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