nivek_wahs
03-24-2007, 08:04 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=46a4abc3-c6b2-4fab-9bfd-504ebbbf346b
Pats reverse the Current
Greg Harder, Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, March 24, 2007
Regina Pats goaltender Linden Rowat did most of his sweating before his WHL playoff debut.
The game itself was surprisingly effortless.
Rowat made 23 saves behind a stellar defensive performance on Friday night, backstopping Regina to an easy 4-0 win over the Swift Current Broncos before a crowd of 5,225 at the Brandt Centre.
It was a memorable hat-trick showing by Rowat, who played his first WHL playoff game, picked up his first win and claimed his first shutout all on the same night.
"That trio sounds pretty good, but I couldn't have done it without the boys," offered the 17-year-old goalie, whose team took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal. "I definitely had some butterflies before the game but once I got that first shot or two I calmed down a little bit. The guys were keeping everything to the outside so it was a pretty easy game.
"We dominated in every aspect of the game from start to finish."
The victim of this one-sided goalie duo was Kyle Moir, whose crease was the busiest place on the ice Friday night. The 20-year-old veteran did his part by stopping 26 of 30 shots, but he didn't get much help from his friends.
Rowat did.
"There was a lot of hype about how I haven't played very much in the playoffs and that Moir has experience," noted Rowat. "But if the boys play like that every night it makes my job a lot easier. It was a lot harder on Moir. He played great in the first period."
Regina set the tone early, launching pucks from every angle while outshooting Swift Current 10-1 at one point. Kaspars Saulietis opened the scoring at the five-minute mark with a shot from the slot while falling on his behind.
Scoring opportunities were scarce for both sides in the second frame, but that didn't stop Regina from blowing the game open.
Michael MacAngus banged in a rebound from Jordan Eberle at 2:51 of the period, followed just 1:56 later by Jared Jagow's first career playoff goal.
Garrett Festerling made it 4-0 just 3:25 later with a little faceoff trickery when he tapped the puck ahead right off the draw, stepped into the opening and fired a quick shot past Moir.
Rowat did the rest with a cool, calm performance. The only time he was beaten was a shot off the post by David Stieler at the 10-minute mark of the second period.
"Give him full marks," said Pats head coach Curtis Hunt. "He had every reason to be nervous. He focused on what he could control and that was that next shot. That's what we expected he would do and he answered the bell."
The Broncos didn't.
"Regina took a page right out of our book," offered Swift Current captain Myles Rumsey. "They came out very physical, they were shooting the puck from everywhere and they played an all around better game than us. We started pushing back at the end but unfortunately that's too late. They played way better than we did. During playoffs that's just unacceptable."
The Broncos won't have to wait long for redemption. Game 2 goes tonight at the Brandt Centre.
"We just need to forget about today but remember what they did," added Rumsey.
The Pats expect nothing less.
"They're not going to go away," said Hunt. "We have to regroup, get rested and prepare ourselves because the battle just gets tougher."
EXTRAS: The Pats have won all five meetings with Swift Current at the Brandt Centre this season. They improved to 7-2 overall in the season series . . . Regina went 1-for-6 on the power play. Swift Current was 0-for-5 . . . The Pats' scratches were D Spencer Fraipoint, C Justin Scott, RW Niko Snellman (hand), F Mike Reich, F Matt Strueby and F Garrett Mitchell . . . The Broncos sat F Justin Downling, F Matt Tassone and D Grant Toulmin.
Pats reverse the Current
Greg Harder, Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, March 24, 2007
Regina Pats goaltender Linden Rowat did most of his sweating before his WHL playoff debut.
The game itself was surprisingly effortless.
Rowat made 23 saves behind a stellar defensive performance on Friday night, backstopping Regina to an easy 4-0 win over the Swift Current Broncos before a crowd of 5,225 at the Brandt Centre.
It was a memorable hat-trick showing by Rowat, who played his first WHL playoff game, picked up his first win and claimed his first shutout all on the same night.
"That trio sounds pretty good, but I couldn't have done it without the boys," offered the 17-year-old goalie, whose team took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal. "I definitely had some butterflies before the game but once I got that first shot or two I calmed down a little bit. The guys were keeping everything to the outside so it was a pretty easy game.
"We dominated in every aspect of the game from start to finish."
The victim of this one-sided goalie duo was Kyle Moir, whose crease was the busiest place on the ice Friday night. The 20-year-old veteran did his part by stopping 26 of 30 shots, but he didn't get much help from his friends.
Rowat did.
"There was a lot of hype about how I haven't played very much in the playoffs and that Moir has experience," noted Rowat. "But if the boys play like that every night it makes my job a lot easier. It was a lot harder on Moir. He played great in the first period."
Regina set the tone early, launching pucks from every angle while outshooting Swift Current 10-1 at one point. Kaspars Saulietis opened the scoring at the five-minute mark with a shot from the slot while falling on his behind.
Scoring opportunities were scarce for both sides in the second frame, but that didn't stop Regina from blowing the game open.
Michael MacAngus banged in a rebound from Jordan Eberle at 2:51 of the period, followed just 1:56 later by Jared Jagow's first career playoff goal.
Garrett Festerling made it 4-0 just 3:25 later with a little faceoff trickery when he tapped the puck ahead right off the draw, stepped into the opening and fired a quick shot past Moir.
Rowat did the rest with a cool, calm performance. The only time he was beaten was a shot off the post by David Stieler at the 10-minute mark of the second period.
"Give him full marks," said Pats head coach Curtis Hunt. "He had every reason to be nervous. He focused on what he could control and that was that next shot. That's what we expected he would do and he answered the bell."
The Broncos didn't.
"Regina took a page right out of our book," offered Swift Current captain Myles Rumsey. "They came out very physical, they were shooting the puck from everywhere and they played an all around better game than us. We started pushing back at the end but unfortunately that's too late. They played way better than we did. During playoffs that's just unacceptable."
The Broncos won't have to wait long for redemption. Game 2 goes tonight at the Brandt Centre.
"We just need to forget about today but remember what they did," added Rumsey.
The Pats expect nothing less.
"They're not going to go away," said Hunt. "We have to regroup, get rested and prepare ourselves because the battle just gets tougher."
EXTRAS: The Pats have won all five meetings with Swift Current at the Brandt Centre this season. They improved to 7-2 overall in the season series . . . Regina went 1-for-6 on the power play. Swift Current was 0-for-5 . . . The Pats' scratches were D Spencer Fraipoint, C Justin Scott, RW Niko Snellman (hand), F Mike Reich, F Matt Strueby and F Garrett Mitchell . . . The Broncos sat F Justin Downling, F Matt Tassone and D Grant Toulmin.