Jr. Canucks - 3 Games Ahead of FSJ, only 3 point lead

After Beaverlodge continued their never-give-up attitude last night against the Jr. Canucks, who at one point held a 4-1 lead, forcing OT and Riley Muise's OT heroics to secure a three point advantage against the FSJ Huskies, who have a three point lead... nothing is safe yet for Dawson Creek.

Enough commas?

Thanks to Evan Weaver's pair of goals, Colter MacLean's three assists, the Canucks were able to come out with a huge victory to try and secure the home-ice playoff advantage for the Jrs.

Here's the thing about the Huskies, though, with their three games in hand. Two of those are almost guaranteed losses against the Peace River Navigators and the Whitecourt Wolverines. They have two games against the GP Wheelers who've shown offensive flair in the latter stages of this year (and who have locked up third place), and one against the aforementioned Beaverlodge Blades.

That said, the worst the Canucks can finish is fourth, guaranteeing a first round home-ice advantage in the playoffs. Thing is, if they fall to fourth and advance past the first round, they're lining up against the Whitecourt Wolverines who will almost assuredly take care of them in the second round, barring a massive collapse.

This season, that doesn't make a difference.

Next season, however....

There's rumour that the Lloydminster Bobcats of the AJHL will be bought and relocated to Whitecourt. The Wolverines, sadly, do not have a lot of regular season fan-base due to their recent dominance in the NWJHL. But with an AJHL team, a lot of their talent stands to migrate upwards to Jr. A hockey, meaning that all of a sudden Whitecourt becomes a team you can beat in Jr. B.

This is FANTASTIC for the NWJHL. All of a sudden it starts to build a bit more of competitiveness (presuming future players for Peace River decide to have higher aspirations and move up to Jr. A hockey), and all of a sudden Whitecourt has two teams competing for a fan-base.

With the Jr. B team presumably all of a sudden a bit more in-tough for high-calibre players, the Jr. B team serving as a feeder club to Jr. A, and the fact Whitecourt has a large enough population base to possibly support two junior hockey clubs, nothing but good could come of this move if it goes through.

In the meantime, the Canucks are out in Whitecourt on Saturday (Sunday in Slave Lake), so in all likelihood the Canucks are going to come out 1-1 on the weekend, and the Huskies are liable to lose their Saturday tilt against Peace River.

If they go 1-1 as well, we're in the same boat heading into the final two games for the Canucks.

Should be a good finish to the NWJHL.

Tune in on Peacefm.ca Friday and Saturday as the DC Rage, meanwhile, have won five in a row and are making a press on the Kenai River Brown Bears to try make the NAHL playoffs in their first year.

Long Awaited Update

Back at the hockey blogging train. Let's catch up, shall we?

So in the NAHL, the DC Rage went 1-2 against the Wenatchee Wild last week. They're on the road in Chicago this weekend starting with what is now tonight's game as this post is coming after midnight. It was a huge, gutsy win over Wenatchee, similar to that of their 2-1 friendly over the Malmo Redhawks, Magnus Paajarvi's old team. They banged, they crashed, they played a hard physical game. That was the middle session of their three-game set. Then they proceeded to get trounced in game three. Hopefully tonight's game against Chicago goes back to the physical style that typically seems them have success. As the only Canadian team in an American-dominated league, I think that's the style they have to play in order to get wins consistently in the NAHL.

As far as the Jr. Canucks go, dropping just below .500 with a 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the Grande Prairie Wheelers, I'm not sure what came unraveled. They entered the contest not terribly far behind GP, but with Fort St. John holding two games in hand and only 3 points behind the Canucks for fourth place in the NWJHL, it was basically a must-win. GP was missing numerous players from their lineup, including Cory Littman, their captain and leading scorer (4th in the league), Riley Halwa and a couple other key players. Sure, Dawson Creek was without Colter Maclean and Jason Higson, their big two up front, but Dawson has shown depth scoring when it matters.

It didn't make a difference.

Lewis Lindon put together a hat-trick performance to get 10 goals on the year, Cody Atkinson was a crossbar away from matching Lindon's feat, Jack Surgenor let in a couple easy ones that he'd want to have back, and rookie AP netminder Zach Leslie coming in relief, his first goal against was as stinky as they come to Atkinson, a shot relatively unscreened that he just outright didn't catch in his glove.

This is a team that is on the verge of pushing up the NWJHL. But they seem to lose one, win one, lose one, win one. They remind me a lot of the Oilers in the sense that you can sense they're not far away from pushing up to third in the league. Whitecourt and Peace River almost deserve to be Junior A, they're that far ahead of the rest of the pack, but after that it can be anyone's league on any given night.

Tonight they host Beaverlodge, who history has shown will rarely ice a full line-up on the road. This is a huge opportunity to regain that separation on FSJ and secure home ice advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs. Must-win? No. Close to it? Yes. The NWJHL schedule isn't that demanding compared to Jr. A hockey or other leagues (roughly 20 games less than most), and every win counts in a league where playoffs are mandatory for all teams.

Rage Lose Mini-Series to Kenai 1-2

The Rage dropped to 3-6-1 on the season after losing two of three games to the Kenai River Brown Bears this weekend.

One night after posting an emotional 5-4 overtime victory off the stick of Brett Zarazun, the Rage jumped out to a 2-0 lead last night against Kenai, but a second period goal by B. Murphy and two third period tallies, one by Chris Rial on a partial breakaway cutting in on the left side and tucking it five-hole through Edward Dyson, then Carter Wright sent in clear on a breakaway by Brett Lubanski going forehand, backhand and shelf gave Kenai a 3-2 victory.

The Rage will now head out on an 11-game road trip with stops in Alaska, Kenai, Fresno and Wenatchee before returning to host Fresno on November 12th.

Meanwhile, the DC Jr. Canucks had two close games this weekend, edging the GP Wheelers 5-4 on Friday and getting edged in turn by the Beaverlodge Blades on Saturday by a score of 4-3. With the FSJ Huskies leading the league with three straight wins and six points, the Canucks will look to snap that streak this Friday at the DC Memorial Arena at 8pm, you can catch the action on Peace FM (dot c-a).

Kenai River Brown Bears v Dawson Creek Rage Pre-Game

This is the second of a three-game set between the Kenai River Brown Bears and the DC Rage. Last night Kenai edged the Rage 3-2. Both teams started out flat in the first period and got a fortunate couple of goals in an affair that definitely did not see the fast past action from last week's set of games against the Alaska Avs, and you can look for both teams to come out with a stronger start in tonight's game.

Assistant coach for the DC Rage, Matt Hughes, definitely feels as though the momentum was sucked right out of the Rage last night with Kenai's patient play in the neutral zone.

Meanwhile head coach for the Brown Bears Oliver David admitted that both teams were a bit flat coming out of the gate but that his team was able to control the pace and use their speed and skill to their advantage. When asked whether he anticipates his club will change anything with 60 more minutes of familiarity with the Rage, he said he doesn't plan on adjusting his team's game.

Keys to the Game:

Rage:

1. Establish the home-ice advantage. They opened the scoring last night but had the momentum sucked out of them five minutes later on Daniel Turgeon's goal. They need to get a quick one or two goals and keep the pressure.
2. In that vein, they need to re-establish the physical presence that forced turnovers in the series against Alaska, which was totally absent last night.
3. Outlet pass. Last night they had trouble exiting their zone cleanly and breaking into the offensive zone.

Kenai:

1. Keep the Rage to the outside, force shots from the point. Benton didn't see a lot of second chances last night and I thought at times he looked a bit out of position, and they'll want to keep that support for their netminder.
2. Win the cycle. The chances that the Rage did get last night started largely on their cycle game and freeing up space in front by forcing the Bears to commit too long to the cycle and bring the extra man in. They need to win the cycle early and break out.
3. Transition. Kenai had a great transition game last night when they did win the cycle early, and that'll be key for them to get a couple quick goals.


Officials:
Referee: Kevin Lindsay
Lines: Brent McLean, Michale Van

Starting lineups:

Rage:    Jared Crema and Bobby Turnbull manning the blueline, Dakota Mason centering Nolan Rossiter and Derek Johnston.
Kenai:    Erik Persson and Chris Rial on defense, Brett Lubanski between Matt Tompson and Doug Beck.

Starting goalies:

Rage:    Andrew Walsh, 0-4-0-0, 2.5.2 gaa, .938 sv
Kenai:    Josh Benton, 3-2-0-1, 2.26 gaa, .917 sv

DC Rage lose 3-2 to Kenai River Brown Bears

Couldn't get the pre-game up, internet at the rink wasn't letting me access blogger, so here's the post game.

My keys to the game were:

Rage:

1. Stay out of the penalty box. That's what got them into trouble last weekend with the Avs and if they have hopes to get out of this series with a positive record, they need to worry less about their PK and more about 5-on-5 hockey.
2. Keep physical. The American game is stressing speed in this league and the Rage can force turnovers by getting to pucks first on defenders and pressure them with hits.
3. Strong goaltending: right now it would be a huge lift for the Rage to get a massive performance from one of their goalies. They aren't struggling in the crease, but it'll help build momentum.


Kenai
1. Box out. The Rage so far have shown that they like to pressure the slot and crash the crease. They'll have to be big in front of their goaltender and force the Rage to play on the outside.
2. Utilize the wings. If Keenai has the same speed the Avs showed, they should be able to turn defenders by breaking wide.
3. Win special teams. Right now the Rage are operating pretty well when one-man short, and a powerplay goal can swing the ice the other way.

Rage succeeded in staying out of the box, only allowing three man-advantages compared to the basically five per game minimum last weekend, and they didn't allow a PP goal against, but their physical play was lacking and Dyson unfortunately got caught with a poke-check that missed and essentially allowed the third goal. Dyson was otherwise very strong through the game.

Kenai did a great job of cutting off all angles to the net, and started to use the wings in the second period and really controlled most of the possession after losing the majority of the draws in the first. They overall lost the special teams battle, allowing one PPG on two opportunities but otherwise controlled the pace.

Dakota Mason notched both goals for the Rage, one in the first period that was responded by Bears' forward Daniel Turgeon five minutes later. Doug Beck put the Bears up early in the second frame. Eventually Mason would find a fortuitious bounce off a Nolan Rossiter shot that caromed off the stick of Trent Wohlers, leaving Mason with a wide-open net on that netminder Josh Benton had no chance on. But late in the third, Zack Capozza found an equally fortunate chance off a scramble behind the net that gave Kenai the win.

DC was outshot 36-31 in the game. The second match of the three-game set is Saturday night at 7pm, with the third at 2pm on Sunday.

Rage Drop Mini-Series 2-1 to Avs

Landon Peterson earned his first shutout of the season for the Alaska Avs, stopping all 32 shots he faced en route to a 2-0 win over the Dawson Creek Rage.

The Avs took the first game 3-1, and lost game two 5-2 but rebounded strongly, shutting down the Rage's slot presence all game long to preserve the goose egg for Peterson.

Hometown netminder Andrew Walsh faced 47 shots in net for the Rage. Jake Williams put the Avs on the board with six minutes to go in the first period with a point blast that caromed off a leg in front and under Walsh's blocker. Seven minutes into the second, Andy Pearson jammed home a loose puck in front of Walsh on his third crack at the biscuit to put the Avs up 2-0.

Andrew Walsh dropped to 0-4 on the season while Landon Peterson improved to 4-4. The Rage are now 2-4-1 on the season and the Avs 4-5-0.

The Rage went 0-for-10 on the powerplay while the Avs were 2-for-12. Action resumes for the DC Rage on Friday at the Encana Events Centre as they host the Kenai River Brown Bears.

Pre-Game for Game Three Between Avs and Rage

Getting set for the third game of a three-game set, a rubber match between the Alaska Avalanche and the DC Rage. Alaska took the first game of the series in large part thanks to the Rage being unable to stay out of the penalty box, going to the sin bin for a total of 10 times, allowing the Avs to score two powerplay goals. Last night however the Rage got their revenge. Both teams started out a bit slow but the action definitely picked up in the second period as the Rage notched three tallies to take a 4-0 lead in the game. In the third period, the Avs were able to eke themselves back in the game off the back of Brandon Broissot who scored both goals for the Avs in a 5-2 loss, with Jon Johannesson getting the empty netter for the Rage.

Scott Robinson, head coach of the Rage, said the play was definitely better for the Rage in the second game but he wanted to see more determination out of his club in the third period and not allow the Avs back in the game.

Travis Irving, a 20 year old from Maple Ridge BC is a man of few words but a man of poignant words. The 6'5", 210 winger got into a heated discussion with Avs defender Joe Schmitz at the end of last night's tilt and said that he wouldn't be surprised if the two players dropped the gloves tonight. He thinks 5-on-5 the Rage are the better club but need to stay out of the box against a decent Avs PP.

Onto the Alaska Avs. It was clear after going down 4-0 and calling a timeout, head coach Brian Huebel of the Avs was not impressed with the play of his club and he had a few choice words on the bench no doubt to help settle his team. And it worked, as the Avs cut the lead in half and had opportunities in the third period to get even closer to tying the game up.

Keys to the Game:

Dawson:

1. Stay out of the box. In game one, that's exactly how the Avs defeated the Rage and many of the players feel that if they could've stayed out of penalty trouble that they would've beat the Avs 5-on-5.

2. Utilize the width of the ice. The Avs do a great job clogging up the middle, and if the Rage can find the cross-ice pass or make two or three passes to open up the wings, they should have an easier time getting entrance.

3. Be physical. The Avs have a lot of speedy forwards and defence willing to jump up into the play. They have to contain that speed with physical presence.

Alaska:

1. Establish speed. Huebel feels as though the strength of his team's game is in the speed.

2. Get on the forecheck. Especially with Whitehill and Broissoit, the Avs have a strong cycle game and can get the Rage out of position to open up opportunities in the slot.

3. Don't allow second chances on Peterson. When he sees the puck, he's an athletic goaltender and can usually even make the second stop.