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Sput
11-02-2006, 10:21 AM
from:http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/

Thursday, November 2, 2006
Wheat Kings whip Cats
by JASON PETERS Citizen staff

It would have been better for this one to end after two periods.

Wednesday night at CN Centre, the high-powered Brandon Wheat Kings outscored the Prince George Cougars 6-1 in the second period and went on to record a 9-2 victory.

The previous Western Hockey League game played in the building — Saturday night between the Cougars and the Everett Silvertips — did wrap up after 40 minutes, cut short by unsafe ice conditions.

That night, the Cougars, who were leading 2-1, weren’t happy. But, on Wednesday, they may not have complained if they didn’t have to come out for the third.

The Wheat Kings entered the contest as the second highest-scoring team in the league and they had their weapons fully charged in the middle period. The Cougars, who trailed 1-0 after the first, actually started the second with an early goal from Vladimir Mihalik and were showing better jump than they displayed for the entire first period.

But, shortly after the Mihalik marker, Brandon took over completely and emphatically. Defenceman Daryl Boyle answered Mihalik’s goal a few minutes later with a shot that beat Prince George goaltender Real Cyr low to the glove side and the Wheat Kings were off to the races.

“When it had a chance to go against us, it did,” said Cougars head coach Mike Vandekamp.

“We’re still obviously a bit of a fragile group because we get behind and it just snowballs. We just didn’t play on the same page as well as we needed to and we got outworked a lot of the night. We didn’t get great goaltending either. The shots were 28-28, and that (goaltending) doesn’t cut it.”

Vandekamp pulled Cyr from the net after Brandon went up 3-1 and replaced him with Jordan White, who was basically used for target practice by the Wheat Kings. Of the first six shots White faced, four were goals.

Brandon defenceman Dustin Kohn, a draft pick of the New York Islanders, ended the game with five assists, three of them during the second period outburst. Kohn said the Wheat Kings didn’t want to give the Cougars any momentum after the Mihalik goal that tied the game.

“Any time you give up a goal, you always want to be coming back the next few shifts hard, with your best effort, and I think that’s what we did,” he said. “We were able to capitalize on a couple chances.”

Kohn’s five-point night put a smile on his face. He had missed Brandon’s two previous games with flu symptoms and was anxious to get back on the ice.

“It went well,” he said. “I wanted to have a good game and just tried to make plays and make passes and, fortunately, guys finished them off for me.”

Now, here come the rest of the goal-scorers. For Brandon, Mark Derlago notched a pair, his 15th and 16th markers of the season. Other Brandon shooters who increased their goal totals were Juraj Simek, Codey Burki, Cale Jeffries, Bryan Kauk, Teegan Moore and Jay Fehr. Three of the goals were picturesque one-timers, displays of pure skill by a team that leads the WHL’s East Division with a 10-6-0-2 record.

Ty Wishart, with a power-play point shot in the third period, had the other goal for Prince George.

Tyler Plante was the winning goaltender and even got in on the offence with a helper on Moore’s third-period goal.

Prince George team captain Eric Hunter, who picked up assists on both goals, wasn’t making any excuses for the Cougars after the game.

“I think we had some horribly unlucky bounces but those kinds of things happen when you get outworked, and we got outworked that (second) period,” he said. “From there, the rest of the game, you could see we pretty much shut it down.

“We don’t have time to pout about this,” Hunter continued. “We’ve got a game on Friday night. We’ve got one day to get this behind us and then we’re on the bus to Kamloops. We can’t let this affect us at all. It’s over and done with.

“At the same time, it was embarrassing. It was embarrassing for us and our fans and it’s something you never want to happen. I think it’s going to light a fire under us (for) Kamloops.”

Dana Tyrell was the best of the Cougars on the night. He played with passion and enthusiasm from start to finish.

In the first, while the Cougars were shorthanded, he used his impressive wheels to get behind the Brandon defence. Tyrell took the puck straight to the net and crashed hard into Plante. Late in the game, Tyrell collided with Plante once again, which got him into a scrap with Brandon tough guy Theran Yeo, the WHL’s penalty-minute leader.

The Cougars will take a 5-8-0-2 record into Kamloops.

Sput
11-02-2006, 10:42 AM
What a compete and utter disaster of a game. No one on the Cougars other than Tyrell played well, hell even seemed to show up, for this game. Forwards were completely ineffective with the puck, defense couldn't keep anyone away from the goalies to help them out, and the goalies definately didn't come ready to play. That said, Brandon had a great game, and it shows why they lead the East right now. From what I saw, their offense is probably more potent than the Giants, and I think Plante will outplay Slade in the long run. (rememeber Giants fans....this is just MY opinion :D )

Not that the officiating was the direct cause of the rout that went on, but Zalasky was brutal all night and let Brandon set the tone they wanted to play, and called everything against the Cats. Again (just so I don't get crusified here) I'm not blaming the reffing for the poor showing by the Cougs. Case in point....Redden throws a good hard clean hit right at center ice, the only way you could say it was anything close to a knee was because the kings player jumped to avoid the hit. There was no call on the play, then Yeo comes off the bench, skates right to Redden and jumps him for a fight. Redden is 16 and not even close to a fighter. No extra 2 mins for Yeo. Jump to the second period where (again) 16yr old Hunt gets smashed by two Kings, Deagle steps in and defends his team mate and gets 2-5-and 10 for instigating. Third period Hunter gets 2-5-10 for his 'fight' (read hugging match) and Yeo again steps off the bench and gives Hunter a crosscheck DURING the fight, and only gets warned to get back on the bench. Right near the end of the game, Tyrell goes in after a dumped puck, circles behind the net, Plante knows he is coming, plays the puck anyway and stands there so Dana runs him over. Best check I saw all night, to bad it was on the goalie, and at the end of the game. Yeo (again) takes it upon himself to look after Tyrell, finally earning himself 2-5-10 on the third try. Don't get me wrong, I like a good fight and physical play, but Yeo does not impress me at all. I don't know if this is normal for his play or not, but it is clear to see why this guy leads the league right now in PIMs.

Our so called star forwards have to get their collective heads together and play as a team. This honestly is the poorest performace I have seen ANY Cougar team put on the ice. No heart, no guts, to many guys playing as individuals, and making some of the worst decisions I have ever seen with the puck (and without the puck for that matter). If this is how they want to play, then Dallas better start making trades and take this present team apart. If they don't want to play the systems I know they have (saw them last year and they worked) send them somewhere else and bring in a bunch of young guys that Vandy can work with that don't have the HUGE egos. You can't play this game on your reputaion alone. Start showing up ON the ice and not just to read your press reports. :burningma

Sput
11-02-2006, 12:06 PM
Just have to check something.....my page isn't updating with this thread.


OK....updated this time :confused:

WHEATMAN
11-02-2006, 12:28 PM
Not that the officiating was the direct cause of the rout that went on, but Zalasky was brutal all night and let Brandon set the tone they wanted to play, and called everything against the Cats. Again (just so I don't get crusified here) I'm not blaming the reffing for the poor showing by the Cougs. Case in point....Redden throws a good hard clean hit right at center ice, the only way you could say it was anything close to a knee was because the kings player jumped to avoid the hit. There was no call on the play, then Yeo comes off the bench, skates right to Redden and jumps him for a fight. Redden is 16 and not even close to a fighter. No extra 2 mins for Yeo. Jump to the second period where (again) 16yr old Hunt gets smashed by two Kings, Deagle steps in and defends his team mate and gets 2-5-and 10 for instigating. Third period Hunter gets 2-5-10 for his 'fight' (read hugging match) and Yeo again steps off the bench and gives Hunter a crosscheck DURING the fight, and only gets warned to get back on the bench. Right near the end of the game, Tyrell goes in after a dumped puck, circles behind the net, Plante knows he is coming, plays the puck anyway and stands there so Dana runs him over. Best check I saw all night, to bad it was on the goalie, and at the end of the game. Yeo (again) takes it upon himself to look after Tyrell, finally earning himself 2-5-10 on the third try. Don't get me wrong, I like a good fight and physical play, but Yeo does not impress me at all. I don't know if this is normal for his play or not, but it is clear to see why this guy leads the league right now in PIMs.

I agree 100% that the reffing was terrible (the cougs announcers made sure to point that out), there were a handfull of times the Wheaties should have been penalized and wern't like When Yeo didnt get the instigator vs Redden. As for Yeo though, that wasnt a normal game for him. He seemed to be playing alot more on the edge then usual and that led to alot of crap that shouldnt have happened like fighting a 16 year old. Usually he plays cleaner and more physical. As for Tyrell In my mind that was a cheap shot, Plante had his back turned to Tyrell and was hugging the boards and there was a good 3-4 feet between him and the back of the net. Tyrell could have easily avoided the collison by taking that lane. Just glad there wasnt an injury to Plante. Hopefully for the Coug's can get going and play the way should ;)

Also where was a partner for Reaves? I was hoping someone would step up and answer the bell.

KBF
11-02-2006, 12:53 PM
Yikes, Cougars are terrible. Looks like Kamloops is already leaving them in the dust and it ain't gonna be any easier for the Cougars tommorow night.

They aren't even up to "pretender" status, I look for the Blazers to kick their teeth down their throats tommorow night. At least they should anyway.

WHEATMAN
11-02-2006, 12:59 PM
Yikes, Cougars are terrible. Looks like Kamloops is already leaving them in the dust and it ain't gonna be any easier for the Cougars tommorow night.

They aren't even up to "pretender" status, I look for the Blazers to kick their teeth down their throats tommorow night. At least they should anyway.

a little cocky arn't we? :) Contrary to what they showed last night the cougers are a very good team. This club reminds me alot of the 2003-04 Wheaties, what were loaded with talent but stunk it up during the regular season. Look for the cougs to rebound from this and play a solid game against the Blazers. If Vandekamp can light a fire under Setoguchi and the team can play as one, the cougers should be relatively as good as kamloops...Its just a matter of matching their talent with hardwork

Sput
11-02-2006, 12:59 PM
Right now I can't even disagree with you KBF....and that pains me. On paper means nothing if you can't put it to the ice. Not playing to potential. Not playing as a team. Not doing anything right in terms of playing hockey. Individuals do not make a team. Its time these guys learned that much at least.

KBF
11-02-2006, 01:23 PM
Do they have talent? Of course they do. But in the long run what does that really mean? As individuals there is alot of talent, and so far as a team, they stink.

Being cocky? nope, but I know that if some Cougar fans weren't taunting and talkin **** in pre season to Blazer fans we all wouldn't be giddy at the fact that they look the way they've looked all season.

Blazers have just as much talent as the Cougs but the difference is, they are busting their asses every game and right now they are playing great as a team. Now the last few years we Blazer fans know when the wheels fall off, and usually they would of fell off by now, so right now we are praying that the blazers can keep playing up to their potential nad if they keep doing that ,the Giants will have their hands full.

I haven't been this positive in years.




Ps. I read that Malgunas and Vandenkamp were canned today.

Bully73
11-02-2006, 02:42 PM
Don't get me wrong, I like a good fight and physical play, but Yeo does not impress me at all. I don't know if this is normal for his play or not, but it is clear to see why this guy leads the league right now in PIMs.

Yeo is the type of guy that is very quick to jump to the defense of a teammate, but not usually to the degree that you described from last night's game. One thing I have in common with you though is that I'm not overly impressed with him either. He is good to have around for his role as an enforcer, but he gets way too much ice time and costs us many goals with his slowness and inability to read plays. He is often the victim of a player sliding in behind him to catch a breakaway pass or having a player simply blow by him on the boards.