It was a bracket-busting weekend when John Wesley Harding's "I'm Wrong About Everything," applied to the majority of NCAA men's basketball tournament forecasters.
But the Sun Valley Suns men's hockey players were just satisfied clients, in the words of Cypress Hill's Dr. Greenthumb, when it came to the weekend visit of the Portland All-Stars.
The Suns (16-6) finished their 2005-06 home season with a bang and saluted their loyal fans afterward with the traditional salute of upraised sticks as they skated off the ice for the final time Saturday night at Sun Valley Skating Center.
Sun Valley enjoyed a scoresheet weekend, piling up 16 goals and 45 points in its 9-2 and 7-1 sweep of outmatched Portland. The All-Stars, sponsored by Dr. Greenthumb, had a big problem of keeping up. The Suns (132 shots) seemed to be playing keep-away at times.
Only goalie J.J. Weeks (116 saves) kept Portland close.
For the Suns, it was an opportunity to get everybody into the act and there were plenty of highlights. Veteran John Stevens scored twice Friday, getting his 100th career Suns goal. Twelfth-year blueliner Kris Webster had two goals Friday.
Rookie Gunnar Gladics tallied his first-ever Suns goal in his first-ever game Saturday. Rookie wing Rian Timmons had his first assist Friday, and first-year wing Charles Friedman recorded his second goal.
Atop the highlight list were a couple of three-goal hat tricks recorded by perhaps the top Suns offensive and defensive players of a solid 2005-06 season—center Ryan McDonald (11 goals) and defenseman Chris Warrington (24 points).
McDonald's hat trick, his second of the season, came in Friday's 9-2 rout. Warrington poured it on with three goals in Sun Valley's six-goal third period Saturday that broke open a relatively close 1-1 contest.
Suns goalies Colin Zulianello (8-2-0, 30 saves Saturday) and John Bidon (5-3-0, 30 saves Friday) were solid as a rock behind the rock-solid defense.
And the exemplary Suns penalty killing units showed their stuff, erasing nine of 10 All-Star power play threats with precision passing and skating. "I can definitely be happy with the season," said Suns head coach Chris Benson.
Finale at McCall this weekend
Their 2005-06 home season is over, but the Sun Valley Suns have one more hurdle when they visit McCall's Manchester Ice and Event Centre for an April Fool's weekend series with the McCall Mountaineers.
McCall boasts former minor league players like Cal Ingraham and Rob Dumas and is experienced and battle tested.
Game times are 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 31 and 7 p.m. Saturday, April 1. The teams split two games over New Year's Eve weekend in Sun Valley—McCall winning 4-3 Friday and Zulianello posting the only Suns shutout of the season 4-0 Saturday.
Zulianello's 39-save effort was the only shutout in the 18-game series between the two teams. McCall leads 11-6-1 in the three-year rivalry, but the Mountaineers are best on Sun Valley ice, with a 7-3 edge. McCall leads 4-3-1 at home.
Although the Suns won two of the first three games between the two teams in last winter's eight-game set, Sun Valley has won one of the last seven meetings—Zulianello's shutout—including McCall's 8-5 and 4-3 sweep in Sun Valley that ended the 2005 season.
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SUNS 9, ALL-STARS 2
Friday, March 24
Portland All-Stars 1 1 0 2
Sun Valley Suns 2 4 3 9
FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Ryan McDonald 9 (Ryan Enrico, Scott Winkler), 13:48. (2) SV, John Stevens 6 (Jamie Ellison), 14:05. (3) Portland, Bob Dinsmore (Miche Michon), 18:32.
SECOND PERIOD—(4) SV, Stevens 7 (Vilnis Nikolaisons, Ellison), 1:03. (5) SV, Caleb Baukol 4 (Eric Demment, Frank Salvoni), 7:04. (6) SV, Kris Webster 4 (Stevens, Josh Jacobson), 8:39. (7) Portland, Michon (unassisted), 12:48. (8) SV, Enrico 7 (McDonald, Demment), 19:04, power play goal.
THIRD PERIOD—(9) SV, Webster 5 (Trevor Thomas, Rian Timmons), 4:12. (10) SV, McDonald 10 (Webster, Demment), 4:42. (11) SV, McDonald 11 (Scott Winkler, Enrico), 12:10, hat trick goal.
SHOTS ON GOAL—Portland 8-16-8 for 32; Sun Valley 26-21-19 for 66.
GOALIES—Portland, J.J. Weeks (57 saves); SV, John Bidon (30 saves, 5-3-0 record).
OFFICIALS— Referee, Geoff Sneed; linesmen, Dave Patrie and Curt Martin.
NOTES—John Stevens, 11th-year Suns wing, made it to 100 career Suns goals with two goals tonight. He's only the eighth Suns skater to reach that milestone. He finished the weekend in ninth place all-time with 100 goals and 156 assists for 256 points..... Suns forward lines were Ryan Enrico-Ryan McDonald-Scott Winkler (10 points tonight); Vilnis Nikolaisons-Jamie Ellison-John Stevens; Frank Salvoni-D.W. Cook-Caleb Baukol; Rian Timmons-Trevor Thomas-Charles Friedman. With Ivars Muzis out-of-town trying to ace his U.S. citizenship exam, Suns defensemen were Kris Webster-Chris Warrington, Eric Demment-Paul Baranzelli and Josh Jacobson......Tonight's 9-goal outburst equaled Sun Valley's season high achieved twice, in a 9-2 home win over the Park City Generals Dec. 10 and a 9-2 home victory over the Minneapolis Gorillas Feb. 18. Both of those were Saturday night games, after relatively close Friday contests.....His assist on Kris Webster's third-period goal was Rian Timmons' first Suns point, and Josh Jacobson recorded his first assist on Webster's second period tally....Tonight was the Suns' 510th victory in 31 seasons. They've lost 200....With three points tonight, defenseman Kris Webster (78-128 for 206) moved past Dale "Sluggo" Johnson into 15th place on the all-time Suns scoring list.
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SUNS 7, ALL-STARS 1
Saturday, March 25
Portland All-Stars 0 1 0 1
Sun Valley Suns 1 0 6 7
FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Gunnar Gladics 1 (Ryan McDonald, Scott Winkler), 9:00.
SECOND PERIOD—(2) Portland, Miche Michon (Justin Cook, Matt Rude), 14:36, power play goal.
THIRD PERIOD—(3) SV, Chris Warrington 7 (Paul Baranzelli), 5:03, power play goal. (4) SV, Baranzelli 9 (Ryan Enrico), 13:52, shorthanded goal. (5) SV, Charles Friedman 2 (Jamie Ellison, Vilnis Nikolaisons), 15:35. (6) SV, Warrington 8 (Josh Jacobson), 17:42. (7) SV, Enrico 8 (McDonald, Scott Winkler), 17:53. (8) SV, Warrington 9 (Baranzelli), 19:53, hat trick goal.
SHOTS ON GOAL—Portland 9-11-11 for 31; Sun Valley 22-23-21 for 66.
GOALIES—Portland, J.J. Weeks (59 saves); SV, Colin Zulianello (30 saves, 8-2-0 record).
OFFICIALS—Referee, Geoff Sneed; linesmen, John Olson and Eric Wingard.
NOTES—Suns coach Chris Benson said he shook up his forward lines a little tonight, with the changes benefiting players whose playing time had been limited throughout the season. On the right wing with left wing Vilnis Nikolaisons and center Jamie Ellison was rookie Rian Timmons. Left wing Gunnar Gladics, a Sun Valley Junior Hockey product, went with center Ryan McDonald and right wing Scott Winkler, both also from the Sun Valley junior program. Also matched were Caleb Baukol-Ryan Enrico-Charles Friedman, and Frank Salvoni-D.W. Cook-Trevor Thomas....Chris Warrington, who entered the season with 7 goals and 34 points in two Suns seasons, had his first Suns hat trick tonight. He is having an outstanding year with 9 goals and 15 assists......"George Jacket" winner Gladics scored the first Suns goal tonight and he also contributed to the second. His hard work with the body in the Portland zone drew an interference penalty early in the third period, and Warrington buried a wrist shot just five seconds into the power play.....Defenseman Eric Demment knew he wasn't going to be able to play in McCall this coming weekend, so he got in his licks during a second-period fight—one of the few fights on Sun Valley ice this winter—and got tossed out of the game for fighting.....This is the first full winter of the Suns "zero tolerance" policy toward fighting. Surprisingly it hasn't reduced the number of penalty minutes, at least compared to last winter. The Suns are averaging 20.7 penalty minutes per game, and opponents 16.5, for a total of 37 between the two teams each game. Last winter the Suns averaged 14.3 per game, opponents 12.6, for about 27 per game.....Jamie Ellison has gone from 31 penalty minutes to 100 penalty minutes, quite a few of those misconducts.....This was the seventh series the Suns have swept this winter, six at home....For the weekend the Suns outscored the All-Stars 16-3, out-shot the visitors 132-63 and outpointed Portland 45-6 on the scoresheet.....Leading the point parade were Ryan McDonald (3 goals, 3 assists for 6 points), Ryan Enrico (2-3 for 5) and Scott Winkler (0-5 for 5)....Vilnis Nikolaisons (126-205 for 331) is only one point behind John "Bump" Finnegan for third place on the all-time Suns career scoring list. Nikolaisons apologized to linesman Eric Wingard at the end of the second period, after Vilnis had inadvertently winged a too-close-for-comfort puck past Wingard along the side boards on a penalty-killing situation....Scott Winkler (48-51 for 99) is one point away from the century mark on the career scoring list....The Suns created about six excellent shorthanded chances on a five-minute Portland power play at the end of the second period. Jamie Ellison, Scott Winkler, Ryan Enrico and Frank Salvoni all had good chances—and defenseman Paul Baranzelli banged away with about eight good chances in the third period before he finally scored with a little backhand, shorthanded, for a 3-1 Suns lead....The Suns were 2-for-5 on the power play, Portland 1-for-10. Weekend penalty minutes were Sun Valley 49, Portland 38.
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2005-06 Sun Valley Suns Season statistics
(16-6-0 overall: 14-6-0 home, 2-0-0 away)
|
PLAYER
|
GAMES
|
GOALS
|
AST.
|
PTS.
|
PMIN
|
|
Vilnis Nikolaisons
|
22
|
11
|
23
|
34
|
10.0
|
|
Ryan McDonald
|
20
|
11
|
18
|
29
|
8.0
|
|
Scott Winkler
|
22
|
10
|
16
|
26
|
2.0
|
|
Jamie Ellison
|
18
|
10
|
14
|
24
|
100.0
|
|
Chris Warrington
|
22
|
9
|
15
|
24
|
20.0
|
|
Eric Demment
|
18
|
5
|
16
|
21
|
45.0
|
|
Paul Baranzelli
|
20
|
9
|
9
|
18
|
32.0
|
|
Ryan Enrico
|
13
|
8
|
10
|
18
|
18.0
|
|
John Stevens
|
18
|
7
|
8
|
15
|
2.0
|
|
Ivars Muzis
|
18
|
6
|
7
|
13
|
18.0
|
|
Frank Salvoni
|
21
|
7
|
5
|
12
|
8.0
|
|
Kris Webster
|
17
|
5
|
7
|
12
|
32.0
|
|
John Miller
|
16
|
2
|
10
|
12
|
18.0
|
|
Caleb Baukol
|
21
|
4
|
4
|
8
|
24.0
|
|
D.W. Cook
|
18
|
4
|
1
|
5
|
19.0
|
|
Trevor Thomas
|
20
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
48.0
|
|
John Bidon
|
16
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
15.0
|
|
Charles Friedman
|
12
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
0.0
|
|
Josh Jacobson
|
22
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
20.0
|
|
Kellen Chatterton
|
6
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
2.0
|
|
Bryan Winkler
|
12
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2.0
|
|
Gunnar Gladics
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0.0
|
|
Rian Timmons
|
12
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2.0
|
|
Ryan Thomson
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0.0
|
|
Blake Jenson
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0.0
|
|
Normunds Krepss
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2.0
|
|
Chris King
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0.0
|
|
Colin Zulianello
|
11
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4.0
|
|
David Stone
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0.0
|
-------------------------------------------------------
|
GOALTENDER
|
GAMES
|
GOALS
|
W-L
|
AVG.
|
|
Colin Zulianello
|
10
|
26
|
8-2-0
|
2.60
|
|
John Bidon
|
8
|
27
|
5-3-0
|
3.38
|
|
Ryan Thomson
|
3
|
12
|
2-1-0
|
4.00
|
|
David Stone
|
1
|
5
|
1-0-0
|
5.00
|
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Shots—Zulianello 370, Bidon 263, Thomson 118, Stone 48.
Saves—Zulianello 344, Bidon 236, Thomson 106, Stone 43.
Shootout saves—0.
Shootout goals allowed—0.
Shutouts—Zulianello 1.
Empty net goals—1.
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|
SCORE BY PERIODS
|
1ST
|
2ND
|
3RD
|
OT
|
TOT
|
|
Opposition
|
17
|
29
|
25
|
0
|
71, 3.2
|
|
Sun Valley
|
37
|
35
|
40
|
2
|
114, 5.2
|
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INDIVIDUAL MARKS
Two-goal games (14)—Vilnis Nikolaisons 3, Jamie Ellison 2, Scott Winkler 1, Chris Warrington 1, Paul Baranzelli 1, Ryan Enrico 1, Frank Salvoni 1, D.W. Cook 1, John Miller 1, John Stevens 1, Kris Webster 1.
Three-goal hat tricks (or more)—Ryan McDonald 2, Vilnis Nikolaisons 1, Chris Warrington 1.
Game-winning goals—Ryan McDonald 2, Chris Warrington 2, Eric Demment 1, Frank Salvoni 1, Paul Baranzelli 1.
Power play goals (22-78, 28%)—Jamie Ellison 4, Vilnis Nikolaisons 4, Chris Warrington 3, Scott Winkler 2, Paul Baranzelli 2, Eric Demment 2, Ryan Enrico 2, Kris Webster 1, John Stevens 1, Frank Salvoni 1. Power play goals (opposition): 14-102, (14%).
Suns shorthanded goals (5)—Frank Salvoni 1, John Stevens 1, Jamie Ellison 1, Vilnis Nikolaisons 1, Paul Baranzelli 1. Shorthanded goals (opposition): 2.
Season penalty minutes: SV 457, opponents 363.
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GAME RESULTS
Total record: 16-6-0
Record in 1-goal games: 6-4
Record in overtime: 2-0-0
Games scoring 9 or more goals: 3
Games scoring 7 or more goals: 6
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
January 20 (H) Sun Valley 4, Boston ReMax Rangers 3
January 21 (H) Sun Valley 7, Boston ReMax Rangers 2
February 10 (H) Sun Valley 5, Philadelphia Independence 3
February 11 (H) Sun Valley 5, Philadelphia Independence 2
February 17 (H) Sun Valley 4, Minneapolis Gorillas 3 (OT)
February 18 (H) Sun Valley 9, Minneapolis Gorillas 2
February 24 (A) Sun Valley 5, Jackson Hole Moose 3
February 25 (A) Sun Valley 4, Jackson Hole Moose 3
March 10 (H) Jackson Hole Moose 4, Sun Valley 3
March 11 (H) Jackson Hole Moose 5, Sun Valley 3
March 17 (H) Sun Valley 5, Seattle Indians 4
March 18 (H) Seattle Indians 4, Sun Valley 3
March 24 (H) Sun Valley 9, Portland (Ore.) All-Stars 2
March 25 (H) Sun Valley 7, Portland (Ore.) All-Stars 1
