Round 2 Vs. PG

[Tipped Off]

sounds like I picked a good game to miss...lol. Here's the game story from the PG citizen:

Wednesday, April 11, 2007



Cougars stay alive


by JIM SWANSON,

Citizen Sports Editor

The Prince George Cougars weren’t about to let the ship go down without its captain.
Faced with the reality of playing all remaining playoff games without 20-year-old leader Eric Hunter, the Cats turned their game up to a new level on Tuesday - and because of it, we have ourselves a bonafide series.

The Cougars scored in bunches - three in the second period, then two in a 31-second span in the third period - to beat the Everett Silvertips 5-1 at CN Centre.

The difference between Tuesday and the first two games? Simple. The Cougars scored on their chances in this one, something they didn’t do in Everett.

“We had opportunities to score down there and had bad puck luck and didn’t put it behind him,” said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck.

“We found a way to get some goals, and hopefully we didn’t use them all up. It’s nice to get that first win and get some confidence going, but now the job is to get that second one and hopefully make this a bit of a traveling series.”

Both teams have won their home games to date in this Western Conference semifinal, with Everett holding a two-games-to-one advantage. Game 4 is tonight, 7 p.m. at CN Centre.

The Cougars are on the board because players stepped up in Hunter’s absence. Schoneck had no problem singling out strong individual performances that meshed with the team-first focus needed in the playoffs.

“I thought our defence was good tonight, and Jared Walker had one of his best games,” said Schoneck.

“Chris Durand was very good, and Seto (Devin Setoguchi) is Seto. But it was guys like Greg Gardner, Dana Tyrell, Dale Hunt and Jordie Deagle who came together well.”

Everett opened the scoring on a power play, with Jonathan Harty scoring moments after ex-Cat Dan Gendur led a rush down ice.

Ty Wishart’s goal, at 9:21 of the second period on his team’s third power play, woke up the building. To that point, there was a strange sensation in the air, as though the people gathered expected the 1-0 Everett lead - the product of Jonathan Harty’s man-advantage goal in the first - would stand up behind Leland Irving’s stellar goaltending.

But Wishart opened the floodgates.

Jared Walker scored his first of two, also going high glove, then Nick Drazenovic made it a three-goal second-period. Goals by Walker and Evan Fuller spaced 31 seconds apart in the third only served to confirm the decisive victory.

“I thought our guys came out tentative, and their guys came out flying like they always do - if I could find out what (Everett coach Kevin Constantine) is saying in the dressing room over there to get them to come out that hard, I’d bottle it and sell it, and we’d buy it,” said Schoneck.

“But we settled down and stuck to our gameplan. We’ve done that in the playoffs, not deviated from it, and it paid off for us. We knew full well that going down three-nothing to these guys was going to be a mountain to climb, but it’s a long ways from over.”

The Silvertips know they’re in a series now.

“They had chances in (Game 2) and the puck bounced for them - tonight, they made some nice plays, got some good shots, and their shots went in,” said Constantine, whose team won the WHL’s regular season points race with a 54-15-1-2 record.

“That’s the nature of a seven-game series. Some nights you get bounces, some nights you don’t. They earned it, worked very hard and earned the scoring chances they got.”

Real Cyr was outstanding in goal for the Cougars, making 27 saves. His best were with his right pad - on Shane Harper in the first, and on Peter Mueller in the second.

Rev up that rusty old bandwagon, Henry. Tickets will be at a premium for tonight’s game and Schoneck may have to help sell tickets all day with the rush that should hit the box office.

“I think some of the people who might’ve stayed away (Tuesday) were waiting to see how we did, and hopefully it will be a full barn (tonight),” said Schoneck. “The fans who were here to see this one were excellent.”

If Game 6 is needed, it will be played Monday at CN Centre.

KITTY LITTER: Final shots were 28-25 in favour of Everett... So much for Jordie Deagle being out for the playoffs. The winger returned from what was said to be a season-ending scaphoid fracture, playing Tuesday and assisting on the Cougars’ second goal. Deagle, a valuable part for what he can do energy-wise and killing penalties, helped with forward depth that looked challenged following Hunter’s injury.

[Tipped Off]

Tips fall hard in Game 3
A desperate Prince George team scores five goals in a 17-minute span between the second and third periods to rout Everett 5-1 on Tuesday night.

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer


PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - It was desperation time for the Prince George Cougars.

Down a goal and two games, the Cougars knew that to realistically keep their season alive, they needed to produce some inspired hockey.

The result was a performance that completely overwhelmed the Everett Silvertips.

Prince George scored all five of its goals in the final two periods, and the Cougars routed the Silvertips 5-1 Tuesday night in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series.

Jared Walker scored two goals, including the tiebreaker late in the second period, as Prince George avoided going down 3-0 in the best-of-seven series. Instead Everett takes a 2-1 series lead into tonight's Game 4 in Prince George.

"We knew full well going down 3-0 to these guys was going to be a mountain to climb," Prince George coach Drew Schoneck said. "But it's a long ways from over."

The loss matched Everett's worst of the season. The Tips' only other four-goal loss came in a 6-2 home defeat to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Feb. 10.

"I don't know what happened," said defenseman Jonathan Harty, who scored Everett's lone goal. "I think we've just got to start caring more, wanting to win and not just showing up to the rink and thinking we're going to win."

Playing for the first time without captain Eric Hunter, who suffered a broken ankle in Game 2, Prince George still produced a strong offensive effort. Ty Wishart, Nick Drazenovic and Evan Fuller also scored for the Cougars, who tallied all five of their goals during a 17-minute span between the second and third periods.

That stretch turned a game in which Everett played well to take the lead in the first period.

"I thought we were OK in the first period," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "But in the second period Prince George definitely played a little more desperate than us. Three goals go on the board and it's hard to change that momentum around. They played very hard and did what they needed to do, especially in the second period."

Real Cyr got the call to start in goal for Prince George and was strong. Cyr, who started Game 2 after Scott Bowles started the opener, finished with 27 saves.

Leland Irving had a rough night in goal for Everett, stopping just 20 of the 25 shots he faced. However, Irving was often hung out to dry as the Prince George scored four of its five goals off the rush. The Cougars also did an impeccable job of finishing.

"After Game 2 we talked about how they had chances to put the game away and the puck didn't bounce for them," Constantine said. "Tonight they made some really nice plays and got some good shots, and their shots went in. That's the nature of a seven-game series, some nights you get bounces and some nights you don't. Tonight I thought they worked really hard and earned the scoring chances they got and converted."

In addition to losing the game, Everett also lost right wing Moises Gutierrez midway through the second period. Gutierrez, who led the Tips in goals during the regular season, suffered a leg injury. Constantine said Gutierrez's status would be re-evaluated today.

After a solid first period in which Everett took a 1-0 lead, it all fell apart for the Tips in the second. The Cougars, with their season potentially on the line, came out firing on all cylinders, while the Tips seemed to fall off a bit. The net result was three Prince George goals as the Cougars took control of the game.

It began at 9 minutes, 21 seconds with the Cougars on the power play, Wishart blowing a slap shot from the left circle past Irving's glove and into the far corner. Prince George then took the lead at 15:35 when, just as an Everett power play ended, the Cougars broke two-on-one with Walker beating Irving with a shot from and to the same spots as Wishart's goal. At 17:16, a long pass by Curtis Patterson was deflected into the path of a streaking Drazenovic, who beat Irving glove side.

It was a dramatic turnaround and the exact opposite of the way the second period has gone for the Tips in the playoffs. Before Tuesday Everett had outscored its opponents 13-2 in the second period. Fuller and Walker scored 31 seconds apart early in the third period to put the game away.

"Certainly after the first period we knew it wasn't our best and we had to pick it up." Schoneck said. "When we got that first one the crowd got into it, our guys got excited, then we got that second one and away we went."

It also continued a trend in which Everett has gotten ahead, but been unable to put teams away.

"Lately we've been getting up and kind of putting it on cruise control," Harty said. "I don't think we're ready to play playoff hockey. We've got to start wanting to play and wanting to win and not letting our foot off the pedal."

Everett grabbed the lead on the power play 5:59 into the game. Kyle Beach found the puck behind the Prince George net and sent a pass out front to a pinching Harty, who one-timed a shot past Cyr to make it 1-0.

[ihlemic10]

It wasn't a good game to watch as tips fan. You felt like we had no D at all. PG severly out hustled the tips (opposite of what I saw in game one, did not see game 2).

[Rooselk]

I listened to the last night's game on the radio. The last two periods were definitely hard to take. I hope the Tips have a much better game tonight.

[Tipped Off]

'Devastating' defeat
Everett loses back-and-forth battle with Prince George

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer


PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - This one had a little bit of everything. Top skills, big hits and white-knuckle action from start to finish.

The only thing missing from an Everett Silvertips standpoint was a win.

Nick Drazenovic scored the game-winner in overtime, giving the Prince George Cougars a 4-3 victory over Everett in a thrilling Game 4 of their second-round playoff series on Wednesday night.

Drazenovic's pure-effort goal 5 minutes, 18 seconds into overtime evened the best-of-seven series 2-2 heading into Saturday's Game 5 at the Everett Events Center.

"It's devastating," Everett right wing Moises Gutierrez said about the loss. "I don't even know how I feel right now. We battled back and played hard, but you don't know what to say when you lose in overtime. Now we've got to focus on getting back in Everett on Saturday and regrouping for that game.

"I thought the guys played well tonight, it was definitely a tough loss."

Gutierrez, who was questionable for the game because of a leg injury, scored two goals, including the one that gave Everett a 3-2 lead midway through the third period.

However, Drazenovic made a beautiful move to set up Prince George's equalizer with 6:48 remaining. In overtime, he fought his way through traffic for a loose puck after a faceoff, then put a shot around Everett goaltender Leland Irving to ensure the Cougars at least one more home game.

"Off the faceoff I reached back and just pulled (the puck) through," Drazenovic said about the game-winner. "Two of their guys skated through it and then it was just me and another guy battling for the puck in the slot. It's funny because I was just saying earlier that our team has a tendency to not give up and that's exactly what happened on that goal, we didn't give up."

Ty Wishart scored the tying goal, Devin Setoguchi scored twice and Real Cyr made 35 saves in goal for Prince George, which won its fourth overtime game in the playoffs in five tries. The Cougars' only overtime loss came in Game 2 in Everett.

"We've showed resiliency pretty much all year at home, especially in the playoffs," Prince George coach Drew Schoneck said. "We came back against a very good hockey club and basically made it a best-of-three."

Kyle Beach had a goal and two assists and Irving made 33 saves in net for Everett, which mounted a comeback of its own. Trailing 2-1 going into the third period, the Tips scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the third to take the lead.

"It's just a good playoff hockey game," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "They came back in the third tonight, we came back in Game 2. It's just two good hockey teams doing a little bit of playoff battling."

In a game that kept the CN Centre crowd on its toes throughout, the action was most furious during a third period in which Everett turned the game's momentum and appeared to have it won.

Trailing 2-1, Everett got the tying goal just 1:53 into the period. The Tips broke three-on-two, with Zack Dailey setting up Beach for a one-timer that he put into the left corner, making it 2-2.

The Tips then took the lead on the power play at 9:23. Everett won a faceoff back to the point, where Peter Mueller fired a shot that Gutierrez tipped past Cyr to make it 3-2.

But the Cougars tied it back up at 13:12. With the teams playing four-on-four, Drazenovic made a nice spin move around Jesse Zetariuk down the right side and fed Wishart coming down the middle. Irving got a piece of Wishart's shot, but couldn't keep it out, setting up overtime.

"I thought we had it," Gutierrez said. "There was about seven minutes left and we were playing well, we had all our lines going. But they found a way."

Early in the overtime period was a near instant replay of the Game 2 overtime, Jesse Smyke streaking between the Prince George defensemen for a breakaway. But unlike in Game 2, Cyr came up with the save on Smyke to keep the game alive for Drazenovic's winner.

Prince George put the Tips on their back heels for most of the first period, in large part because of Everett penalties, including a 1:36 period of Cougar five-on-three. However, Irving was up to the task, making 15 saves in the period, and when he was beat by Richard Rapac late in the period he was saved by his post.

Everett played itself back into the game in the second period. But the Tips were unable to take advantage of a 1:53 five-on-three of its own, and it was the Cougars who emerged with a 2-1 lead.

Prince George opened the scoring with a short-handed goal at 4:47. Kalvin Sagert's shot from the left point went wide on the near side, but the puck rebounded hard off the back boards to Setoguchi on the far side, who put the puck behind Irving to make it 1-0.

Everett tied it at 12:45. Just after a Tips power play ended Mueller wristed a shot from the left point that Gutierrez tipped past Cyr, making it 1-1.

But the Cougars restored their lead at 18:45. This time just as a Prince George power play expired, Setoguchi arced around the net and fired a shot through traffic that got past Irving to make it 2-1.

[Tipped Off]

Same, but different
Like their first-round series with Spokane, the Tips jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Prince George only to give it back with two losses on the road. But in the current series there is one major difference that the Everett players must change if they want history to repeat itself.

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer

EVERETT - Haven't we all seen this particular script before?

The Everett Silvertips hope this one finishes with the same happy ending.

The Silvertips returned home on Thursday in exactly the same situation they were in two weeks earlier, tied after four games of a best-of-seven playoff series.

Everett's second-round series against the Prince George Cougars is knotted at 2-2 going into Saturday's Game 5 at the Everett Events Center, the series boiling down to a best-of-three.

And the route to this point followed an eerily similar path to the one Everett took in its first-round series against the Spokane Chiefs.

Against Spokane Everett won the first two games at home to take a 2-0 lead - the second victory coming in overtime - before going on the road and losing two straight to the Chiefs.

In the current series against Prince George, Everett again won the first two games at home to go up 2-0 - the second victory again coming in OT - before dropping two straight on the road.

"To say it hasn't been (like the first round) would be inaccurate because we won two at home, then lost two in Spokane, and it's the same thing here," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "That's for you to write a nice story about, but it doesn't mean that much to us."

And perhaps it shouldn't, because while the similarities are uncanny on the surface, a deeper look reveals a more challenging situation this time around for Everett.

The main reason for that is star power. In the opening round, Spokane's star forward and first-round NHL draft pick Michael Grabner was completely neutralized, registering just one assist in the six games. However, Prince George's star forward and first-round NHL draft pick Devin Setoguchi has been unstoppable, with three goals and four assists in four games.

"I don't think we're really comparing it to Spokane by any means," Everett right wing Moises Gutierrez said. "When we lost in Spokane those two games I don't think we put up a real good effort. (In Wednesday's Game 4) we played well five-on-five, but hats off to them, they found ways to score goals."

Everett's next task is to make sure history repeats itself. In the first round the Tips returned home for a convincing 5-1 victory over the Chiefs to take a 3-2 series lead, then closed it out with a 4-1 victory at Spokane.

It remains to be seen whether Everett can produce the sequel.

Home sweet home, part one: The Cougars showed exactly what home-ice advantage is all about in Game 4, and that doesn't refer to the crowd.

Prince George took advantage of a quirk of the CN Center rink to give the Tips fits throughout the game, and won 4-3 in overtime by the Cougars.

The boards behind the goals in Prince George are hard and lend themselves to hard rebounds, with the puck often rocketing back just as fast as it came in. The Cougars deliberately took advantage of that fact, constantly putting shots wide on the near side in an attempt to make the puck rebound off the back boards out in front of the goal. It was on exactly that play that Setoguchi scored Prince George's opening goal.

"We didn't want to tip our hand too early in the series," Schoneck said about the play. "But it was something we worked on. They started keying on it at the end and allowed us to get some shots through. I'm not sure about the bounces down there, and we've got to be aware of them doing it to us."

Home sweet home, part two: While Prince George may have grabbed momentum in the series, the Cougars still need to find a way to win a game in Everett if they want to prevail in the series. The Tips were strong at home all season long, going 31-4-0-1, and Everett is a perfect 5-0 at home in the playoffs.

Prince George was actually responsible for one of Everett's four regulation home losses during the regular season. But that game came after the Tips had already clinched the best record in the league, and Everett fielded a lineup that included six players who haven't seen a minute during the playoffs.

"It's going to take the same effort," Prince George coach Drew Schoneck said about getting a win on the road. "We have to be ready for their first 10 minutes. They're going to come out storming and I think we have to be ready for that. I think we can skate with them, we just have to make sure we're ready to do it right from the start."

[Rooselk]

It's obvious that tonight's game is a "must win" situation for the Tips since they don't want to be down 3-2 going into Prince George. I guess we'll see what this team is really made of tonight.

[Tipped Off]

3-0 turned into 3-4 and now the Tips are one game from being eliminated from the playoffs...and rightly so. They haven't taken them seriouslt yet, anyway. The Tips have had this issue the whole year. The play offensive hockey the first two periods, then send three men to the blue line for the third. It doesn't work and then the can't turn it back on. This is 100% on the coaching. Well, 50% on the coaching and 50% great job by the Cougars for not mailing it in.

[old_time_hockey]

"That's for you to write a nice story about, but it doesn't mean that much to us."

There is a quote that came back to bite him.

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/07/...o_c1tip001.cfm

Published: Monday, April 16, 2007

Now or never for Tips
Everett must win to avoid elimination by Prince George

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer

EVERETT - The Everett Silvertips have accomplished much this season.

But now we'll find out what they're really made of.

Everett finds itself in a do-or-die situation for the first time this season in tonight's Game 6 of its second-round WHL playoff series against Prince George.

The circumstances are simple. Everett is down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Win tonight in Prince George and the Tips survive to Wednesday's Game 7 back in Everett. Lose and the top-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League begins an early vacation.

"We've never really been in a mode of desperation," Everett right wing Moises Gutierrez said. "Fifty-some wins, first all year, what's desperation when you're No. 1 all the time? We'll see what desperation we play with now."

Everett finds itself in its current predicament thanks to Saturday's monumental collapse in Game 5, when the Tips coughed up a 3-0 third-period lead to fall 4-3.

And now the Tips stand on the edge of the abyss. The team that won the Scotty Munro Trophy for the WHL's best record during the regular season, the team that was ranked No. 1 in the CHL poll most of the year, now must win two straight against a team playing inspired hockey. Or else go down as a team that squandered a golden opportunity for a run at the Memorial Cup.

"We've been a good team - to do everything we've accomplished we're a good team - but we haven's done anything great," Gutierrez said. "We won the first round, but there are four rounds to play just to get to the Memorial Cup. I've been on losing teams the last four years (in Kamloops) and this is a chance to do something special. We're not out, but (Saturday) was a tough loss."

So is Everett up for a comeback? Following Saturday's devastating result, do the Tips have the mindset needed to battle themselves out of their current hole?

"We speak daily about a couple things that relate to where we're at now," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "If you go into our locker room the saying you look at as you walk out is, 'What's important next?'

"We also speak about process versus outcome," Constantine continued. "The outcome everybody wants - a win, a pro contract, a Memorial Cup - that's all outcome-related stuff. We don't talk about that very often. We talk about process all the time, about what to do and what needs to be done. That'll be our focus."

While it may be uncertain how the Tips will react tonight, one thing that appears certain is they won't be running into an overconfident group in Prince George. While the Cougars were happy with their comeback Saturday, their rhetoric following the game was anything but that of a team that thinks the series is already wrapped up.

"We put ourselves in a good position, but nothing's won yet," said Prince George center Chris Durand, who scored both the tying and game-winning goals Saturday. "Game 6 is going to be the hardest one to win. Self-preservation is a funny thing, those guys are going to come with everything they have Monday night. So we've got to pick up our game and elevate it from where it was (in Game 5)."

The Cougars are cognizant that just about every game in the series has been up for grabs. Take out Prince George's 5-1 victory in Game 3 and every contest has been decided by a single goal.

"Any time you're up 3-2 you're feeling OK," Prince George coach Drew Schoneck said. "But it's not over by any stretch. That's a very good hockey club over there and they're coming up to win a hockey game. It's going to be like the whole series has been, two good hockey teams going toe-to-toe. The margin for error in these games has been so little that I fully expect a great hockey game up there (tonight)."

So it sounds as if the Cougars will be prepared for the Tips tonight. How difficult, given the circumstances, will it be for the Tips to be equally prepared?

"It'll be as hard as (the players) are mentally strong," Constantine said. "If you choose your mind can say, 'Oh jeez, we blew leads.' That has nothing to do with how you play your next game unless you let it."

Tonight we'll find out just how well the Tips are able to forget.