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View Full Version : Kootenay stifles Portland and wins the WHL Championship series



Malc
05-14-2011, 12:10 PM
By Jim Beseda

With the score tied 1-1, there was no debating whether the play that sent Winterhawks defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon off the ice at 18:48 of the second period was or wasn’t a penalty.

It was.

Wotherspoon’s penalty for cross checking set up Matt Fraser’s go-ahead, power-play goal at 19:16 of the second period that sparked the Ice to a WHL championship series-clinching 4-1 victory Friday in front of a sellout crowd of 10,947 at the Rose Garden.

Fraser and Jesse Ismond added third-period goals and goalie Nathan Lieuwen finished with 26 saves to help the Ice close out the series, four games to one, and clinch a berth in the May 20-29 Memorial Cup.

“Obviously, it’s pretty special,” Kootenay coach Kris Knoblauch said. “The way it went, we played very well and it could have went either way. But I just thought we were really focused and we were able to find a little extra to beat Portland.”

Portland general manager and head coach Mike Johnston said the Winterhawks didn’t have nearly as much fight in the third period as they did in jumping to an early 1-0 lead.

“Certainly, it’s a difficult loss here tonight,” Johnston said. “I thought we played well early. I didn’t think we played well late. We probably ran out of gas it looked like a little bit.”

After winning the U.S. Division regular-season championship with a 50-19-0-3 record, Portland powered to playoff wins over Everett, Kelowna and Spokane to claim the Western Conference championship.

The Winterhawks reached the WHL Championship series for the first time since 2001 where they met their match in the Ice, who dropped the series opener 4-3 in overtime before winning the next four games.

The turning point came when Wotherspoon chased Cody Eakin and the puck into the corner of the Kootenay attacking zone. Wotherspoon hit Eakin in the back with a cross check that knocked the Ice’s leading scorer in the series off his feet, sending him sliding head-first into the boards.

“Anytime a player goes in the boards like Eakin did, you’ve got to call that,” said Johnston, who had questioned several calls earlier in the series. “There was nothing wrong with that call.”

On the ensuing scoring play, Portland’s Craig Cunningham and Joe Morrow ran into each other as the puck went from Brayden McNabb to Fraser to McNabb and back to Fraser, who had a wide-open net to shoot at.

“I think that goal took a lot of wind out of Portland’s sails,” Knoblauch said. “In the third period, I don’t think we could have played any better with the lead. I’m not sure how many shots Portland got, but I was very confident with Nathan Lieuwen in net and the fact that we limited their opportunities.”

The Winterhawks had only six shots in the third period as the Ice finished with a 40-27 advantage in the game.

“It’s difficult now to reflect back on the year,” Johnston said. “I just want the players to know how much they have accomplished this year and how proud we are of them.

“At the same time, you’re disappointed. You come this close, you can taste it … you’re a few victories away from a championships and it’s tough. It’s tough to win championships, and we were that close.”

Wotherspoon opened the scoring at 2:26 of the first period with his first goal of the series and third of the playoffs with assists from Sven Bartschi and Cunningham.

Kootenay tied the score on a goal by Steele Boomer at 15:47 of the first period that was initially waved off by referee Nathan Wieler.

Play continued for another three minutes before there was a stoppage, at which point video replay confirmed that Boomer's shot from the high slot had deflected off the crossbar and bounded over the goal line behind goalie Mac Carruth.

The Ice clinched their third WHL championship in franchise history and first since 2002 when they went on to win the Memorial Cup.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet that we're going to the Memorial Cup," Knoblauch said. "We were just worried about the Portland Winterhawks until now. So, we'll turn our focus to what's next when we get back home."

http://www.oregonlive.com/hawks/index.ssf/2011/05/whl_championship_series_kooten_4.html