win: Boogaard.

Stripes
Vetter with Brunen and Balaberda. Vetter called an alright game missed lots and called some questionable penalties. Overall an average reffed game in the WHL.

3 Stars
1. Craig Schira - Pats
2. Kaspars Saulietis - Pats
3. Tommy Tartaglione - Pats

Overall
The Pats probably played one of their best games in a rather long time. They started strong, played strong in the middle and didn't let up at the end. Lots of players stepped up tonight... Saulietis for one... if this guy had some finish in his game he could easily be a star... he has some sick stickhandling ability but has trouble finding the net. Schira stepped up after having a sub-par game in Brandon and played great... getting first star. Tartaglione... if you have a heart condition and cheer for the Pats make sure you have your medication or you could be in trouble... He continues to make amazing saves out of no where because the opposition has no clue as to where he will be. 'Unorthodox' goaltending at its best and he played great yet again. N. Ross, K. Ross, Deck, Pyett, Jagow, McAngus, Festerling all had good nights. In all honsety not too many Pats had bad nights.

With the Americans I had no idea as to what to expect except for the fact that Price is their #1 gun. Honestly I don't know if Price's head was in the game as it seemed that the Pats got to him early (no goals until 18 minutes in but he just seemed rattled after the first 5 minutes or so) and he seemed to be fighting the puck much of the night. He made many saves look easy but a couple of goals the Pats scored he probably would have stopped on most other nights. All-in-all I was a little disappointed. They dressed some HUGE players and seemed to be caught off-guard by the Pats speed and many couldn't keep up... especially on D... Some forwards looked really good... Drew Hoff this guy has some wheels, and was very good defensively. Felde played good but seemed to overhandle the puck and probably cost the Americans a couple of scoring chances, but was good. Sim although listed as a D played forward for the most part and was okay in the faceoff circle. Prochyshen was probably the teams best forward and had lots of opportunities and was all over the ice. Boogaard made his last appearance in the Brandt and played alright for a 'policeman/enforcer.' Toll (wearing a full shield) on defence was by far their best defenceman... probably played 30 minutes. I don't know what the team would look like if they had Yellow Horn, Schmidt and Mestery in the lineup but the team didn't look all to great tonight.

Attendance
5748

Good win for the Pats... Next up Prince Albert.

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=75fb8d9d-9ffe-4da1-b67d-28ad1ce53157&k=33503


Tri-City pays penalty Price

Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Tommy Tartaglione is making a case for honorary Canadian citizenship.

The California-born goaltender outduelled national junior team hero Carey Price with a 27-save effort on Tuesday night, backstopping the Regina Pats to a 5-1 win over the Tri-City Americans before 5,746 fans at the Brandt Centre.

"I just wanted to send a message to the U.S. national team," Tartaglione said with a laugh, referring to Price's semifinal victory over the U.S. at the recent world junior championship. "He put on a show (in that shootout win). Maybe it was just my team tonight, though."

Or maybe a little bit of both.

Regina outshot the Americans 35-28 thanks to a strong defensive effort and a sharp power-play unit, which finished 3-for-10. The visitors went 1-for-5.

The Pats made Tri-City pay for the sin-bin disparity -- perhaps with a little help from head coach Curtis Hunt, who -- as a Team Canada assistant -- had a front-row seat for Price's MVP performance in Sweden.

"He gave us some good tips," revealed defenceman Craig Schira. "He told us how (Price) goes down and leaves the top open."

Hunt was coy on the subject.

"Just shoot the puck," he explained. "(Price) is like all of us. He puts his skates on one at a time. More importantly, it was just our team game. I thought we were consistent throughout the game and just kept putting pucks on net. Eventually we knew they would go in."

It started out as a slow defensive struggle, but the pace quickened when Tri-City was whistled for four-straight penalties.

After a couple of close calls around the Americans' net -- including a post by Kyle Ross -- Regina opened the scoring with 1:51 left in the first period on a one-time shot through traffic by captain Kyle Deck.

Tartaglione, who replaced the injured Linden Rowat for the third straight game, didn't face his first true test until the 9:30 mark of the second period. With Tri-City enjoying a man advantage, the Pats' netminder stuck out his left pad to rob Regina product Aaron Boogaard during a mad scramble in the crease.

The Americans finally broke the goose egg at 14:01 of the second period thanks to Emerald Park product Taylor Procyshen, who calmly found the open side past a diving Tartaglione.

Price maintained the 1-1 draw late in the frame with an outstanding pad stop on Kaspars Saulietis, who deked a defender out of his skates before putting another great move on the goaltender, only to be turned away.

However, Saulietis redeemed himself with just 12.6 seconds left in the frame when he wired a shot under the cross-bar to restore the Pats' one-goal lead.

Troy Ofukany made it 3-1 at the 3:21 mark of the third period, firing a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle right through Price. Ross did the same from the left side just over three minutes later to put the game out of reach.

Jared Jagow added Regina's third power-play goal with 4:25 remaining.

"We're a better team than that," insisted Tri-City head coach Don Nachbaur, whose club was denied its 40th win (39-21-1-1), while Regina picked up its 30th (30-27-2-4). "I don't think we skated, I don't think we competed and there's reasons for that. We're just getting (injured) guys back in the lineup. But for the most part it's a long road trip and (it's) conflicting styles of play. Guys out here really play a wide-open style. It has caught us by surprise on some nights."

EXTRAS: The much-anticipated heavyweight tilt between Boogaard and Myles Stoesz took place with 1:49 left in the first period. It was an even fight, although Boogaard appeared to land more punches, scoring him the home-town decision ... Tri-City was missing WHL scoring leader Colton Yellow Horn for the seventh straight game ... Ofukany played in his 200th WHL game ... The Pats were without Rowat (back), LW Josh Elder (flu) and RW Niko Snellman (healthy) ... The Pats are back at the Brandt Centre on Friday against the Prince Albert Raiders, who now trail second-place Regina by 10 points. The Swift Current Broncos beat P.A. 8-3 on Wednesday to move into third spot, nine points back of Regina.

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

[nivek_wahs]

Here's a pic of Stoesz and Boogaard's dance from the LeaderPost... http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/storyimage.html?id=75fb8d9d-9ffe-4da1-b67d-28ad1ce53157&img=ee2f1e50-31db-47ac-818b-7b0773a9e8e8&path=/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/