Wednesday Highlights
with Gregg Drinnan
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Wednesday's highlights. . . .
Some moves from Europe that have caught the attention of our man Garth MacBeth. . . . F Paul Deniset (Kamloops/Swift Current/Vancouver/Prince Albert) moves from Bietigheim to Schwenningen; both teams are in Germany's 2.Bundesliga. He joins Garett Bembridge (Saskatoon), Steve Junker (Spokane) and Brad Bergen (Saskatoon/Prince Albert) in the Wild Wings lineup. The head coach of the Wild Wings is Greg Pruden, who played seven games with the second version of the Edmonton Oil Kings in 1978-79. . . . F Jan Fadrny (Brandon/Kelowna) moves from Zilina (Slovak Extraliga) to Neuchatel (Swiss National League B). You have to like the nickname for Neuchatel – Young Sprinters. . . . F Richard Mueller (Brandon/Saskatoon/Calgary) moves from Eisbären Berlin to Duisburg; both teams are in Germany's DEL. Mueller's new teammates in Duisburg include Adam Courchaine and Justin Cox. Mueller holds dual Canadian/German citizenship. . . . F Martin Sonnenberg (Saskatoon) has signed with Swiss NL A club Ambri-Piotta, where he joins Hnat Domenichelli in the lineup. . . .
WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
In Lethbridge, C Zach Boychuk’s goal 30 seconds into the third period proved the winner as the Hurricanes beat the Spokane Chiefs 2-1 in the night’s best matchup. . . . These are two of the WHL’s best teams, so where were the fans? Attendance was 3,431 in the 4,784-seat Enmax Centre. . . . Lethbridge (20-9-1-1) has won three straight and has just three losses in 19 games. . . . The Chiefs (22-5-1-2) have won three of five on a Central Division tour. . . . Spokane still has the WHL’s best record. . . . C Cam Braes got Lethbridge on the board 10 seconds into the second period. . . . C Tyler Johnson scored for Spokane at 11:38 of the third on the PP. . . . Spokane was 1-for-5 on the PP; Lethbridge was 0-for-3. . . . Spokane G Dustin Tokarski stopped 26 shots, seven more than Lethbridge’s Mike Maniago. . . . The Chiefs were without C Mitch Wahl, who was suspended one game for picking up an elbowing major in Edmonton on Tuesday. . . .
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors struck for five second-period goals and went on to dump the Red Deer Rebels, 6-1. . . . The Warriors (14-9-4-2), with points in seven straight games, have won five of their last six and are eighth in the Eastern Conference, seven points ahead of the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Rebels (8-21-4-1) have lost three in a row and six of seven. . . . LW Frazer McLaren sparked Moose Jaw with two goals. . . .
In Calgary, C Kyle Bortis enjoyed his first WHL three-goal game to lead the Hitmen to a 7-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Hitmen (21-8-1-2) maintained their three-point lead over the Lethbridge Hurricanes atop the Eastern Conference. . . . The Raiders (10-18-3-1) lost their fifth in a row as they started a road swing that will take them into B.C. . . . Calgary defencemen Dan Mercer and Alex Plante got their first goals of this season, with F T.J. Galiardi getting four assists and D Paul Postma earned three helpers. . . . Calgary matched a season high with seven snipes. . . . LW Ryan McDonald scored one of P.A.’s goals to end an 11-game drought. . . . The Raiders had beaten Calgary twice earlier in the season. . . . At one point in the first period, Calgary had a 3-0 lead and a 20-0 edge in shots. . . .
In Everett, D Graham Potuer’s second goal of the season, at 2:02 of OT, gave the Silvertips a 3-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Silvertips (15-14-0-2) stopped a five-game losing streak. . . . The Americans (21-6-1-0) were coming off back-to-back victories over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . LW Colton Yellow Horn had one of Tri-City’s goals to run his point streak to 12 games. . . . Tri-City had been 6-0 in games that had gone to OT or a shootout. . . . Tri-City C Kruise Reddick’s 15th goal, at 5:27 of the third period, forced the OT. . . . The Americans were 0-for-1on the PP; the Silvertips were 0-for-6. . . . Everett failed to score on a three-minute 5-on-3 that present itself in the second period after Tri-City D T.J. Fast got nailed for high-stick Everett C Zach Hamill, who ended up with a broken nose. Hamill returned for the third period and the OT. . . .
In Kelowna, D Tyler Myers scored at 3:58 of OT to give the Rockets a 4-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Kelowna C Colin Long’s 15th goal at 11:22 of the third period on a PP forced the extra time. . . . The Rockets (17-10-2-2) left after the game on a road swing to the Prairies. B-r-r-r-r-r-r-r. . . . Also on their bus was Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier, who packed his gum and his woolies. . . . The Tigers (16-11-3-1) are 3-6-3-0 on the road. This was Game 1 of a seven-game swing. . . . The Rockets led 2-1 in the second period but trailed 3-2 in the third after Brennan Bosch and Tyler Ennis scored for the Tigers. Ennis’s 19th goal came at 16:29 of the second period and gave Medicine Hat a 3-2 edge. . . . Tigers G Tomas Vosvrda made 31 saves. According to Potenteau’s game story, Vosvrda made the greatest save ever seen at Prospera Place. Here’s Potenteau’s description of the save that came two minutes into OT: “Leavold skated in, deked, then went top shelf. In return, Vosvrda adjusted, then dove to his right, a move which put Vosvrda on his back. Down, but not out, the lanky 6-foot-3 netminder from the Czech Republic threw his legs into the air and — with a barrel-roll like move — stopped Leavold’s labeled top-shelf shot.” . . . Leavold later got his revenge, dropping the puck to Myers, who beat Vosvrda for the winner.
# 8-9-11-22 ALWAYS REMEMBERED
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