RELEASE #2006-07-19
MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2007
ROAD TEAMS WIN FIVE OF SIX GAMES
SASKATCHEWAN AND UBC REGISTER SERIES SWEEPS
Home ice advantage went out the window in Canada West Hockey play on the weekend as visiting teams won five of six games in conference play on Friday-Saturday, January 19th-20th. The third ranked Saskatchewan Huskies earned two of the five wins by road teams, registering 4-2 and 3-2 wins over the 10th ranked Calgary Dinos at Max Bell Arena in Calgary for their fifth sweep of the season.
The UBC Thunderbirds earned the second sweep of the weekend and their first sweep of the season, by defeating the Manitoba Bisons 2-0 and 4-1 in Winnipeg. The third series resulted in a split with the homestanding Lethbridge Pronghorns and Regina Cougars trading 3-2 victories.
In Calgary, Trent Adamus had a four-point weekend to lead Saskatchewan to its sweep of Calgary. The third-year forward scored a goal and three assists in the series with two assists on Friday and a goal and an assist on Saturday. Adamus’ first assist in the series opener came on the game-winning goal by Jason Wagar at 8:54 of the third period. He added his second assist 1:37 later as Matt Girling rounded out the scoring at 10:31. Wagar’s game-winner was his second goal of the night as he netted a shorthanded goal in the second period to break a 1-1 tie.
Keegan McAovy had a powerplay goal for the Huskies, while Colin McRae and Ryan Annesley scored for the Dinos, who outshot Saskatchewan 21-14. Annesley and Tyrel Lucas were involved in both Dinos’ goals. Annesley had an assist on McRae’s goal to finish with a goal and two assists and Lucas had two assist. Russel Monette made 19 saves to earn his second win of the season for the Huskies.
In the series finale, Brad Erickson Erickson’s third goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie and led the Huskies to a 3-2 win. The teams traded goals through the first 40 minutes of play with Adamus opening the scoring only 58 seconds into the game. Paul Gentile tied the score for Calgary midway through the second period before Derek Endicott gave Saskatchewan its second lead of the game at 12:45. Trevor Galan sent the game into the third period tied at 2-2 with a powerplay goal at 18:27.
The two wins helped Huskies head coach Dave Adloph reach a career milestone. Adolph, now in his 18th season in the CIS coaching ranks, registered his 244th and 245th career Canada West Hockey victories with the sweep of Calgary and he now sits second on the conference’s all-time wins list. Adolph has a career conference coaching record of 245-209-46 and is tied with former Calgary head coach George Kingston. Kingston compiled a 245-128-0 record in 16 seasons with Calgary between 1968-69 and 1987-88.
CANADA WEST HOCKEY CAREER COACHING WINS
(Conference Wins As of February 2, 2007)
COACH TEAM GC W L T PCT.
1. Clare Drake Alberta 525 377 145 3 .721
2. George Kingston Calgary 373 245 128 0 .657
Dave Adolph Lethbridge 112 32 72 8 .321
Saskatchewan 388 213 137 38 .598
TOTALS 500 245 209 46 .536
With the two wins at Calgary, Adolph reached a second milestone, becoming only the second coach in Canada West Hockey history to coach 500-or-more games. Adolph, who is in his 14th season with the Huskies since taking over the coaching duties at his alma mater in 1993-94, has been behind the bench as a head coach 500 times in conference play and trails only Alberta’s Clare Drake. Drake coached 525 conference games for the Golden Bears in 28 seasons. Adolph is the conference’s active leader in games coached, wins, losses and ties.
At Winnipeg, the UBC Thunderbirds played sound defensive hockey to earn their sweep of Manitoba, allowing the Bisons only a single goal in the two-games. Freshman Francois Thuot made 31 saves for his first career CIS shutout in Friday’s 2-0 victory. Thuot made 23 saves through the first 40 minutes of play when Manitoba outshot the Thunderbirds 23-14. UBC scored early in the game with Brad Zanon giving the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead only 49 seconds after the opening face-off. With Thuot holding the Bisons at bay with outstanding goaltending, UBC held the lead until Darrell May sealed the victory with an empty net goal at 18:59 of the third period. Jordan Beirnes had assists on both goals.
Lance Morrison scored twice and added an assist to lead UBC to victory on Saturday. Morrison’s three points topped all thunderbird scorers as five UBC players registered multiple point games. Ashley Todd and Stephane Gervais both scored a goal and an assist, while Mitch Bartley and defenceman Scott Lynch earned two assists.
After a scoreless first period, UBC took a 2-0 lead on goals by Morrison and Todd. Morrison opened the scoring at 7:31 and Todd netted the game winner at 10:55. Chris Falloon cut the UBC lead in half at 16:37 when he scored the Bisons’ only goal of the series. The Manitoba assistant captain netted his 15th goal of the season on a penalty shot. It was the first successful penalty shot in seven attempts in conference play this season.
Morrison, with his second goal of the game, and Gervais rounded out the scoring for UBC with third period goals. Bartley earned assists on both third period goals while Lynch assisted on UBC’s two second period goals.
Jay Langager’s powerplay goal with seven seconds remaining completed a third period comeback giving the Lethbridge Pronghorns a 3-2 win over Regina in the opening game of their series at Lethbridge. Jordan McGillivray and Ryan Cruse gave the visiting Cougars a 2-0 first period lead and Adam Ward made 30 saves to hold the lead through the first two periods of play. Shaun Norrie ended Ward’s shutout bid with a powerplay goal at 10:30 of the final frame, but the Cougars continued to hold the lead until Jason Roberts tied the score at 18:04, setting the stage for Langager’s game winning goal.
Langager beat Ward with a point shot at 19:53 after Mark Shefchyk won a draw in Regina’s end. The assist was the second of the game for Shefchyk, who also had an assist on Norrie’s powerplay goal. The two points moved Shefchyk into the Canada West Hockey scoring lead. With the two assists, the freshman forward moved past Alberta’s Ben Kilgour to the top of the scoring list with 12-24-36 in 22 games. Kilgour has 15-19-34 in 22 games.
For the second game in a row, the Cougars and Pronghorns played through a scoreless first period before Devon Smith opened the scoring for Regina at 5:42. Jason Roberts tied the score on the powerplay with his second goal of the series at 8:46. Goals by Caine Pearpoint and Blair Stengler gave Regina a 3-1 lead midway through the third period. Pearpoint broke the tie at 5:44 and Stengler netted the game winner with a powerplay goal at 7:56. Jesse Matlock assisted on both goals and Stengler had an assist on Smith’s second period goal to finish with two points.
It appeared the Pronghorns might pull off a repeat of Friday night’s comeback when Justin Cruse scored Lethbridge’s second powerplay goal of the game at 18:54, but Regina held off the comeback to earn the split. Roberts scored a goal and an assist in both games for Lethbridge to finish the series with two goals and two assists.
The Regina – Lethbridge series was a family affair as the Cruse brothers faced off against each other. Justin Cruse, an assistant captain for the Pronghorns, is the eldest of the two by a year and is in his second season with Lethbridge. He scored once on Saturday, while younger brother Ryan, who is in his freshman season, tallied once for Regina in the series opener on Friday.
The Alberta Golden Bears return to play in one of three series on the schedule for Friday-Saturday, February 2nd-3rd as they host Lethbridge at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton. The other two series on tap see UBC host Calgary and Manitoba visit Saskatchewan.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Entering the final three weeks of the 2006-07 Canada West Hockey conference schedule all seven teams remain alive for a berth in the post-season. Alberta and Saskatchewan have already clinched a playoff position with the Golden Bears stamping their post-season ticket a week ago following a two-game sweep of the Huskies at Clare Drake Arena on January 19th-20th. Saskatchewan secured its post-season invitation with two road victories at Calgary this past weekend.
The five remaining teams are still in the hunt for the playoffs, but the Manitoba Bisons are two losses shy of being eliminated from post-season play for the first time since 1993-94. The final three weeks of the season will see a fight to the finish between Calgary, UBC and Lethbridge for the final three positions in the Mountain Division. The teams are separated by only two points.
Calgary, UBC and Lethbridge can all finish between second and fourth in the Mountain Division with second place bringing home ice advantage in the first round of the post-season. The third place finisher would visit second place in the Canada West Hockey Division semi-finals, while the fourth place team, providing they finish the season with more points than the third place team in the Great Plains Division, would go on the road to take on the second place team in the Great Plains Division.
GREAT PLAINS DIVISION
SASKATCHEWAN: The Huskies clinched a playoff berth with their sweep of Calgary on January 26-27, defeating the Dinos 4-2 and 3-2. Saskatchewan needs only a single point to clinch first place in the Great Plains Division for the sixth consecutive season and for the ninth time since 1996-97.
Remaining Games: 4 (2 Home, 2 Away)
Home: vs Manitoba (Feb. 2-3)
Away: at Regina (Feb. 9-10)
REGINA: The Cougars sit six points ahead of Manitoba in the division standings and need three points to clinch second place and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Remaining Games: 4 (2 Home, 2 Away)
Home: vs Saskatchewan (Feb. 9-10)
Away: at Manitoba (Feb. 16-17)
MANITOBA: The Bisons need to win each of their remaining four games just to have a chance to make the post-season. Any combination of Manitoba losses or wins and overtime losses by Regina, Calgary, UBC or Lethbridge that equal four points will see the Bisons miss the conference playoffs for the first time since 1993-94 when they finished in fifth place with a 11-12-5 record. The road will be a tough one to travel as Manitoba travels to Saskatoon to take on the first place Saskatchewan Huskies this weekend (Feb. 2-3).
Remaining Games: 4 (2 Home, 2 Away)
Home: vs Regina (Feb. 16-17)
Away: at Saskatchewan (Feb. 2-3)
MOUNTAIN DIVISION
ALBERTA: Alberta clinched its 12th consecutive playoff berth a week ago with a two-game sweep of Saskatchewan at Clare Drake Arena on January 19-20, and the Golden Bears need only a single point to clinch first place in the division for the 10th consecutive season. Alberta needs four points to secure first place in the Canada West Hockey combined standings and secure home-ice advantage throughout the post-season.
Remaining Games: 6 (5 Home, 1 Away)
Home: vs Lethbridge (Feb. 2-3), vs Calgary (Feb. 9), vs UBC (Feb. 16-17)
Away: at Calgary (Feb. 10)
CALGARY: The Dinos are in second place in the Mountain Division, holding a one-point lead over UBC and two points over Lethbridge.
Remaining Games: 6 (3 Home, 3 Away)
Home: vs Alberta (Feb. 10), vs Lethbridge (Feb. 16-17)
Away: at UBC (Feb. 2-3)
BRITISH COLUMBIA: UBC is looking to secure its fourth consecutive playoff berth and home ice advantage in the post-season for the first time since 1970-71.
Remaining Games: 6 (2 Home, 4 Away)
Home: vs Calgary (Feb. 2-3)
Away: at Lethbridge (Feb. 9-10), at Alberta (Feb. 16-17)
LETHBRIDGE: Looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2002-03, the Pronghorns can finish as high as second place in the Mountain Division.
Remaining Games: 6 (2 Home, 4 Away)
Home: vs UBC (Feb. 9-10)
Away: at Alberta (Feb. 2-3), at Calgary (Feb. 16-17)
CANADA WEST HOCKEY PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Freshman goaltender FRANCOIS THUOT of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds has been named the Canada West Hockey Player of the Week for the week ending January 28, 2007. The 6’0”, 160-pound Arts student from Montreal, Quebec made 31 saves to register his first career Canada West Hockey shutout in a 2-0 road win over the University of Manitoba Bisons on Friday, January 26th.
THUOT was instrumental in the Thunderbirds’ victory stopping all 31 shots including 23 in the first two periods as UBC was outshot 23-14 over the first 40 minutes of play. After UBC took a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the game, THUOT made 11 saves in the first period, 12 more in the second and concluded the game with eight saves in the third period. The shutout was the sixth of the season in Canada West Hockey conference play and it was the first by a UBC goaltender since Gerry Festa made 21 saves in a 2-0 non-conference victory at Brock University on September 30, 2005.
With the shutout, THUOT lowered his goals-against average to 3.10 and the first-year netminder is ranked fourth in the conference. He is 7-6-0 in 12 conference games, with a .901 save percentage. Overall, THUOT is 8-7-0 in 17 games with a 3.08 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
