scamperdog
03-18-2007, 12:19 PM
Emotional end
By Doyle Potenteau
Saturday, March 17, 2007
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories.php?id=21028
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Chris Ray went out with a bang. And first-star honours.
Having promised that his final Western Hockey League game would be memorable, Ray followed through by guiding the Kelowna Rockets to a 3-2 victory over the Prince George Cougars at Prospera Place on Saturday night. For the record, his evening‘s statistics could be counted on one finger: One assist.
However, game sheets don‘t count missed chances, sweat, nor tears. Last night, Kelowna‘s captain had plenty of everything, especially the latter.
“I didn‘t expect (graduation) to hit me like this. It kinda got emotional at the end,” Ray said after the game, his eyes red and brimming with tears following the conclusion of his four-season career. As a 20-year-old, the Westside resident is no longer eligible to play junior hockey, as are fellow over-agers Clayton Barthel and David Schulz, who also graduated last night.
“The past four years, I basically lived (at Prospera Place),” continued Ray, who had a hal-dozen scoring chances in the third period alone, including a long breakaway, but came up empty. “I had a laugh with (head coach) Jeff Truitt the other day; we had a day off and I came to the rink because I didn‘t know where else to go.
“It‘s become home and it‘s tough to leave, but it is my time because all my best friends have already left, especially this past year. I can‘t say enough how fun it‘s been, even this season, but moreso at the beginning of my career. Winning the Memorial Cup, a WHL championship, you can‘t ask for a better career. I‘ve been really fortunate to be part of that run.”
Myles MacRae, with two goals, his 13th and 14th markers of the season, plus Cody Almond, with his 15th, scored for Kelowna (22-41-5-4).
Devin Setoguchi, with his team-leading 36th, and Nick Drazenovic, with his 18th, replied for Prince George (33-31-3-5), which led 1-0 early in the first period but trailed 2-1 after two.
Scott Bowles made 32 saves for the Cougars, who finished the regular season with 74 points, good for third place in B.C. Division standings. Torrie Jung made 21 stops for the Rockets, who placed fifth and last in B.C. with 53 points.
At game‘s end, Bowles skated over to Kelowna‘s bench and gave Ray a brief farewell, then shook hands with Barthel.
“We‘re all friends. And those two guys over the years have been excellent competitors,” said Bowles, who is also in his final season of junior eligibility. “I know how not making the playoffs feels. That, and the Kelowna Rockets have always been a classy club. When we were down and out, not once did they make a negative remark about our club or anyone. They came up, did their business and went home.
“It‘s just a real classy organization and I feel being friends and such, I owed them a little bit of something.”
“I‘ve played against him all the time,” Ray said of Bowles. “I played with him once on Team Okanagan, but I played against him so much that he‘s a friend who‘s almost an enemy because of how much we‘ve played against each other. It was a class act and I really appreciated it.”
Another class act took place with 38 seconds remaining to play. Play was stopped in Prince George‘s end, and, following a long shift, a tired Ray literally had his tongue hanging out.
Truitt then called a time out to allow Ray to catch his breath, and all three over-agers finished their WHL careers by playing out the final seconds.
“It was nice for the coaches to do that,” said Ray. “I was signalling to them that I wanted a time out so I could stay out there. On both ends, we knew that I wanted to be out there for the last 30.”
Had Ray scored, he would have finished the season with 20 goals, 16 assists and 36 points. Instead, his final line will read 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points.
“It would have been nice to get my 20th (goal of the season), but it didn‘t happen,” said Ray. “Still, it was good. Just the fact that we were creating (offensive chances) was good. It was great to see the guys go out there and finish it off the right way.
“It wasn‘t the ending we wanted in terms of our season, but it was the ending we wanted in terms of our last two games.”
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna‘s scratches were G Kris Westblom (knee, 3-to-4 weeks), D Matthew Brusciano (1 week) and C Jason MacDonald. Prince George‘s scratches were D Jesse Duas (leg, day to day), LW Kyle Klym (charley horse, day to day), D Lance Redden and LW Chad Hohmann. . . . Kelowna was 0-for-6 on the power play. Prince George was 1-for-10. . . . The three stars were Ray, MacRae and Almond.
By Doyle Potenteau
Saturday, March 17, 2007
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories.php?id=21028
Email this article
Send a Letter to the Editor
Printer friendly page
Chris Ray went out with a bang. And first-star honours.
Having promised that his final Western Hockey League game would be memorable, Ray followed through by guiding the Kelowna Rockets to a 3-2 victory over the Prince George Cougars at Prospera Place on Saturday night. For the record, his evening‘s statistics could be counted on one finger: One assist.
However, game sheets don‘t count missed chances, sweat, nor tears. Last night, Kelowna‘s captain had plenty of everything, especially the latter.
“I didn‘t expect (graduation) to hit me like this. It kinda got emotional at the end,” Ray said after the game, his eyes red and brimming with tears following the conclusion of his four-season career. As a 20-year-old, the Westside resident is no longer eligible to play junior hockey, as are fellow over-agers Clayton Barthel and David Schulz, who also graduated last night.
“The past four years, I basically lived (at Prospera Place),” continued Ray, who had a hal-dozen scoring chances in the third period alone, including a long breakaway, but came up empty. “I had a laugh with (head coach) Jeff Truitt the other day; we had a day off and I came to the rink because I didn‘t know where else to go.
“It‘s become home and it‘s tough to leave, but it is my time because all my best friends have already left, especially this past year. I can‘t say enough how fun it‘s been, even this season, but moreso at the beginning of my career. Winning the Memorial Cup, a WHL championship, you can‘t ask for a better career. I‘ve been really fortunate to be part of that run.”
Myles MacRae, with two goals, his 13th and 14th markers of the season, plus Cody Almond, with his 15th, scored for Kelowna (22-41-5-4).
Devin Setoguchi, with his team-leading 36th, and Nick Drazenovic, with his 18th, replied for Prince George (33-31-3-5), which led 1-0 early in the first period but trailed 2-1 after two.
Scott Bowles made 32 saves for the Cougars, who finished the regular season with 74 points, good for third place in B.C. Division standings. Torrie Jung made 21 stops for the Rockets, who placed fifth and last in B.C. with 53 points.
At game‘s end, Bowles skated over to Kelowna‘s bench and gave Ray a brief farewell, then shook hands with Barthel.
“We‘re all friends. And those two guys over the years have been excellent competitors,” said Bowles, who is also in his final season of junior eligibility. “I know how not making the playoffs feels. That, and the Kelowna Rockets have always been a classy club. When we were down and out, not once did they make a negative remark about our club or anyone. They came up, did their business and went home.
“It‘s just a real classy organization and I feel being friends and such, I owed them a little bit of something.”
“I‘ve played against him all the time,” Ray said of Bowles. “I played with him once on Team Okanagan, but I played against him so much that he‘s a friend who‘s almost an enemy because of how much we‘ve played against each other. It was a class act and I really appreciated it.”
Another class act took place with 38 seconds remaining to play. Play was stopped in Prince George‘s end, and, following a long shift, a tired Ray literally had his tongue hanging out.
Truitt then called a time out to allow Ray to catch his breath, and all three over-agers finished their WHL careers by playing out the final seconds.
“It was nice for the coaches to do that,” said Ray. “I was signalling to them that I wanted a time out so I could stay out there. On both ends, we knew that I wanted to be out there for the last 30.”
Had Ray scored, he would have finished the season with 20 goals, 16 assists and 36 points. Instead, his final line will read 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points.
“It would have been nice to get my 20th (goal of the season), but it didn‘t happen,” said Ray. “Still, it was good. Just the fact that we were creating (offensive chances) was good. It was great to see the guys go out there and finish it off the right way.
“It wasn‘t the ending we wanted in terms of our season, but it was the ending we wanted in terms of our last two games.”
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna‘s scratches were G Kris Westblom (knee, 3-to-4 weeks), D Matthew Brusciano (1 week) and C Jason MacDonald. Prince George‘s scratches were D Jesse Duas (leg, day to day), LW Kyle Klym (charley horse, day to day), D Lance Redden and LW Chad Hohmann. . . . Kelowna was 0-for-6 on the power play. Prince George was 1-for-10. . . . The three stars were Ray, MacRae and Almond.