Canada West RELEASE #2005-06-18
UBC AND REGINA KNOCK OFF TOP TEN RANKED SASKATCHEWAN AND ALBERTA
The underdogs had their day on the weekend as the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and the University of Regina Cougars registered wins over two of the top three ranked teams in the Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) Top Ten rankings. In the thick of the divisional playoff races, British Columbia and Regina earned wins over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and the University of Alberta Golden Bears, respectively, in Canada West Hockey play on Friday-Saturday, January 20th and 21st.
After dropping the series opener 3-2 to Saskatchewan on Friday night, Milan Dragicevic’s Thunderbirds returned to the win column with a 4-3 victory over the number one ranked Huskies on Saturday night. With the win the Thunderbirds, winners of four of their last five games, vaulted past the idle University of Calgary Dinos into second place in the Mountain Division standings. With 17 points from a record of 8-11-1, UBC is now a point in front of Calgary, who is now in third place with a 7-11-2 mark.
In Regina, Shayne Emmons scored twice and Clay Thoring scored the game winner and added an assist to lead the Cougars to a 4-2 win over the third ranked Alberta Golden Bears on Friday night at the Sherwood Twin Arenas. Although they lost the second game to Alberta on Saturday by an identical 4-2 score, the Cougars are only two points behind the second place University of Manitoba Bisons in the Great Plains Division.
Manitoba picked up a point on Regina in the division standings by earning three of four points from the visiting University of Lethbridge Pronghorns. The Bisons reached the .500 mark with a commanding 7-1 victory over the Pronghorns on Friday, evening their record at 10-10-1. Lethbridge played a much stronger game in the series finale as they skated to a 3-3 overtime tie. The tie ended a seven-game losing streak for Lethbridge and gave the Pronghorns their first point in the standings since a 2-2 tie at Alberta on December 2nd.
In what UBC coach Dragicevic called “a great benchmark victory for us”, the Thunderbirds played “the most complete team effort that we’ve had in my four years here, “ in defeating Saskatchewan 4-3 on Saturday.
With the score tied at 2-2 in the third period Peter Hay and Darrell May scored powerplay goals 70 seconds apart to break the tie and lift UBC into a 4-2 lead. Hay, who scored once in the loss on Friday, made it 3-2 at 5:21 and then Darrell May scored the game winning goal at 6:31. Both powerplay goals came with two Huskies in the penalty box. May’s game winning goal was his second point of the game as he also earned an assist on Hay’s goal.
Thunderbird team captain Dustin Paul had a three point game as he scored once in the first period and then earned assists on both UBC goals in the third period. Brad Zanon also scored a powerplay goal for UBC as the Thunderbirds went three for six with the man advantage.
Gerry Festa was key to the UBC victory as the freshman goaltender turned aside 37 of Saskatchewan’s 40 shots on goal, including all 17 in the second period when the Huskies outshot the Thunderbirds 17-4. Through the games’ first two periods, Festa made 29 saves as Saskatchewan outshot UBC 31-14.
Both Dean Beuker and Brent Twordik scored a goal and two assists for Saskatchewan in the loss and Garret Soparlo added a single goal. Beuker, who netted his third shorthanded goal in the last three games in the first period, had a five point weekend as the conference’s scoring leader added a goal and an assist in Friday’s victory. With the five point series, Beuker now leads the Canada West Hockey scoring race with 20-22-42 and tops the conference in both goals and assists.
Three powerplay goals in a span of just over two minutes in the first period were all the offence the Huskies needed in their 3-2 win over UBC on Friday. Matt Girling (7:28), Mason Wallin (8:17) and Beuker (GWG, 9:55) gave Saskatchewan a 3-0 lead midway through the opening period of play. Goals by Hay and Jarrett Winn in the second and third period brought the Thunderbirds to within a goal but Jeff Harvey shut the door in the Saskatchewan goal, improving his overall record on the season to 11-1-1.
A total of 231 penalty minutes were assessed in the series as each team registered more than 45 minutes in penalties per game. Saskatchewan had 64 penalty minutes on Friday and was charged with another 67 in Saturday’s loss, while UBC was assessed 52 and 48 minutes.
In Regina, the Cougars increased their winning streak to a season-high four games with a 4-2 win over third ranked Alberta on Friday night.
Shayne Emmons gave the Cougars a 2-0 first period lead scoring twice in a span of five minutes. Emmons opened the scoring at 4:26 and then made it 2-0 with a powerplay goal at 9:26. Ben Thomson and Brad Tutschek scored for Alberta to tie the score mid-way through the second period.
Defenceman Clay Thoring, who assisted on Emmons’ first period powerplay goal, broke the tie at the 15:56 mark of the second, scoring what held up as the game winner. At 17:10 of the middle frame, Caine Pearpoint made it 4-2 for Regina, beating Alberta goaltender Aaron Sorochan on a penalty shot. It was one of two penalty shots by the Cougars as Sorochan stopped Jason Weitzel at 10:48 of the third period.
Clint Chalmers made 33 saves to earn the victory in the Regina net as Alberta outshot the Cougars 35-25.
The win was the first for the Cougars in 39 conference games against the Golden Bears as Regina had gone 0-35-3 versus Alberta in Canada West Hockey play dating back to a 6-4 win at Edmonton on February 3, 1996. It was also the Cougars’ first win on home ice against Alberta since November of 1995 when Regina defeated the Golden Bears 3-1 on November 10, 1995.
After having their 11-game conference undefeated streak (9-0-2; Nov. 6-Jan. 14) ended with the loss on Friday, the Golden Bears returned to their winning ways with a 4-2 victory. Freshman Dylan Stanley scored twice in three minutes late in the first period to give the Golden Bears a 2-0 lead. Stanley netted his first goal of the night at 15:07 and added his second at 18:01. Both Ben Thomson and Joff Kehler earned assists on the goals. Jason Weitzel’s powerplay goal cut Alberta’s lead in half at the 12:12 mark of the second period, but Justin Wallin regained the Golden Bears’ two-goal advantage at 18:32.
Fifty-six seconds into the third period, Brad Tutschek netted his second goal of the series with a powerplay tally, giving Alberta a 4-1 lead. Weitzel rounded out the scoring with his second powerplay tally at 12:22 of the third. Blake Grenier earned the win in goal for Alberta, making 39 saves for his seventh win of the season. The teams combined for a total of 91 shots on goal as Alberta outshot Regina 50-41.
The line of Paul Deniset, Warren McCutcheon and Kevin Saurette were the offensive catalyst for Manitoba in its series with Lethbridge. The trio of forwards combined to score 13 points and account for eight of the Bisons 10 goals. Both Deniset and Saurette scored five points with three goals and two assists and McCutcheon added three goals.
Friday’s 7-1 victory saw Deniset and Saurette each score two goals and add an assist, while McCutcheon had two goals. Deniset scored one of the Bisons four powerplay goals in the victory as Manitoba went four for eight with the man advantage. His powerplay goal in the first period proved to be the game winner and his second goal of the game was a shorthanded tally. Saurette also had a powerplay goal, while Jamie Dowhayko and Aaron Starr also scored with the man advantage. Dowhayko’s goal was his first career collegiate goal.
The Manitoba trio each scored once to give the Bisons a 3-2 lead after two periods in Saturday’s finale. Dustin Hughes and Chris Falloon each had two assists for Manitoba, assisting on both Bisons’ powerplay goals. For Falloon, the assists were his third and fourth of the series as he also had two helpers in Friday’s 7-1 win.
Dan Kitching’s goal at 5:22 of the third period lifted Lethbridge into the 3-3 tie. Charlie Mattersdorfer and Jason Roberts scored powerplay goals for the Pronghorns as the teams combined for four powerplay goals. Brandon Highton made 52 saves in earning the tie for Lethbridge. The Pronghorns’ netminder stopped 44 of 47 shots in regulation and made another eight saves in the five-minute overtime period as Manitoba had an 8-1 advantage in shots.
The upcoming week’s schedule will be highlighted by a head-to-head meeting of top ten teams as third ranked Alberta hosts first ranked Saskatchewan at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton on Friday-Saturday, January 27th-28th. Saskatchewan holds a 2-0-1 advantage over Alberta in the season series as the Huskies earned three of four points with a 6-2 win and 3-3 OT tie in a two game conference series at Saskatoon on November 4th and 6tth and a 3-1 win at Edmonton on September 30th during the 23rd Annual Golden Bears-Brick Invitational.
Other Canada West Hockey conference play this coming weekend will see Calgary host Manitoba and Regina visit UBC.
CANADA WEST HOCKEY PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Freshman forward DARRELL MAY of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds has been named the Canada West Hockey Player of the Week for the week ending January 22, 2006. The 5'11", 195-pound centre from St. Albert, Alberta scored three points to lead the Thunderbirds to a series split with the number one ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies at Rutherford Arena in Saskatoon on Friday-Saturday, January 20th and 21st. MAY earned a powerplay assist in UBC’s 3-2 loss to the Huskies in the series opener on Friday and then registered his ninth multiple-point game of the season with a goal and an assist in the Thunderbirds 4-3 win on Saturday. MAY earned his second powerplay assist of the series at 5:21 of the third period in the series finale on Saturday and then scored the game- winning goal on the powerplay at 6:31. With the three points against the top ranked Huskies, MAY is now in a tie for eighth place in the Canada West Hockey scoring race with 8-13-21 in 20 games. Overall, MAY leads the Thunderbirds in scoring, goals and assists with 11-15-26 in 24 games.
