T-birds outclass Cougars
(Sports) Tuesday, 04 March 2008, 23:13 PST
JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
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Monday's action on the boards
Even with the Prince George Cougars out of the playoff picture, CN Centre remains a hall of drama.
On Tuesday, it was the controversial goal - well, perhaps it wasn't that controversial - that led to the unsolved case of the missing goal judge.
A game that had little tangible appeal other than Turner Stevenson's first appearance in his hometown as a member of a visiting team's coaching staff provided a predictable result. Stevenson's team, the Seattle Thunderbirds, a darkhorse pick by some to upset teams in the Western Conference playoffs, got goals from veteran players in a 5-1 triumph over the Cougars, who are already out of the playoff picture.
Bud Holloway, who reached the 35-goal mark for the first time in his career, had two for Seattle, with singles from Greg Scott, David Richard and Jim O'Brien.
“I thought we started OK, and the Cougars played pretty good in the second,” said Stevenson, the only local minor hockey product to have his name inscribed on the Stanley Cup, that from a playoff run with the New Jersey Devils in 2003.
“It was more of what we didn't do in the second, it's not how we wanted to play, but we regrouped and played well in the third and got the win. I thought the score was a little flattering for how we played - it definitely wasn't our best game.”
Stevenson has enjoyed seeing familiar sights and faces since arriving Monday.
“It's been good - the last day-and-a-half, seeing my folks and my friends has been good,” said Stevenson. “It's always good to come home. There were a lot of (faces in the stands) that I know.”
Scott opened the scoring in the first period by depositing a rebound behind Cougars goaltender Real Cyr.
The Cougars tied it in the second period. Alex Poulter directed a wrist shot through traffic and goaltender Jacob DeSerres, a top prospect for the coming NHL draft, had no business being on his knees so early as the shot sailed over his right shoulder.
That was hardly the worst moment of the night for DeSerres. Seven minutes later the netminder caught a major break when the Cougars were offside when Patrik Magnusson's dump-in from the centre line caught an edge and angled through his legs - no goal because a Cougar was trapped in the zone when the puck hit the mesh.
The disallowed goal was a turning point of sorts. David Richard's 20th goal of the season gave the T-birds a 2-1 lead, and Poulter coughed up the puck on a Prince George power play so Bud Holloway could go in alone. Cyr stopped the shot, but slid into the net, across the line, and after a lengthy discussion involving the four on-ice officials and the goal judge, it was correctly ruled a goal.
Interesting that the third period was played without a goal judge at that end - the story is the original goal judge walked away because he disagreed with the referees' decision. A child sat in his chair for part of the period, but no one sat in the seat for the final 15 minutes.
The Cougars didn't judge their play as their best effort of late. O'Brien and Holloway goals in the third confirmed the verdict.
“They have some skilled forwards and their defence move the puck up well,” said Cougars captain Greg Gardner.
“They buried their chances, and that's what happened to make it a 5-1 loss. We had a lot of power play opportunities in those first two periods, and we never got one. They scored short-handed and it turned the momentum their way.”
DeSerres made 26 saves before letting Finnish first-rounder Riku Helenius, who has been battling injuries, see game action in the final few minutes. Expect to to see Helenius start for Seattle tonight when the teams complete the doubleheader.
Cyr stopped 25 shots for the Cougars, who close out the home portion of the regular season on Saturday against Kamloops.
KITTY LITTER: Former Cougars winger Prab Rai had one assist in his first game back at CN Centre... Would it have hurt to welcome Stevenson back to his hometown? Very disappointing that there wasn't a mention that the local former NHLer was involved in the game. An acknowledgment would've been the classy thing to do... The Cougars were outshot 30-27, but actually had the lead 16-12 at one point in the second period and 22-19 at the second intermission... The Cougars were 0-7 on the power play with a short-handed goal allowed. Seattle was 0-3... Announced attendance was 2,594, but the actual count was significantly lower than that... G Ian Curtis (shoulder), D Trevor Bauer (wrist) and C Jan Kupec (shoulder) were the Cougars' scratches... Local midget goalie Alex Wright again served as Cyr's backup... Can Seattle captain Thomas Hickey skate? It was a 'wow' moment in the second period when he caught the speedy Dana Tyrell from behind, showing why Hickey was the fourth-overall choice in last summer's NHL draft and a star on the national junior team. And, to think, the Cougars could've taken Hickey first overall in the 2004 bantam draft rather than Ryan Kerr.
Vs the T-Birds
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