The Jackson Hole Moose (5-6), arriving on Sun Valley ice this weekend for a big two-game weekend hockey series, probably think they've got the unbeaten Sun Valley Suns (14-0-0) just where they want them.
Moose—underdog. Suns—poised to be taken down hard.
But they play the game on the ice, not in pre-game conjecture. That's why local hockey fans will want to be shouldering up to the plexiglass and jamming the Beer Garden at Sun Valley Skating Center Friday and Saturday, Feb. 9-10 at 7 p.m. to see how it washes out.
First of all, it's been a tough season defensively for the Moose, who have allowed 64 goals in 11 games and just haven't had their usual offensive spark. The Jackson Hole schedule has been spotty, too. Last weekend, the Park City (Utah) Silver Kings canceled their scheduled two-game series at Snow King Center.
That means the Moose haven't played since traveling all the way up to Rossland, B.C., Canada Jan. 19-21 for the four-team Kokanee Cup. They went 1-2 in that tough meet, yielding 25 goals in three games and winning only their final contest 6-4 over the Rossland Warriors.
Meanwhile the Suns have been cruising along, outscoring opponents 89-53 in 14 games and boasting 10 different players with 10 or more points topped by Jamie Ellison (23), Ryan Enrico (21), Adam Swain (20) and Vilnis Nikolaisons (20).
Suns coach Chris Benson has said time and time again that everybody helps everybody out on this year's squad.
That theory was born out at Jackson Hole Jan. 12-13 when the Suns amassed an unusually high total of 17 assists in sweeping the Moose 5-3 and 5-4 on a bitterly cold weekend.
This weekend in Sun Valley, the Moose are looking for something to make their year.
And the Suns are looking to avoid what happened last winter, when they swept the Moose 5-3 and 4-3 at Snow King Center and then came back and dropped two games 4-3 and 5-3 to Jackson Hole on Sun Valley ice—bringing an end to an eight-game winning streak.
"We don't want a repeat of last year so we can't let up at all," said Benson. "I'll need to get through to the guys that if we continue playing solid and disciplined hockey, everything should be fine."
To reverse last year's fortunes, the Suns will have to play more like they play at Snow King Center.
In going 4-0 there the last two years, Sun Valley has grabbed the leads and kept them behind stifling defense and outstanding goalkeeping. Too often this season, opposing teams have scored first and the high-scoring Suns have had to put together rallies and bursts of goals to win their games.
It has worked so far, but there's one more thing some of the older Moose can remember and take heart from.
Back on Feb. 2, 2002, the Suns were 15-0-0 and had 22 consecutive victories over two seasons before the Moose edged their arch-rivals 2-1 in the Saturday game at Sun Valley.
The Moose (11-9 on Sun Valley ice, 15-6-1 at home) still lead 26-15-1 in the nine-year series.
By the way, they almost made the championship game of the Kokanee Cup three weeks ago. After losing to the Powell River Regals 14-0 in their first game, the Moose took the Trail Senior Smoke Eaters to four overtimes before falling 7-6. Powell River went on to beat Trail 5-3 for the title.
And check out Jon Duval's Notes from the Locker Room about the Seattle Indians, this week on the Express Web site.
