The Utah All-Stars, a last-minute addition to the Sun Valley Suns hockey schedule last week, came up from Salt Lake City and saved what looked like a lost weekend for the Suns men's senior hockey squad.
Last Wednesday the Spokane (Wash.) Railors backed out of their commitment to travel to Sun Valley for the first of four straight Suns weekend series during January. But Utah threw together a team and battled Friday's snow and made it a good weekend.
The Suns (5-1-0) won both games 10-3 and 8-5 and out-shot the All-Stars 94-50. Not only did the Suns have an opportunity to play two games, they made it into a "scoresheet weekend," with many of their players putting points on the board.
Scoring their first Suns goals of the season were Charles Friedman, Sinjin Thomas, Jeremy Mylymok, Gunnar Gladics, Bryan Winkler and Kris Webster. In all, 13 different Suns scored goals. The home team out-pointed Utah 51-18 on the scoresheet.
Current scoring leader Vilnis Nikolaisons and Mylymok led Sun Valley with six points apiece. Suns coach Chris Benson used plenty of players and even skated one game himself, scoring a goal Saturday.
Check today's Express Web site for a summary from the Utah series and updated Suns season statistics.
Alberta skaters coming
Sun Valley resumes action Friday and Saturday, Jan. 11-12 with a two-game weekend series against the Innisfail Eagles from Alberta, Canada at Sun Valley Skating Center.
Opening faceoffs are 7 p.m. each night. Saturday's game is a benefit for the local non-profit Girls on the Run of the Wood River Valley.
Sun Valley, in its 33rd winter season, will seem like a young sprout hosting the Canadian Senior "AAA" Innisfail hockey team in its 60th season. The Eagles play in the Chinook Hockey League, the longest running competitive senior league in Western Canada.
It is Innisfail's first visit to Sun Valley. The Alberta squad plays games from October through February and had a record of 6-8 overall through the end of December 2007.
Girls on the Run is excited about Saturday's benefit, its third year teaming up with the Suns fundraising nights, according to executive director Mary Fauth of Hailey.
A mini-exhibition featuring girls' hockey players and supported by youth hockey coaches and Sunsets women's players will take place at the first intermission Saturday. A raffle Saturday will be held for two tickets to the Sun Valley Center's complete Summer Concert Series.
