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HAF
01-09-2006, 09:57 PM
Franchise raises $6,500 for MDA
This story was published Monday, January 9th, 2006

By Annie Fowler, Herald staff writer

Logan Stephenson's speed and Ryan Gillen's power led McDonald's Maulers to a 13-11 victory over Schneider's Shooters in the Tri-City Americans' 11th annual MDA Skills Competition. But the real winner was the local MDA chapter, which was presented $6,500 from Sunday's event at Toyota Center.

"This was a good break from the grind," said Ian McDonald, captain of the winning team. "It's good to be able to showcase our skills for the fans, and this was for charity, which is the most important thing."

Schneider's Shooters won the puck relay to kick off the event, winning 3 of 4 races.

Stephenson then showcased his speed with a time of 15 seconds for one lap around the ice. Stephenson also won the bonus race against Aaron Boogaard, giving the Maulers an extra point to tie the competition at three.

Schneiders's team won the accuracy drill 12-11, getting a big boost from Alex Aldred and Dan Watt, who each had four goals. Watt earned his team a bonus point for scoring his four shots in the least amount of time.

Gillen hit 81 mph on Kennewick policeman Brian Banner's radar gun to give the Maulers a bonus point, but Schneider's team won the average at 79.2 mph and took an 8-7 lead with two events remaining.

McDonald's team won the break-out event, worth two points, but with Schneider's group earning a bonus point, it was tied at 9 going into the final event -- the shootout.

In the shootout, every member of each team took a penalty shot on the other team's goalie.

The Maulers scored four on rookie Chet Pickard, but the Shooters couldn't live up to their name against Carey Price, getting just two pucks past the Americans' starting goalie.

"I'm proud of my guys," said Schneider, who did not compete, needing time to recover after blocking several pucks Saturday night on the penalty kill against Everett. "They put out 110 percent and fell short, but that's the way the chips fall. We probably would have been a few points worse if I had been out there."

McDonald and Price both were on the winning team last year, and Price the last three years when he played on Shawn Belle's team.

"It's tradition. You don't want to break tradition," McDonald said. "We made some nice shots and some nice moves in the shootout. I think Chet was letting us score."

Notes: Juraj Gracik, along with teammate Igor Bacek, represented Slovakia at the World Junior Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia. Bacek played upon returning this past week, but Gracik sat out the weekend games with a mouth injury. He will have a root canal today to fix a loose tooth at the WJC and expects to play Wednesday at Everett. ... Tuesday is the trade deadline for the 2005-06 season. The Americans, who already have made several moves this season to shore up their defense and increase scoring, are not expected to make any major deals.

* Annie Fowler can be reached at 582-1574 or via e-mail at afowler@tri-cityherald.com.