Wednesday — February 18, 2004

Suns goalies
come up big

Midwest All-Stars falls 4-3, 6-0

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Sun Valley Suns goalies Matt Gershater and Ryan Thomson had sparkling efforts between the pipes as the Suns (9-5) swept the Midwest All-Stars 4-3 and 6-0 last weekend, extending their winning streak to four games.

Gershater (23 saves) stopped all 10 Midwest All-Star shots in the second period of a 2-1 game. Many of them were tough saves. Vilnis Nikolaisons and Luke Smith scored goals giving the Suns a 4-1 lead that they preserved Friday at Sun Valley Skating Center.

Smith’s eventual game winner came on a two-on-one feed from Jamie Ellison, after a breakout pass from rookie defenseman Chris Warrington.

Right wing Paul Baranzelli, the weekend Suns scoring leader (3 goals, 2 assists), added two goals Friday.

Suns coach Johnny Ellison said, "Matt had some key saves in the second period. The guys played very much as a team rather than individuals. There were a lot of good passing plays, and our intensity is improving."

Back from an injury, first-year Suns goalie Thomson pitched a 29-save shutout at the All-Stars Saturday—the first Suns shutout in a 40-game span dating back to March 2002. And there were six different Suns scorers in the 6-0 triumph.

Coach Ellison said, "Ryan played a great game coming back from a three-week injury. He made a big difference for us. And we played great defensive hockey. We made the most of our chances—and we didn’t give up defense to get those scoring plays."

The forward line of left wing Pat Finnegan, center Ryan Enrico and right wing Baranzelli accounted for 9 of 16 Suns points Saturday.

And the Suns broke open a 3-0 game with three third-period goals. Finnegan and Baranzelli sent Enrico in alone for a 4-0 game. Chris Benson scored his first goal of the year on a familiar blistering wrist shot. And Luke Smith dropped a nice pass to Jamie Ellison for a wrist shot winner on a two-on-oh break down the ice.

The Suns are idle this weekend. Next up is a Feb. 27-28 series against the East Kootenay Royals from British Columbia, Canada. Check the Express Web site for updated Suns season statistics and last weekend’s hockey summary against the All-Stars.

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Suns 4, All-Stars 3
Friday

Midwest All-Stars 1 0 2 3
Sun Valley Suns 2 1 1 4

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FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Paul Baranzelli 5 (Pat Finnegan, Mike Selhay), 14:29. (2) All-Stars, Steve Brown (Chris Delabbio), 18:38. (3) SV, Baranzelli 6 (unassisted), 18:51.

SECOND PERIOD—(4) SV, Vilnis Nikolaisons 8 (unassisted), 16:55.

THIRD PERIOD—(5) SV, Luke Smith 10 (Jamie Ellison, Chris Warrington), 5:26. (6) All-Stars, Stan Delabbio (Tom Maroste), 16:00, power play goal. (7) All-Stars, Chris Coakley (Mike Jurgensen, Brad Stepan), 16:52.

SHOTS ON GOAL—For Midwest All-Stars 7-10-9 for 26; for Sun Valley 18-20-12 for 50.

GOALIES—Midwest All-Stars, Jeff McMurchie (46 saves); SV, Matt Gershater (23 saves, 5-3-0 season record).

OFFICIALS—Referee, Richard Winkler; linesmen, Curtis Martin and Chris Benson.

NOTES—Suns forward lines were Vilnis Nikolaisons-Jamie Ellison-Luke Smith, Pat Finnegan-John Stevens-Paul Baranzelli, Chris King-Ryan Enrico-Rohan Verplank, with Caleb Baukol and J.J. Hanley rotating in to play with center Stevens. The defensive pairs were Ivars Muzis-Mike Selhay and Josh Jacobson-Chris Warrington.

 

 

Suns 6, All-Stars 0
Saturday

Midwest All-Stars 0 0 0 0
Sun Valley Suns 1 2 3 6

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FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Ivars Muzis 5 (Chris Warrington), 19:31, power play goal.

SECOND PERIOD—(2) SV, Pat Finnegan 3 (Ryan Enrico, Paul Baranzelli), 1:56. (3) SV, Baranzelli 7 (Enrico, Finnegan), 16:18.

THIRD PERIOD—(4) SV, Enrico 6 (Finnegan, Baranzelli), 9:43. (5) SV, Chris Benson 1 (J.J. Hanley), 11:24. (6) SV, Jamie Ellison 7 (Luke Smith, Muzis), 16:10.

SHOTS ON GOAL—For Midwest All-Stars 11-10-8 for 29; for Sun Valley 17-18-12 for 47.

GOALIES—Midwest All-Stars, Tom Nowland (41 saves); SV, Ryan Thomson (29 saves, 4-1-0 season record).

OFFICIALS—Referee, Richard Winkler; linesmen, Curtis Martin and Rohan Verplank.

NOTES—The Suns staged a blue light special for their fans as the eight bachelors in the Suns auction were spotlighted before the third period. Stripping off their shirts as they skated onto the ice were Ryan Thomson, Josh Jacobson, Ryan Enrico, Rohan Verplank, Matt Gershater, Chris King, Eric Demment and J. J. Hanley. Some of the bids for the bachelors: Jacobson $150 and Enrico $100….Suns forward lines were Vilnis Nikolaisons-Jamie Ellison-Luke Smith, Pat Finnegan-Ryan Enrico-Paul Baranzelli, Chris King-Chris Benson-Caleb Baukol, with J.J. Hanley rotating in. The defensive pairs were Ivars Muzis-Mike Selhay and Josh Jacobson-Chris Warrington…..Jacobson got in a few good punches and earned a 3-point near fall in his third-period fight with Mike Jurgensen of the All-Stars—and both got the heave-ho from referee Winkler….Local product Blake Jensen played for the All-Stars….Leading the weekend scoring for the Suns was right wing Baranzelli with 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points. Left wing Pat Finnegan, another Minnesotan, had 4 points….The last Suns shutout, 7-0, was pitched by Matt Gershater (12 saves) against the Dallas South Stars March 2, 2002 on Sun Valley ice.

 

 

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2003-04 Sun Valley Suns
Season statistics

(9-5 overall: 7-3 home, 2-2 away)

as of February 18, 2004

 

PLAYER	GAMES	GOALS	AST.	PTS.	PMIN
Vilnis Nikolaisons	14	8	12	20	4.0
Jamie Ellison	14	7	12	19	24.0
Ryan Enrico	14	6	13	19	12.0
Paul Baranzelli	13	7	8	15	23.0
Ivars Muzis	12	5	10	15	2.0
Luke Smith	14	10	4	14	11.0
Chris King	12	4	6	10	0.0
John Stevens	13	5	4	9	14.0
Eric Demment	8	5	4	9	4.0
Pat Finnegan	13	3	6	9	9.0
Rohan Verplank	11	3	4	7	6.0
Chris Warrington	13	1	5	6	2.0
John Miller	8	1	5	6	0.0
Brian Watts	9	3	1	4	4.0
Kris Webster	2	2	1	3	2.0
Caleb Baukol	12	1	1	2	6.0
Frank Salvoni	7	1	1	2	2.0
J.J. Hanley	9	1	1	2	0.0
Chris Benson	11	1	1	2	2.0
Mike Selhay	5	0	2	2	11.0
Matt Gershater	8	0	1	1	9.0
Josh Jacobson	11	0	1	1	26.0
Ryan Thomson	6	0	0	0	0.0
Peter Miner	3	0	0	0	0.0
Paul Miner	3	0	0	0	0.0
Kevin Bullock	2	0	0	0	2.0
Billy Tryder	1	0	0	0	0.0
James Moskos	1	0	0	0	0.0

 

GOALTENDER	GAMES	GOALS	W-L	AVG.
Matt Gershater	7.5	36	5-3-0	4.80
Ryan Thomson	5.1	20	4-1-0	3.92
James Moskos	1	7	0-1-0	7.00
Bobby Farrelly	0.5	2	0-0-0	2.00

 

Shots—Gershater 246, Thomson 157, Moskos 41, Farrelly 14. Saves—Gershater 210, Thomson 136, Moskos 34, Farrelly 12. Shootout saves—0.
Shootout goals allowed—0.
Shutouts—0.
Empty net goals—2.

 

SCORE BY  PERIODS	1ST	2ND	3RD	OT	TOT	AVE
Opposition	18	25	24	0	67	4.8
Sun Valley	20	21	33	0	74	5.3

 

 

 

INDIVIDUAL MARKS

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Two-goal games (10)—Luke Smith 2, Jamie Ellison 2, Vilnis Nikolaisons 2, Paul Baranzelli 2, Ryan Enrico 1, John Stevens 1.

Hat tricks or more (1)—Luke Smith 1 (4 goals).

Game-winning goals—Eric Demment 1.

Power play goals (11-45, 24%)—Vilnis Nikolaisons 2, Eric Demment 2, Luke Smith 2, Ivars Muzis 2, John Miller 1, Paul Baranzelli 1, Brian Watts 1. Power play goals (opposition): 8-44, (18%).

Shorthanded goals (3)—Ryan Enrico 1, Chris Warrington 1, Eric Demment 1. Shorthanded goals (opposition): 5.

Season penalty minutes: SV 175, opponents 189.

 

 

GAME RESULTS

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Total record: 9-5
Record in 1-goal games: 3-0
Record in overtime: 0-0-0
Games scoring 9 or more goals: 2
Games scoring 7 or more goals: 4

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December 19 (H) Sun Valley 10, Portland Checks 2
December 20 (H) Sun Valley 5, Portland Checks 4
January 2 (H) Sun Valley 7, Boise Blades 4
January 3 (H) Boise Blades 8, Sun Valley 5
January 16 (A) Sun Valley 8, McCall Mountaineers 5
January 17 (A) Sun Valley 5, McCall Mountaineers 4
January 23 (H) Jackson Hole Moose 10, Sun Valley 2
January 24 (H) Jackson Hole Moose 6, Sun Valley 2
January 30 (A) Jackson Hole Moose 7, Sun Valley 2
January 31 (A) Jackson Hole Moose 4, Sun Valley 1
February 6 (H) Sun Valley 12, Bucks Furniture 8
February 7 (H) Sun Valley 5, Bucks Furniture 2
February 13 (H) Sun Valley 4, Midwest All-Stars 3
February 14 (H) Sun Valley 6, Midwest All-Stars 0

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