Friday, December 30, 2005

Suns look to shine over McCall

Home series starts 7 p.m. Friday


Suns defenseman Josh Jacobson rushes the puck up the ice in a recent game. Photo by Willy Cook

With a roaster that includes a former Canadian National Team goalie and a host of former Idaho Steelhead minor league hockey players, McCall's Manchester Mountaineers will be loaded with experience and talent when they visit Sun Valley for a two-game series with the Suns starting tonight.

The games will be played at the Sun Valley Skating Center tonight and Saturday night, Dec. 30 and 31. Face off is at 7 p.m. for both games.

"It's going to be an exciting weekend," said Suns head coach Chris Benson. "It should be fast paced, they know how to move the puck quickly.

The Mountaineers are expected to start Blair Allison in net. Allison, 33, from Golden, B.C., Canada, was the goalie for the University of Maine from 1993-96. He tended net for the Canadian National Team in 1996-97, wracking up an impressive 22-5-2 record. Before joining the Mountaineers, he played for the Idaho Steelheads from 2001-05 and was also an assistant coach last year.

The Suns Ryan Thomson and Colin Zulianello will start in goal Friday and Saturday night, respectively.

Behind Jamie Ellison's four goals and three assists, the Suns jumpstarted the season with back-to-back home wins against Park City (7-4, 9-2) over the Dec. 9-10 weekend.

The line of Ellison, Paul Baranzelli and Vilnis Nikolaisons combined for six goals and nine assists against Park City. Baranzelli is in Minnesota for the holidays and will not play this weekend.

Benson said the key to victory will be tight, disciplined defense.

"We don't want to get into a shooting match with this team," he said. "If you don't play tight defense against them, the game gets pretty lopsided in their favor."

The Mountaineers split a season opening series with the Jackson Hole Moose Dec. 9-10, losing the first game 8-3 before rebounding for a 5-4 victory.

McCall leads the two-year series with the Suns 10-5-1. They've taken six of eight games against the Suns on Sun Valley ice.




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