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10-28-2006, 10:57 AM
Courtesy of:http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/


Saturday, October 28, 2006
Big guns sit, Cougars end losing skid
by JASON PETERS Citizen staff

No Brett Robertson, no Jared Walker, no more losing streak.

Friday night at CN Centre, the Prince George Cougars ended a four-game funk by beating the Saskatoon Blades 2-0. Robertson and Walker, a pair of 20-year-old forwards who have worn As on their jerseys this season, were healthy scratches for the contest, played in front of 2,707 witnesses. Cougars head coach Mike Vandekamp refused to give many details on why the two players — first-liners with Eric Hunter for much of the season — were wearing street clothes.

“It’s in-house accountability issues,” Vandekamp said. “That’s the best way I can put it.”

While Robertson and Walker sat, the game marked the return of defencemen Vladimir Mihalik (shoulder) and Jesse Dudas (hand) from injuries. For Dudas, it was his first game action since last December. Mihalik, meanwhile, made his presence felt by assisting on Prince George’s first goal and scoring an insurance marker late in the third.

“I thought he played pretty well,” Vandekamp said of Mihalik, a six-foot-eight, 241-pounder from Slovakia whose goal was his first of the season. “He looked strong. He didn’t play a whole bunch, we tried to ease him back in a little bit and I thought he played very well.”

At the 3:05 mark of the second period, while the Cougars were on a power play, Mihalik sent a shot toward Saskatoon goaltender Braden Holtby. Before the puck reached the Blades keeper, Dana Tyrell got his stick on it and redirected it for the goal.

Mihalik’s goal came at 15:31 of the third on a shot that just barely trickled through the pads of Holtby while the teams were playing four-aside. Moments before the goal, Prince George goaltender Real Cyr stopped Ryan Menei on a clearcut breakaway. In picking up the shutout, his first of the season, Cyr made 16 saves. He faced just one shot in the third period.

“The guys made it really easy on me,” said Cyr, helped by a solid two-way effort from the forwards and also by the fact the Cougars were able to dress eight healthy defencemen for the first time since the Stone Age. “All night long, they were clearing rebounds and clearing the front of the net. We didn’t allow them many chances.”

During the third, when he was forced to make just the one stop, Cyr tried a couple tricks to keep himself focused. “I was trying not to think, I was kind of singing to myself every once in a while but watching the play,” he said. “Even watching the other goalie, seeing what he’s doing, keeps you in the game.”

The night was an emotional one for Devin Setoguchi of the Cougars. Setoguchi, who skated on a line with Hunter and Nick Drazenovic, was playing his first game against his old team. The Blades traded Setoguchi to the Cats for first-round bantam draft choice Stefan Elliott a few weeks ago. Setoguchi was flying in the first period. Early in the game, he broke through the Saskatoon defence and got in alone on Holtby for a backhander that was stopped. Setoguchi also set up Drazenovic on a two-on-one in the second period and generated another scoring chance in the third after a Saskatoon turnover.

“For myself, it was a little bit of an emotional game,” said Setoguchi, a 2005 first-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks. “There was a lot riding on it. I definitely wanted to get the victory, that’s for sure. We got the two points, kept a simple game plan. We worked hard and, in the end, we had good goaltending.”

The Cougars went 1-for-6 on the power play and held the Blades scoreless in seven man-advantage chances. The Cougars improved to 5-7-0-2 on the season and the Blades dropped to 5-8-0-1.

The Cougars are back on CN Centre ice tonight for a game against the Everett Silvertips, currently the top team in the U.S. Division with a 10-1-0-1 record. The opening faceoff is at 7 p.m.

“Of course they’re a good team, but this game really helps us out,” Cyr said. “We’ve just got to stay focused now, not get too far ahead of ourselves.”

KITTY LITTER: The Cougars sent defenceman Eli Grossmann to the B.C. Hockey League’s Penticton Vees on Friday. The Cats made the move so Grossmann could get more icetime... Former Cougars defenceman Dylan Yeo was named the new captain of the Calgary Hitmen on Thursday. He took over from Brett Carson, who turned pro after signing a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes.