Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Suns, a little short, debut at Jackson Hole

Moose rivalry rekindled for 2008-09 opener


By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

They'll be patching together a representative team, but the Sun Valley Suns senior men's hockey team is full speed ahead to opening its 34th season of competition this coming weekend at Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12 and 13 at Snow King Center.

Sun Valley (12-6-0 last winter and 546-209-29 all-time) is looking at a 20-game slate for the 2008-09 winter season including 18 games on home ice at Sun Valley Skating Center and four games away from the barn.

Arch-rival Jackson Hole Moose (5-1-0) has already played six games this season and has the extra motivation this weekend of trying to snap a four-game winless skid to Sun Valley at Snow King Center dating to 2005. The scores of those Sun Valley wins in Wyoming were 5-3, 5-4, 5-3 and 4-3.

Last weekend, the Moose split two games against the McCall Mountaineers at Manchester Ice and Event Centre in McCall. McCall built a 4-1 lead Friday and withstood a 19-3 Moose shooting assault in the third period to prevail 5-4.

On Saturday, the Moose posted a 4-0 victory to go with their 8-6 and 5-3 home victories over the Missoula (Mt.) Cutthroats and 12-2 and 7-3 home sweep of the Cache Valley (Utah) Trappers in November.

Newly-crowned Suns all-time scoring leader Vilnis Nikolaisons, the 11th-year wing from Latvia, is one of the players on the Suns 28-player roster who won't be able to make the trip because of other commitments. Sixth-year goalie Ryan Thomson won't be going. Neither will Chris Warrington.

Suns captain and sixth-year defenseman Warrington said Monday about the Wyoming trip, "We're still seeing who can go. Like always we'll be traveling a little light. Some guys are out of town this weekend (like Vilnis and me) and some haven't been able to get out of work. But we'll still have at least three forward lines heading over there to give the Moose a few good games."

On the Suns roster are five rookies (Matt Alloway, Spencer Brendel, goalie Piers Lamb, Noah Loyd and Taylor Rothgeb) and 23 veterans with a combined total of 136 years of Suns playing time. Alternate captain John Miller, in his 17th year, will make the Moose trip.

Last winter was the first time since the Suns-Jackson Hole rivalry debuted in 1997-98 that the Suns didn't make it to Jackson Hole. A snowstorm closed eastern Idaho roads and prevented the Suns from making their scheduled trip for two games there last Feb. 8.

The Moose lead the 11-year series 27-18-1 including a 15-6-1 home record. But the Suns have enjoyed a 9-5-0 advantage the last four seasons. Last winter the teams split in Sun Valley, the Suns winning 5-4 last Feb. 29 and the Moose prevailing 4-1 Saturday, March 1.




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