nivek_wahs
04-20-2007, 04:32 AM
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/sports/story.html?id=883aae0f-ec70-4856-9030-1299786e40bd
Twin towers stand in Giants' way
Prince George defence pairing of Mihalik, Wishart a formidable obstacle
Ian Walker, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, April 20, 2007
To make a long story short: Prince George Cougars defenceman Vladimir Mihalik is tall. Like 6-8 tall.
Not since former Cougar Zedano Chara patrolled the blue line has the Western Hockey League seen a player of his stature.
But that's only the half of it. You see, standing 6-5, the Cougars' Ty Wishart is no slouch on defence, either. Walking through the bowels of the Pacific Coliseum on Thursday, the Cougars' twin towers were more easily recognizable than Pamela Anderson in a red swimsuit. All one had to do was look up. Way up, in Mihalik's case.
"Tall jokes? I've heard them all," said the 245-pound Slovakian behemoth upon his team's arrival at the Coliseum Thursday in advance of tonight's Game 1 of the WHL Western Conference final against the Vancouver Giants. "You get used to it."
The words joke and Cougars were often interchangeable when describing the plight of Prince George's hockey team earlier in the season. Fast forward six months and it's the Cougars who are laughing. Upsets over the Kamloops Blazers and No. 1-ranked Everett Silvertips will have that effect on a team.
Mihalik and his defence partner Wishart are two of the biggest reasons for the Cougars' success through the first two rounds of the post-season. They'll need to stand even taller should underdog Prince George have any chance of completing the hat trick, said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck, embracing the role.
"They've been recognized by NHL clubs as elite players and they rack up a lot of minutes for us, no doubt," said Schoneck, who replaced the fired Mike Vandekamp early in the season. "We count on them to be our top guys night-in and night-out, and if we have any chance to move on in this series, we'll need those guys to log a lot of minutes and play well for us."
"They have to be hard on the Giants forwards and will have to make those guys pay as much as they want to make us pay."
Mihalik, Wishart and the rest of the Cougars defence have yet to face an opponent as physical as the Giants this post-season as Vancouver's relentless forecheck had a visible effect on the blue-line corps of their previous opponents. The Giants eliminated the Chilliwack Bruins and Seattle Thunderbirds in five games each en route to the conference final.
"Vancouver has a lot of big forwards out there and they like to crash the body and come at you hard," said Wishart, who was the 16th overall pick of the San Jose Sharks in the 2006 entry draft. Mihalik was drafted 30th by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2005. Both players have been signed by their respective NHL clubs. "We need to use our size to our advantage, but on the same note, Vancouver doesn't have the smallest forwards either, so it could make for some intense battles. They're not going to shy away from anybody."
At least they better not, said Don Hay.
"Their size didn't matter in the regular season, why would our guys be intimated now," said the Giants' head coach.
ICE CHIPS: The Cougars practised at Chilliwack's Prospera Centre on Thursday before dropping their gear at the Pacific Coliseum. Prince George did the same thing prior to Game 5 of their second-round series against the Silvertips, and won that game 4-3 thanks to a four-goal, third-period outburst. Superstition? Schoneck says no. "It helped split up the trip," he said. ... Giants power forward J.D. Watt missed practice for the second straight day on Thursday with flu-like symptoms. He is listed as day-to-day. "We're counting on him playing [tonight]. He was feeling better today, but we just thought we'd let him rest."
iwalker@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
Twin towers stand in Giants' way
Prince George defence pairing of Mihalik, Wishart a formidable obstacle
Ian Walker, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, April 20, 2007
To make a long story short: Prince George Cougars defenceman Vladimir Mihalik is tall. Like 6-8 tall.
Not since former Cougar Zedano Chara patrolled the blue line has the Western Hockey League seen a player of his stature.
But that's only the half of it. You see, standing 6-5, the Cougars' Ty Wishart is no slouch on defence, either. Walking through the bowels of the Pacific Coliseum on Thursday, the Cougars' twin towers were more easily recognizable than Pamela Anderson in a red swimsuit. All one had to do was look up. Way up, in Mihalik's case.
"Tall jokes? I've heard them all," said the 245-pound Slovakian behemoth upon his team's arrival at the Coliseum Thursday in advance of tonight's Game 1 of the WHL Western Conference final against the Vancouver Giants. "You get used to it."
The words joke and Cougars were often interchangeable when describing the plight of Prince George's hockey team earlier in the season. Fast forward six months and it's the Cougars who are laughing. Upsets over the Kamloops Blazers and No. 1-ranked Everett Silvertips will have that effect on a team.
Mihalik and his defence partner Wishart are two of the biggest reasons for the Cougars' success through the first two rounds of the post-season. They'll need to stand even taller should underdog Prince George have any chance of completing the hat trick, said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck, embracing the role.
"They've been recognized by NHL clubs as elite players and they rack up a lot of minutes for us, no doubt," said Schoneck, who replaced the fired Mike Vandekamp early in the season. "We count on them to be our top guys night-in and night-out, and if we have any chance to move on in this series, we'll need those guys to log a lot of minutes and play well for us."
"They have to be hard on the Giants forwards and will have to make those guys pay as much as they want to make us pay."
Mihalik, Wishart and the rest of the Cougars defence have yet to face an opponent as physical as the Giants this post-season as Vancouver's relentless forecheck had a visible effect on the blue-line corps of their previous opponents. The Giants eliminated the Chilliwack Bruins and Seattle Thunderbirds in five games each en route to the conference final.
"Vancouver has a lot of big forwards out there and they like to crash the body and come at you hard," said Wishart, who was the 16th overall pick of the San Jose Sharks in the 2006 entry draft. Mihalik was drafted 30th by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2005. Both players have been signed by their respective NHL clubs. "We need to use our size to our advantage, but on the same note, Vancouver doesn't have the smallest forwards either, so it could make for some intense battles. They're not going to shy away from anybody."
At least they better not, said Don Hay.
"Their size didn't matter in the regular season, why would our guys be intimated now," said the Giants' head coach.
ICE CHIPS: The Cougars practised at Chilliwack's Prospera Centre on Thursday before dropping their gear at the Pacific Coliseum. Prince George did the same thing prior to Game 5 of their second-round series against the Silvertips, and won that game 4-3 thanks to a four-goal, third-period outburst. Superstition? Schoneck says no. "It helped split up the trip," he said. ... Giants power forward J.D. Watt missed practice for the second straight day on Thursday with flu-like symptoms. He is listed as day-to-day. "We're counting on him playing [tonight]. He was feeling better today, but we just thought we'd let him rest."
iwalker@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2007