Cyr stands on his head
(Sports) Sunday, 02 March 2008, 23:14 PST
TED CLARKE, Citizen staff
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When Real Cyr looks back on his WHL career making saves for the Prince George Cougars, chances are the highlights will overshadow the troubled times he’s seen playing for a team that has consistently struggled to make the playoffs.
With only seven games left and no postseason frosting on the cake before his junior hockey days end, the 20-year-old Cyr has several indelible memories that will stand tall above the rest.
He will recall he was the goalie of record last season when the Cougars made their unexpected final-four playoff run, backing the Cats to within three wins of their first WHL final.
Cyr will also be proud of the team-record 14 career shutouts he collected in four seasons as a Cat. Chances are, he won’t have to dig deep to remember what he did Saturday to the top-ranked Vancouver Giants.
It was a 2-0 shutout, accomplished in front of an announced crowd of 3,010 at CN Centre, and what a night it was for Cyr, who was brilliant in turning aside 47 shots from the defending Memorial Cup champions.
“It feels pretty good -- Vancouver is a tough team to play against, they throw everything at the net and they’ve always got somebody coming at the net,” said Cyr, a native of Victoire, Sask.
“I got away with a couple rebounds early and after that I did get a bit of luck, but I’d like to think I made my own breaks and the guys helped me out throughout the game clearing rebounds.”
The Cougars kept Cyr around as one of the three 20-year-olds for a reason, and proved Saturday that was a smart decision.
“Last year, our goal was to make that playoff run and this year things have changed and now we’re just trying to battle game-to-game and prepare this team for the future,” Cyr said. “It starts with us older guys setting a good example and hopefully they’ll take that with them and they’ll have good careers in this league.”
Unlike the previous night, when they gave up three goals in the first period in a 5-2 loss to the Giants, the Cats were in a stingy mood, willing to sacrifice their bodies at every opportunity but unwilling to cave into the pressure the Giants threw at them. And there was a lot to deal with while being outshot 47-21.
But it was the Cats who opened the scoring, 5:44 into the game. Justin Maylan was the maestro who orchestrated a 2-on-1 break in perfect harmony with Dale Hunt. Maylan put on a burst of speed to draw his check down the left wing and patiently waited until Hunt caught up to the play to feed the puck into the high slot, where Hunt launched a wrist shot that slid through the legs of Giants rookie netminder Kraymer Barnstable.
Maylan also set up for the second goal with a shot on net that produced a quick rebound that Deagle had to nimbly kick onto his own stick before letting it rip, that completed at the 8:55 mark of the third.
“I’ve had some chemistry in the past with Deagle and Hunt and (Saturday) we were able to bury,” said Maylan, who centred a line Friday with Dana Tyrell and Alex Poulter. “It gives us a lot of confidence when Real is playing the way he is.”
Cyr dented the confidence of Giants forward Michal Repik, a 25-goal sniper, on two occasions late in the first period. Repik got in alone and had two dangerous cracks at the net but each time Cyr stood his ground, flashing a sharp scissor kick to cut down Repik’s reverse-angle rebound. Cyr set the tone again in the opening minute of the second period, showing a wicked glove hand to take away a sure-goal from Spencer Machacek.
“I saw him coming down the wing and I know he likes to go high glove -- he’s beaten me a couple times there throughout my career -- and I was hoping he’d go there again and sure enough, he did,” said Cyr.
Cyr was also up to the challenge late in the second period as the Cats’ best penalty-killer early in the period, making a series of scintillating saves off Casey Pierro-Zabotel, and then in the third made another toe kick to burn Machacek again.
The Cats successfully killed off all six power-play chances for the Giants, while going 0-for-5 themselves. They were rarely caught out of position, they kept their sticks in the passing lanes and plugged the shooting alleys with their bodies. When they did give up a shot, it seemed somebody was always there to clearcut a Giant away from the rebound. Veteran defenceman Kalvin Sagert was especially effective at his job.
“The difference was our goaltender was very good -- Real Cyr made probably six game-breaker saves early in the first period to keep us at 0-0 and our penalty-kill was very good,” said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck, whose team plays host to the Seattle Thunderbirds Tuesday and Wednesday at CN Centre.
“We’re working toward getting that effort every night. A well-coached team like Vancouver seems to play the same way, night-in night-out, but we’re a young group, we have the highs and lows. We’ll see flashes of this and we’ll see flashes of ugly but we’re trying to minimize the ugly.”
Even though the Cougars are out of a playoff position and the Giants are still fighting for first overall in the WHL, the Cats were the hungrier team. Why that was remained a mystery to Giants head coach Don Hay.
“I didn’t think we were as willing to get our noses dirty as we should have been and that cost us a chance to win,” said Hay.
“We don’t get complacent very often, we play with a good work ethic most nights. I thought we showed that in spurts, but we didn’t have enough second effort to really be successful scoring goals. They were very good in their own end and when we did have some really good chances -- and we did outchance them -- Cyr was there to shut the door.”
Originally Posted by dondo
Sniper
Looks Like Fun!
TB won't need the rose colored glasses next year if the Cougs can keep up this level of play!
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