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Produced & Maintained by Idaho Mountain Express, Box 1013, Ketchum, ID 83340-1013 
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Copyright © 2003 Express Publishing Inc.
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Wednesday — March 10, 2004

Sports

Suns change coaches after McCall collapse

Jackson Moose return this weekend


Frustrated by Friday’s last-minute collapse and painful 7-6 overtime loss to the McCall Mountaineers, the Sun Valley Suns made some changes at the top heading into the upcoming rematch against arch-rival Jackson Hole (Wyo.) Moose.

Suns winger Vilnis Nikolaisons, who played a great game Friday and scored twice, jams in front of the McCall net and goalie Mark Liebich. Express photo by Willy Cook

Team captain and assistant coach Chris Benson, Sun Valley’s player/coach for four seasons prior to the current 2003-04 campaign, replaced head coach John Ellison Sr. for Saturday’s game against McCall.

Benson said he expects to remain head coach for the last eight Suns hockey games, with Ellison stepping back to his former role as assistant. "There had been some bickering among the troops," said Benson, the team’s senior player with 14 years of experience.

Leading up to the switch in coaches, the ups-and-downs of the Suns hockey season were crystallized in Friday’s cruel overtime loss to McCall.

Although the Suns (9-7) played one of their best games of the season, they squandered a 6-4 lead when McCall forced overtime with two goals in the final 45 seconds of the third.

Rob Dumas, 35, McCall’s cagey minor league hockey veteran who played 17 seasons in the bushes from 1984-2001, assisted on both goals in the final minute then scored the game winner just 1:26 into the five-minute overtime period—for his hat trick.

Fans questioned whether the Suns had the right personnel on the ice in the final minute when the Moose rallied for the tie, and coach Ellison was asked to step aside for Saturday’s game won by McCall 5-2.

Benson showed he was willing to make changes Saturday. After goalie Matt Gershater yielded four early goals to McCall, Benson yanked him in favor of Friday’s goalie Ryan Thomson. It was too late to make a difference in the outcome, but the point was made.

The Mountaineers, 8-5 and 5-4 home losers to the Suns Jan. 16-17, evened the season series and snapped the Suns' four-game winning streak.

And, of course, on Feb. 12-13, McCall became the first team in two years to sweep the Jackson Hole Moose at Snow King Center with 5-2 and 7-5 wins over the Moose (16-4).

"We know the Moose can be beaten," said Benson, referring to the recent Mountaineers’ two-game sweep. "We’re going to try to avenge our 0-4 status against the Moose on the current season this weekend.

"We’ve got a game plan in mind. It’s a matter of whether we can execute it." It won’t be easy. The Moose have handled the Suns this season by scores of 10-2, 6-2, 7-2 and 4-1.

Benson said former Suns Tom Forti and Kit Hughes will be back in town this weekend and will suit up for the Suns against the Moose. Forti will help solidify the center corps, hurt by the recent loss of Jamie Ellison (back injury). Hughes plays defense.

"With Jamie out we don’t have a true center. That’s what Forti is. Kit is a steady defenseman," said Benson, who added it was nice to have defenseman Eric Demment back in action Saturday against the Mountaineers.

Playing well against McCall was the Suns forward line of Ryan Enrico (3 goals), Luke Smith (4 assists) and Vilnis Nikolaisons (2 goals Friday). "Vilnis had a great game," coach Ellison said after Friday’s collapse.

The Suns certainly had their opportunities. But former Air Force Academy goalie Mark Liebich stopped Chris King on the doorstep with four minutes left in the third, and turned away John Miller’s shorthanded bid to extend Sun Valley’s lead to 7-4.

After the Mountaineers tied it, defenseman Ivars Muzis clanged the potential game-winning shot off the pipe 30 seconds into overtime. Then Dumas ended the game with a wrist shot. On Saturday, Liebich was immense in the net, stopping 42 of 44 Suns shots.

Game times for the upcoming Jackson Hole Moose series are Friday and Saturday, March 12-13 at 7 p.m. at Sun Valley Skating Center.


 

Mountaineers 7, Suns 6 (OT)
Friday

McCall Mountaineers 2 1 3 1 ….7
Sun Valley Suns 1 4 1 0…. 6


FIRST PERIOD—(1) McCall, Phil McKinnon (Warren Moore), 3:15. (2) McCall, Rob Dumas (Brett Gallagher, Dave Ingraham), 13:45, power play goal. (3) SV, Vilnis Nikolaisons 9 (Ivars Muzis), 16:45, power play goal.

SECOND PERIOD—(4) SV, Pat Finnegan 4 (Chris Warrington, John Stevens), 2:25. (5) SV, Ryan Enrico 7 (Luke Smith, Nikolaisons), 4:49. (6) SV, Finnegan 5 (Chris King), 5:31. (7) SV, Enrico 8 (Smith), 12:40. (8) McCall, Cal Ingraham (McKinnon, Dave Ingraham), 16:24, power play goal.

THIRD PERIOD—(9) McCall, Dumas (Gallagher), 7:57. (10) SV, Nikolaisons 10 (Smith), 14:41. (11) McCall, Troy Edwards (Dumas), 19:15. (12) McCall, McKinnon (Dumas), 19:56.

OVERTIME (5-minute sudden death)—(13) McCall, Dumas (unassisted), 1:26, hat trick and game-winning goal.

SHOTS ON GOAL—For McCall Mountaineers 7-10-9 for 26; for Sun Valley 18-20-12 for 50.

GOALIES—McCall Mountaineers, Mark Liebich (29 saves); SV, Ryan Thomson (23 saves, 4-2-0 season record).

OFFICIALS—Referee, John Olson; linesmen, Curtis Martin and Eric Wingard.

NOTES—Suns forward lines were Ryan Enrico-Luke Smith-Vilnis Nikolaisons, Chris King-John Stevens-Pat Finnegan, Chris Benson-Paul Baranzelli-John Miller, 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….Dumas, 35, a 6-0, 200-pounder from Spirit River, Alberta, played with these WHL, IHL and ECHL teams during his minor league hockey career from 1984-2001—Seattle Breakers, Seattle Thunderbirds, Peoria Rivermen, Spokane Chiefs, Greensboro Monarchs, Nashville Knights, Milwaukee Admirals, Knoxville Cherokees, Tallahassee Tiger Sharks, Fresno Falcons, Tacoma Sabercats and Cleveland Lumberjacks. And of course, with the Idaho Steelheads in Boise for three full seasons from 1997-2000, scoring 36 goals in 187 games….The Suns are now 23-22-19 in overtime outcomes over 29 seasons.

 

 

Mountaineers 5, Suns 2
Friday

McCall Mountaineers 1 3 1 5
Sun Valley Suns 0 0 2 2


FIRST PERIOD—(1) McCall, Cal Ingraham (unassisted), 17:37.

SECOND PERIOD—(2) McCall, Rick Bourbonnais (Pepe Ursillo), 6:20. (3) McCall, John Hill (Rob Dumas, Kelly Ursillo), 7:33. (4) McCall, John Howell (Brett Gallagher), 10:44, shorthanded goal.

THIRD PERIOD—(5) McCall, Troy Edwards (Gallagher, Cal Ingraham), 1:54, power play goal. (6) SV, Ryan Enrico 9 (Ivars Muzis, Luke Smith), 6:17, power play goal. (7) SV, Paul Baranzelli 8 (Chris Warrington), 13:12, power play goal.

SHOTS ON GOAL—For McCall Mountaineers 6-15-6 for 27; for Sun Valley 15-10-19 for 44.

GOALIES—McCall Mountaineers, Mark Liebich (42 saves); SV, Matt Gershater (12 saves, 5-4-0 season), first half of the game, and Ryan Thomson (10 saves), second half of the game.

OFFICIALS—Referee, John Olson; linesmen, Curtis Martin and John Heinrich.

NOTES—Rob Dumas of McCall led the weekend scoring parade with 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points. For the Suns, Luke Smith (0-4 for 4), Vilnis Nikolaisons (2-1 for 3) and Ryan Enrico (3-0 for 3) led the way…..Although Sun Valley outshot McCall 79-57 on the weekend, the Mountaineers outscored the Suns 12-8 and out-pointed their hosts 26-19 on the scoresheet…..Two former Suns skaters helped the Mountaineers to an early 4-0 lead—Rick Bourbonnais with the first goal of the second period, and John Howell with the third of three McCall goals in the second, shorthanded….Referee John Olson made a good comeback from a recent collarbone injury…..Rookie winger Chris King didn’t play tonight, having tweaked his knee in Friday’s OT loss.

 


2003-04 Sun Valley Suns
Season statistics

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

as of March 10, 2004

 PLAYER  GAMES  GOALS  AST.  PTS.  PMIN
 Vilnis Nikolaisons  16 10 13 23 4.0
 Ryan Enrico  16 9 13 22 14.0
 Jamie Ellison  14 7 12 19 24.0
 Luke Smith  16 10 8 18 11.0
 Ivars Muzis  14 5 12 17 2.0
 Paul Baranzelli  15 8 8 16 25.0
 Pat Finnegan  15 5 6 11 9.0
 Chris King  13 4 7 11 0.0
 John Stevens  15 5 5 10 14.0
 Eric Demment  9 5 4 9 8.0
 Chris Warrington  15 1 7 8 2.0
 Rohan Verplank  11 3 4 7 6.0
 John Miller  10 1 5 6 2.0
 Brian Watts  9 3 1 4 4.0
 Kris Webster  2 2 1 3 2.0
 Caleb Baukol  14 1 1 2 8.0
 Frank Salvoni  7 1 1 2 2.0
 J.J. Hanley  11 1 1 2 0.0
 Chris Benson  13 1 1 2 2.0
 Mike Selhay  7 0 2 2 13.0
 Matt Gershater  8 0 1 1 9.0
 Josh Jacobson  13 0 1 1 31.0
 Ryan Thomson  8 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 8 40 5-4-0 5.00
 Ryan Thomson 6.6 28 4-2-0 4.24
 James Moskos 1 7 0-1-0 7.00
 Bobby Farrelly 0.5 2 0-0-0 2.00

 

Shots—Gershater 262, Thomson 198, Moskos 41, Farrelly 14.
Saves—Gershater 222, Thomson 170, 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  21 29 28 1 79 4.9
Sun Valley  21 25 36 0 82 5.1

 

 

INDIVIDUAL MARKS


Two-goal games (12)—Luke Smith 2, Jamie Ellison 2, Vilnis Nikolaisons 2, Paul Baranzelli 2, Ryan Enrico 2, Pat Finnegan 1, John Stevens 1.

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

Game-winning goals—Eric Demment 1.

Power play goals (14-51, 27%)—Vilnis Nikolaisons 3, Eric Demment 2, Luke Smith 2, Ivars Muzis 2, Paul Baranzelli 2, Ryan Enrico 1, John Miller 1, Brian Watts 1. Power play goals (opposition): 11-50, (22%).

Shorthanded goals (3)—Ryan Enrico 1, Chris Warrington 1, Eric Demment 1. Shorthanded goals (opposition): 6.

Season penalty minutes: SV 194, opponents 207.

 

 

GAME RESULTS


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


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
March 5 (H) McCall Mountaineers 7, SV 6 (OT)
March 6 (H) McCall Mountaineers 5, Sun Valley 2

Homefinder

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