The Sun Valley Suns gave it the old college try last weekend against a visiting New York City men's hockey team that was loaded with ex-Ivy League and eastern college hockey stars in the 26-to-28 age range.
But St. Nick's, winners of three of the last four USA Hockey Senior Elite national hockey championships, was too tough in its selective strikes and rode its talent to 9-6 and 5-4 wins at Sun Valley Skating Center.
And St. Nick's did it shorthanded, skating only 10 players and using only two forward lines. Defying conventional wisdom about the effect of Sun Valley's high altitude on visiting players from the city, St. Nick's looked almost fresher than the Suns at the end of the two-game series.
They just knew how to play.
Suns coach Chris Benson said, "They were so talented. Their defense was sharp. They knew how to conserve energy—doing a lot of home run passes. And their passes were so crisp that they were on the sticks of their forwards before any of our players could bat an eye."
Harvard and Yale hockey of the 1998 to 2000 vintage were well represented in two players who did much of the St. Nick's scoring damage—Harvard's Scott Turco (3 goals, 4 assists) and Yale's Jeff Brow (3 goals, 2 assists). Brow was second-team All-Ivy in 1999 and Turco helped Harvard to its first Ivy League title in six years in 2000.
They weren't alone. Union College's Brent Ozarowski scored two goals and had five points. Yale defenseman Jim Morrissey and Scott's brother Mark Turco, also Yale Class of 1999, had four points apiece, and RPI's Keith Dupee three.
Lake Forest goalie Jeff Sandreuter, who played in college with Suns co-captain Frank Salvoni, stopped 80 of 90 Suns shots.
He was a good-sized goalie, just as many of the St. Nick's players were big and physical, but the games weren't nearly as tough and physical as the previous weekend when the Suns played against the Weyburn Devils from Saskatchewan, Canada.
Still, Benson was pleased with the way the Suns responded to the challenge. He said, "I was happy with how we played. We showed some character, especially after coming out slowly Friday. We took the momentum from Friday's third period and carried it through to Saturday—coming out and getting the lead."
Friday, St. Nick's scored four unanswered goals in a 15-minute stretch covering the second and third periods to erase a 4-3 deficit and forge ahead 7-4. But the Suns never gave up and out-shot St. Nick's 22-8 in the third period. Goals by Salvoni and Ivars Muzis cut the leads to 7-5 and 8-6 in the third. That's as close as the Suns got in the 9-6 loss.
The Suns jumped out to 3-0 and 4-1 leads Saturday before St. Nick's climbed back into it on goals by Scott Turco (2), Ozarowski, Brow and head coach Dupee, who scored the winner.
Benson said afterward, "Our defense did a good job tonight. St. Nick's was finding the open man all the time Friday, but we tightened up in our zone tonight. And we had our chances in the third period. They just didn't go in. It happens."
Leading the way for the Suns were center Ryan McDonald and wing Scott Winkler. Benson said, "Ryan and Scottie were going balls-out all weekend. And Jamie Ellison played well tonight (Saturday)."
"George Jacket" winner was wing Caleb Baukol, the only Suns player to score in each game against St. Nick's.
Benson also had words of praise for back-up goalie John Bidon, who held St. Nick's to four goals Saturday and made 33 saves. "John did well. He hadn't seen a lot of rubber before," said Benson about Bidon, who skated as a forward in Friday's contest.
Boston skaters coming Friday
Although the Boston ReMax skaters coming to Sun Valley Jan. 20-21 may not be the caliber of St. Nick's, Suns coach Chris Benson expects a Beantown squad featuring a few ex-Division 1 college skaters and players fresh from the minors.
Game times are Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20-21 at 7 p.m. at Sun Valley Skating Center. Saturday's game is a benefit for Sun Valley Youth Hockey's Brett Sammis Scholarship Fund established in 1997 as a tribute to the local hockey player, skier and avid outdoorsman.
Due to play goalie in one of the games for Boston is Bobby "Kingpin" Farrelly, prominently featured on the "Parting Shot" back page of the Suns 2006 magazine lifting his brother Peter Farrelly in a feverishly perfect pose of over-the-top brotherly love.
After the Boston series, the Suns will have two weeks off to mend their injuries and await the arrival of the Philadelphia Independence Feb. 10.
Benson, who enjoyed a deep goaltender situation just two weeks ago that suddenly took a turn for the worse, is looking forward to the time off because of the injuries to Ryan Thomson (knee injury while skiing) and Colin Zulianello (sports hernia).
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St. Nick's 9, Suns 6
Friday
New York St. Nick's 3 2 4 9
Sun Valley Suns 3 1 2 6
FIRST PERIOD—(1) St. Nick's, Martin Lans (Henry Higdon, Scott Turco), 4:35. (2) SV, Scott Winkler 5 (Ryan McDonald, John Miller), 6:30. (3) St. Nick's, Brent Ozarowski (Keith Dupee), 10:27. (4) St. Nick's, Higdon (Jeff Brow, Scott Turco), 15:17. (5) SV, Caleb Baukol 2 (Frank Salvoni, Chris Warrington), 17:25. (6) SV, Eric Demment 4 (Paul Baranzelli, Vilnis Nikolaisons), 19:57.
SECOND PERIOD—(7) SV, McDonald 1 (Demment), 5:43. (8) St. Nick's, Brow (Higdon), 8:06. (9) St. Nick's, Scott Turco (Jim Morrissey, Dupee), 14:35.
THIRD PERIOD—(10) St. Nick's, Morrissey (Mark Turco, Sean Lindsay), 1:05. (11) St. Nick's, Lindsay (Ozarowski), 3:17. (12) SV, Salvoni 2 (Kris Webster, Baukol), 11:30. (13) St. Nick's, Brow (Scott Turco, Morrissey), 11:52. (14) SV, Ivars Muzis 3 (McDonald, Winkler), 15:11. (15) St. Nick's, Lindsay (Ozarowski, Dupee), 17:02.
SHOTS ON GOAL—For St. Nick's 22-13-8 for 43; for Sun Valley 11-12-22 for 45.
GOALIES—St. Nick's, Jeff Sandreuter (39 saves); SV, Colin Zulianello (2 1/4 periods, 30 saves, 3-1-0 season record) and David Stone (3/4 of a period, 4 saves).
OFFICIALS—Referee, John Olson; linesmen, Bobby Noyes and David Patrie.
NOTES—On the three Suns forward lines were Vilnis Nikolaisons-Paul Baranzelli-John Stevens/John Bidon, John Miller-Ryan McDonald-Scott Winkler, John Bidon/Frank Salvoni-D.W. Cook-Caleb Baukol. Ryan Enrico had the weekend off and Jamie Ellison missed a practice due to sickness this week, so he sat out. The defensemen were Chris Warrington, Eric Demment, Ivars Muzis, Kris Webster, Josh Jacobson and Trevor Thomas. Kris Webster had the weekend off.....Ryan McDonald's second-period goal gave the Suns a brief 4-3 lead. It was McDonald's first goal of the season, although observers generally agreed that the Sun Valley Junior Hockey product was the best Suns player on the ice against St. Nick's. McDonald and linemate Winkler applied tremendous pressure all game.....St. Nick's goalie Jeff Sandreuter was a first-team All-Conference goalie for Lake Forest College in 1988. He played on the same team with Suns co-captain Frank Salvoni. In fact, Sandreuter made a great glove save on Salvoni in the third period, just prior to giving up a goal to Salvoni on a wrist shot through traffic that cut the St. Nick's lead to 7-5. Salvoni said afterward that his shot saved by Sandreuter was by far the better shot....Sandreuter previously visited Sun Valley as goalie for the New England Wings in March 2002. He had less support in front of him and gave up 20 goals in two games as the Suns swept 10-3 and 10-4. This time, Sandreuter was about 10 to 12 years older than the other 26-ish skaters on his team but he still played great, making 80 saves for the weekend......Suns goalie Colin Zulianello had been virtually bulletproof in winning his first three games for the Suns. But he was suffering from the effects of a sports hernia and just couldn't stop the low shot. Zulianello removed himself from tonight's game after giving up the seventh St. Nick's goal and was replaced by David Stone.....The normal Suns Friday night goalie, Ryan Thomson, suffered an apparent MCL knee injury while skiing during the week—on his first run of the day—and of course didn't play tonight. Thomson hoped he'd be back playing in four to six weeks.....Playing with only five players on the bench, St. Nick's used mainly two forward lines—Henry Higdon-Scott Turco-Jeff Brow along with Sean Lindsay-Keith Dupee-Brent Ozarowski. The defending national champions had a ton of Division 1 college hockey experience. Head coach Dupee played for RPI's 22-13-2 team in 2000. Defensemen Jim Morrissey and Mark Turco were both on Yale's 1999 squad. Jeff Brow was second-team All-Ivy for Yale in 1999, Brent Ozarowski played for Union College, Higdon was a Harvard skater Class of 1998 and Martin Lans was Trinity College 2002.....Scott and Mark Turco, from Norwich, Vt., played prep baseball and hockey for Phillips Academy in 1995-96 before moving on to the Ivy League at rival schools. Scott Turco scored nine goals with 19 points for Harvard in its Ivy League championship season of 2000.
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St. Nick's 5, Suns 4
Saturday
New York St. Nick's 0 3 2 5
Sun Valley Suns 2 2 0 4
FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Kris Webster 2 (Ryan McDonald, John Miller), 8:59. (2) SV, Paul Baranzelli 3 (Vilnis Nikolaisons, Jamie Ellison), 17:59, power play goal.
SECOND PERIOD—(3) SV, Caleb Baukol 3 (Charles Friedman, Trevor Thomas), 2:56. (4) St. Nick's, Scott Turco (Jim Morrissey), 7:40, power play goal. (5) SV, D.W. Cook 1 (Miller), 8:57. (6) St. Nick's, Scott Turco (unassisted), 9:06. (7) St. Nick's, Jeff Brow (Scott Turco, Henry Higdon), 17:46.
THIRD PERIOD—(8) St. Nick's, Brent Ozarowski (Brow), 2:43. (9) St. Nick's, Keith Dupee (Sean Lindsay, Ozarowski), 15:37, game-winning goal.
SHOTS ON GOAL—For St. Nick's 13-18-7 for 38; for Sun Valley 17-17-11 for 45.
GOALIES—St. Nick's, Jeff Sandreuter (41 saves); SV, John Bidon (33 saves, 0-1-0 season record).
OFFICIALS—Referee, David Patrie; linesmen, Bobby Noyes and John Heinrich.
NOTES—St. Nick's outscored the Suns 14-10 for the weekend and out-pointed their hosts 34-28 led by Harvard's Scott Turco (3 goals, 4 assists).....Led by the forward line of John Miller-Ryan McDonald-Scott Winkler, the Suns had plenty of solid chances in the third period but couldn't sneak one by Sandreuter. The St. Nick's goalie just happened to be falling back after protecting a Miller-and-Josh Jacobson two-on-none early in the third period, and McDonald hit Sandreuter with a follow shot. Twenty seconds later Sandreuter stopped McDonald from the faceoff. Midway through the period, McDonald hit Winkler with a perfect cross-ice feed at the corner of the cage, but Scottie couldn't get a lot on the shot and Sandreuter covered up. And Miller tipped a whistling Eric Demment slapshot just wide of the net with two minutes remaining......For his part, Suns goalie Bidon did a good job keeping his team in the game in the third. He saved a Scott Turco wrist shot on transition then, on a St. Nick's power play, stopped Mark Turco twice from the point and Scott Turco once with a wrist shot. Bidon made a good save on a Sean Lindsay backhand close to the cage with seven minutes left, but was victimized by a Keith Dupee tip-in for the game winner with 4:23 on the clock after the Suns defense had trouble clearing the puck. The Suns back-up goalie was a little frustrated with his playing time in the forward position Friday, since he was rotating on several different lines, but he had plenty of action tonight and made 33 saves.....Recording their first points for the Suns tonight were Charles Friedman, Trevor Thomas and D.W. Cook.....Vilnis Nikolaisons, fifth-leading goal scorer in Suns history, is still looking for his first goal of the season....The Suns collectively got a little hot at the officiating in the third period, especially when Frank Salvoni was whistled for an elbow with 1:11 left. The Suns were just about to pull John Bidon for an extra attacker when Salvoni got the gate, but they still managed to get Bidon off the ice with 40 seconds left.....For the weekend series, St. Nick's (14 penalty minutes) was 1-for-7 on the power play while the Suns (20 penalty minutes) were 1-for-5 in man-advantage situations. For the season the Suns are 13-for-43 (31%) on the power play) while opponents are 5-for-41 (13%)......Center Ryan McDonald (1 goal, 3 assists for 4 points) was the top weekend Suns point-getter ahead of John Miller (0-3 for 3) and Caleb Baukol (2-1 for 3).....Baukol scored a goal each night and was awarded the "George Jacket," for the second time in his seven-year Suns career. Caleb doesn't score much, having entered the season with 8 goals and 11 assists in six winters as a Suns skater, but his 3-point weekend boosted his 2005-06 season total to 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points......Last season the Suns were deadly in the third period, scoring 50 goals in 19 games for an average of 2.64 goals per game in the final stanza. So far this season the Suns have scored only 9 goals in the third period, in eight games (1.13)....With his goal tonight, 12-year defenseman Kris Webster (75-125) reached the 200-point mark in his career, becoming only the 18th Suns player and fourth defenseman to hit the milestone....Wing John Miller (57-93) reached 150 points, good for 26th all-time....The Suns started last season 6-2, averaging 5.8 goals per game. This year they're 5-3, and 5.1 goals a game.
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2005-06 Sun Valley Suns Season statistics
(5-3-0 overall: 5-3-0 home, 0-0-0 away)
|
PLAYER
|
GAMES
|
GOALS
|
AST
|
PTS
|
PMIN
|
|
Jamie Ellison
|
7
|
7
|
6
|
13
|
36.0
|
|
Chris Warrington
|
8
|
4
|
6
|
10
|
8.0
|
|
Scott Winkler
|
8
|
5
|
4
|
9
|
0.0
|
|
Ryan McDonald
|
6
|
1
|
8
|
9
|
4.0
|
|
Vilnis Nikolaisons
|
8
|
0
|
9
|
9
|
6.0
|
|
Eric Demment
|
8
|
4
|
4
|
8
|
12.0
|
|
John Stevens
|
8
|
3
|
4
|
7
|
2.0
|
|
Paul Baranzelli
|
6
|
3
|
4
|
7
|
4.0
|
|
Ryan Enrico
|
5
|
3
|
3
|
6
|
8.0
|
|
Kris Webster
|
6
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
2.0
|
|
Ivars Muzis
|
8
|
3
|
2
|
5
|
12.0
|
|
Caleb Baukol
|
8
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
12.0
|
|
Frank Salvoni
|
8
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
6.0
|
|
John Miller
|
7
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
12.0
|
|
Kellen Chatterton
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
0.0
|
|
John Bidon
|
8
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
15.0
|
|
D.W. Cook
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
17.0
|
|
Trevor Thomas
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
10.0
|
|
Charles Friedman
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0.0
|
|
Ryan Thomson
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0.0
|
|
Blake Jenson
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0.0
|
|
Josh Jacobson
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4.0
|
|
Normunds Kreps
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2.0
|
|
Bryan Winkler
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0.0
|
|
Colin Zulianello
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2.0
|
|
David Stone
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0.90
|
|
GOALTENDER
|
GAMES
|
GOALS
|
W-L
|
AVG
|
|
Ryan Thomson
|
3
|
12
|
2-1-0
|
4.00
|
|
Colin Zulianello
|
3.75
|
11
|
3-1-0
|
2.94
|
|
John Bidon
|
1
|
5
|
0-1-0
|
5.00
|
|
David Stone
|
0.25
|
2
|
0-0-0
|
4.00
|
Shots—Zulianello 151, Thomson 118, Bidon 38, Stone 6.
Saves—Zulianello 140, Thomson 106, Bidon 33, Stone 4.
Shootout saves—0.
Shootout goals allowed—0.
Shutouts—Zulianello 1.
Empty net goals—0.
|
SCORE BY PERIODS
|
1ST
|
2ND
|
3RD
|
OT
|
TOT
|
|
Opposition
|
10
|
9
|
11
|
0
|
30, 3.8
|
|
Sun Valley
|
15
|
16
|
9
|
1
|
41, 5.1
|
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INDIVIDUAL MARKS
Two-goal games (4)—Jamie Ellison 2, Scott Winkler 1, Chris Warrington 1.
Hat tricks or more—0.
Game-winning goals—Eric Demment 1, Chris Warrington 1.
Power play goals (13-43, 31%)—Jamie Ellison 4, Eric Demment 2, Chris Warrington 2, Scott Winkler 1, Kris Webster 1, Ryan Enrico 1, John Stevens 1, Paul Baranzelli 1. Power play goals (opposition): 5-41, (13%).
Suns shorthanded goals—0. Shorthanded goals (opposition): 1.
Season penalty minutes: SV 174, opponents 169.
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GAME RESULTS
Total record: 5-3-0
Record in 1-goal games: 2-2
Record in overtime: 1-0-0
Games scoring 9 or more goals: 1
Games scoring 7 or more goals: 2
December 9 (H) Sun Valley 7, Park City Generals 4
December 10 (H) Sun Valley 9, Park City Generals 2
December 30 (H) McCall Mountaineers 4, Sun Valley 3
December 31 (H) Sun Valley 4, McCall Mountaineers 0
January 6 (H) Sun Valley 5, Weyburn Devils 4 (OT)
January 7 (H) Sun Valley 3, Weyburn Devils 2
January 13 (H) N.Y. St. Nick's 9, Sun Valley 6
January 14 (H) N.Y. St. Nick's 5, Sun Valley 4
Harvard's Scott Turco (3 goals, 4 assists weekend) chases Sun Valley Suns co-captain Chris Warrington (right) during last weekend's St. Nick's-Suns ice hockey series. Photo by Willy Cook
