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.
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.