TwoBits
02-07-2008, 09:05 AM
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=116890&Itemid=564
Shootout chills Cougars, thrills Ice
(Sports) Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 22:55 PST
JIM SWANSON Citizen Sports Editor
Cougars captain Greg Gardner fights off the check of Andrew Bailey of the Kootenay Ice during the second period of their WHL game Wednesday at CN Centre. The Cougars fought back from a 2-1 deficit to force overtime but the Ice went on to win 3-2 in a shootout. (Citizen photo by Brent Braaten) Related Articles No related items found
On Wednesday, the Prince George Cougars did something they hadn’t done in a long, long time.
No, smarty pants -- the answer isn’t ‘win.’ They didn’t do that.
The Cats, for the first time in 10 games, scored the first goal of the hockey game. In a season where the bright side has been hard to spot at times, getting an early jump helped snare one of those elusive standings points, a 3-2 shootout loss to the Kootenay Ice.
The previous nine games, the other team had scored first - not since a Jan. 16 home game with Portland, which ended with the lowly Hawks posting a 3-2 shootout victory, had the Cougars put the first goal of the night in the net.
“I think everyone is pretty upset after a loss like that because we want to win -- for next year, to take the experience from this year and build from it,” said Cougars forward Brad Riege, one of his team’s goal-scorers.
“That’s a good team and we had to have a good effort to stay in the game with them. We have to take the positives out of this game and take them (on the road). We have to keep doing the little things, because when we do that we’re successful. When we stray away, it doesn’t work.”
With a 1-3-0-2 homestand now behind them, the Cougars’ record sits at 15-35-1-3. The final Western Conference playoff spot, held by Chilliwack, is 18 points away, the same number of games Prince George has remaining in the regular season.
Kootenay forward Arnaud Jacquemet scored once in regulation and sealed the game in the shootout to give the Ice their 31st victory of the season.
Dale Hunt of the Cougars managed the game’s first goal, taking a cross-box pass from Dana Tyrell before almost fanning on a shot that flipped into an open net. That came after the Cougars caught a break when a Kootenay goal was disallowed because one referee ruled, incorrectly, that the whistle had gone before the puck, and Prince George netminder Real Cyr, had slid across the goal line.
The Cougars killed off 34 seconds where they were two-men short in the first period, but it was a nice pass from behind the net to Jacquemet - the Swiss did not miss - that tied the game 1-1 later in the first period.
Ben Maxwell gave the Ice a 2-1 lead in the second period on a shot over the glove hand of Cyr. The culprit of that goal was a massive defensive zone breakdown by the Cougars defence, leaving Maxwell to fire unencumbered from prime real estate.
Prince George got even in the third period on an extra-effort goal by Riege. He fired the puck on net, swiped at the rebound, then circled the net to jam home his seventh of the season.
The rest of the third and the overtime went by without a red light. Marcus Watson was the lone Cougar in five attempts to beat Thomas Heemskerk in the shootout, while Cyr stopped Maxwell, Steven DaSilva and Andrew Bailey. Dustin Sylvester and Jacquemet found the mark.
“(The Cougars) competed - I don’t want to take anything away from Prince George, but I don’t think we competed in the hard areas tonight and they did,” said Kootenay coach Mark Holick.
“They did a real good job along the wall, a good job in front of the nets, and if it wasn’t for Thomas Heemskerk we don’t get even one point. Our guys... if there were corners available to cut, we cut our share.
“When you’re on the road, it’s tough enough - I feel bad for (the Cougars) with their travel schedule, because I thought ours was bad.”
On one of those rare recent occasions when a home game wasn’t a collection of lowlights, the biggest highlight wasn’t the KissCam. But the effort, better than what’s become the norm, wasn’t enough as the Cougars remain in search of their 10th home victory of the season -- the club sits at 9-16-1-3 in front of the paying customers.
“It’s tough, because the guys played great from start to finish and stayed with them,” said Cyr, who made 38 saves in one of his better performances of the season.
“We got that goal in the shootout, and I was hoping to make that save and win it for us. That’s how it goes sometimes. You always want to win and when you’re that close it can sometimes be more frustrating than when you have a crappy game and get blown out.”
Cyr was one shootout stop away from recording his 50th career victory. That’s a number he expected to reach by November at the latest.
Cyr stopped a shorthanded, three-zone breakaway by Dustin Sylvester with five minutes left in the second period, but the Cougars misfired on two glorious opportunities of their own when Dana Tyrell and Riege missed on clear-cut breaks in the third period.
The Cougars embark on a weekend trip today. It starts with a rare road doubleheader, games Friday and Saturday in Everett, and concludes with Sunday evening’s stop in Vancouver. The Cats are home to the Chilliwack Bruins on Wednesday.
KITTY LITTER: The announced attendance was 2,329, a sparse crowd that is the second-smallest in the building’s history. That record was set Jan. 15 with Portland in town... Shots ended 40-38 for the Ice... Kootenay was 1-9 on the power play, the Cougars 1-6... Chalk up one assist for the WHL player with the best name - Kootenay’s Steele Boomer set up Jacquemet’s goal, then put one through Cyr’s five-hole late in the third, with the puck sliding wide... G Ian Curtis is out with a rotator cuff injury to his left shoulder, the product of a serious separation, and is likely going to miss more than a week. The Cougars summoned 17-year-old list player Joel Danyluk from the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers. He’ll see at least one game, which would be his first start, on the weekend trip... D Art Bidlevskii and C Jan Kupec were the other scratches... Garrett Thiessen took two minors and now has 203 career penalty minutes... Check www.princegeorgecitizen.com today for game highlights and post-game interviews.
I almost opted for a PBS special instead of listening to the game. Glad I didn't. It was very entertaining.
Plus, I got a chuckle out of each of the interviews with Curtis and Cyr.
Curtis' when asked how he ended up being so big at such a young age, said that he grew up on a pig farm and as a little tyke must have been eating pig feed with growth hormones when his mom wasn't looking. :laugh:
And then Cyr's, when asked if games like the last one against Kamloops were character building. He said yes and after a long sheepish throaty laugh added that even though it was character building, he hoped the team didn't have any more experiences like that.
They even interviewed Danyluk after the game. I guess it was a goalie night last night.
I know it's no fun to lose but I must say, good game. applause
Well, they are on the road again. Hopefully they can get a least one win on this trip.
Shootout chills Cougars, thrills Ice
(Sports) Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 22:55 PST
JIM SWANSON Citizen Sports Editor
Cougars captain Greg Gardner fights off the check of Andrew Bailey of the Kootenay Ice during the second period of their WHL game Wednesday at CN Centre. The Cougars fought back from a 2-1 deficit to force overtime but the Ice went on to win 3-2 in a shootout. (Citizen photo by Brent Braaten) Related Articles No related items found
On Wednesday, the Prince George Cougars did something they hadn’t done in a long, long time.
No, smarty pants -- the answer isn’t ‘win.’ They didn’t do that.
The Cats, for the first time in 10 games, scored the first goal of the hockey game. In a season where the bright side has been hard to spot at times, getting an early jump helped snare one of those elusive standings points, a 3-2 shootout loss to the Kootenay Ice.
The previous nine games, the other team had scored first - not since a Jan. 16 home game with Portland, which ended with the lowly Hawks posting a 3-2 shootout victory, had the Cougars put the first goal of the night in the net.
“I think everyone is pretty upset after a loss like that because we want to win -- for next year, to take the experience from this year and build from it,” said Cougars forward Brad Riege, one of his team’s goal-scorers.
“That’s a good team and we had to have a good effort to stay in the game with them. We have to take the positives out of this game and take them (on the road). We have to keep doing the little things, because when we do that we’re successful. When we stray away, it doesn’t work.”
With a 1-3-0-2 homestand now behind them, the Cougars’ record sits at 15-35-1-3. The final Western Conference playoff spot, held by Chilliwack, is 18 points away, the same number of games Prince George has remaining in the regular season.
Kootenay forward Arnaud Jacquemet scored once in regulation and sealed the game in the shootout to give the Ice their 31st victory of the season.
Dale Hunt of the Cougars managed the game’s first goal, taking a cross-box pass from Dana Tyrell before almost fanning on a shot that flipped into an open net. That came after the Cougars caught a break when a Kootenay goal was disallowed because one referee ruled, incorrectly, that the whistle had gone before the puck, and Prince George netminder Real Cyr, had slid across the goal line.
The Cougars killed off 34 seconds where they were two-men short in the first period, but it was a nice pass from behind the net to Jacquemet - the Swiss did not miss - that tied the game 1-1 later in the first period.
Ben Maxwell gave the Ice a 2-1 lead in the second period on a shot over the glove hand of Cyr. The culprit of that goal was a massive defensive zone breakdown by the Cougars defence, leaving Maxwell to fire unencumbered from prime real estate.
Prince George got even in the third period on an extra-effort goal by Riege. He fired the puck on net, swiped at the rebound, then circled the net to jam home his seventh of the season.
The rest of the third and the overtime went by without a red light. Marcus Watson was the lone Cougar in five attempts to beat Thomas Heemskerk in the shootout, while Cyr stopped Maxwell, Steven DaSilva and Andrew Bailey. Dustin Sylvester and Jacquemet found the mark.
“(The Cougars) competed - I don’t want to take anything away from Prince George, but I don’t think we competed in the hard areas tonight and they did,” said Kootenay coach Mark Holick.
“They did a real good job along the wall, a good job in front of the nets, and if it wasn’t for Thomas Heemskerk we don’t get even one point. Our guys... if there were corners available to cut, we cut our share.
“When you’re on the road, it’s tough enough - I feel bad for (the Cougars) with their travel schedule, because I thought ours was bad.”
On one of those rare recent occasions when a home game wasn’t a collection of lowlights, the biggest highlight wasn’t the KissCam. But the effort, better than what’s become the norm, wasn’t enough as the Cougars remain in search of their 10th home victory of the season -- the club sits at 9-16-1-3 in front of the paying customers.
“It’s tough, because the guys played great from start to finish and stayed with them,” said Cyr, who made 38 saves in one of his better performances of the season.
“We got that goal in the shootout, and I was hoping to make that save and win it for us. That’s how it goes sometimes. You always want to win and when you’re that close it can sometimes be more frustrating than when you have a crappy game and get blown out.”
Cyr was one shootout stop away from recording his 50th career victory. That’s a number he expected to reach by November at the latest.
Cyr stopped a shorthanded, three-zone breakaway by Dustin Sylvester with five minutes left in the second period, but the Cougars misfired on two glorious opportunities of their own when Dana Tyrell and Riege missed on clear-cut breaks in the third period.
The Cougars embark on a weekend trip today. It starts with a rare road doubleheader, games Friday and Saturday in Everett, and concludes with Sunday evening’s stop in Vancouver. The Cats are home to the Chilliwack Bruins on Wednesday.
KITTY LITTER: The announced attendance was 2,329, a sparse crowd that is the second-smallest in the building’s history. That record was set Jan. 15 with Portland in town... Shots ended 40-38 for the Ice... Kootenay was 1-9 on the power play, the Cougars 1-6... Chalk up one assist for the WHL player with the best name - Kootenay’s Steele Boomer set up Jacquemet’s goal, then put one through Cyr’s five-hole late in the third, with the puck sliding wide... G Ian Curtis is out with a rotator cuff injury to his left shoulder, the product of a serious separation, and is likely going to miss more than a week. The Cougars summoned 17-year-old list player Joel Danyluk from the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers. He’ll see at least one game, which would be his first start, on the weekend trip... D Art Bidlevskii and C Jan Kupec were the other scratches... Garrett Thiessen took two minors and now has 203 career penalty minutes... Check www.princegeorgecitizen.com today for game highlights and post-game interviews.
I almost opted for a PBS special instead of listening to the game. Glad I didn't. It was very entertaining.
Plus, I got a chuckle out of each of the interviews with Curtis and Cyr.
Curtis' when asked how he ended up being so big at such a young age, said that he grew up on a pig farm and as a little tyke must have been eating pig feed with growth hormones when his mom wasn't looking. :laugh:
And then Cyr's, when asked if games like the last one against Kamloops were character building. He said yes and after a long sheepish throaty laugh added that even though it was character building, he hoped the team didn't have any more experiences like that.
They even interviewed Danyluk after the game. I guess it was a goalie night last night.
I know it's no fun to lose but I must say, good game. applause
Well, they are on the road again. Hopefully they can get a least one win on this trip.