In a well played and exciting men's ice hockey series, the Langley Senior Chiefs from British Columbia, Canada edged the host Sun Valley Suns 5-2 and 4-3 last Friday and Saturday at Sun Valley Skating Center. Power-play goals by Bryan O'Connell and Ryan Enrico kept the Suns close Friday night, but Langley stretched its early 2-0 and 3-1 leads into the 5-2 victory. Suns goalie Ryan Thomson stopped 39 of 44 shots. It was Sun Valley's first home loss.
The Suns (7-3-0) got two goals by defenseman Bryan Winkler in the first period Saturday, but Langley had three of its own in the same 20 minutes. A pretty two-on-one between Jamie Ellison and goal scorer Chad Levitan pulled the Suns to within one goal at 4-3 in the third period, but that's the way the score remained.
Saturday's game was a benefit for Sun Valley Adaptive Sports.
The Suns resume action Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28-29 against the Utah County Blizzard from Provo. Opening faceoffs are 7 p.m. each night on resort ice. Saturday's game benefits Sun Valley Pony Club.
Sun Valley hosted the same Utah Blizzard team over New Year's weekend and swept a 6-5 and 2-1 set.
Check the Express Web site for a Langley Senior Chiefs summary.
Suns Summary
SENIOR CHIEFS 5, SUNS 2
Friday, JANUARY 21
Langley Sr. Chiefs 2 1 2 5
Sun Valley Suns 0 1 1 2
FIRST PERIOD—(1) Langley, Chris Difrancescantonio (Tanner Rattray, Stuart Bamscher), 7:54. (2) Langley, Gary Butler (Denis Sememov), 19:25.
SECOND PERIOD—(3) SV, Bryan O'Connell 8 (Blake Jenson, Josh Jacobson), 6:15, power play goal. (4) Langley, Semenov (Lance Reid, Jessen Barber), 15:59.
THIRD PERIOD—(5) SV, Ryan Enrico 6 (O'Connell), 1:16, power play goal. (6) Langley, Butler (Reid), 9:31, power play goal. (7) Langley, Mike Bardt (Corey Anderson), 10:41.
SHOTS ON GOAL—Langley Senior Chiefs 18-12-14 for 44; Sun Valley 9-8-8 for 25.
GOALIES—Langley Senior Chiefs, Stan Gregorowich (23 saves); Sun Valley, Ryan Thomson (39 saves, 6-2-0 record).
OFFICIALS—John Heinrich and John Olson.
NOTES—Tonight was the first home loss of the season for Sun Valley after 6 wins......Saturday's game this weekend was a benefit for Sun Valley Adaptive Sports.......The Utah County Blizzard from Provo is returning for another 2-game series at Sun Valley Skating Center Jan. 28-29. The Suns swept the Blizzard 6-5 and 2-1 in two close games over New Year's weekend Dec. 31-Jan. 1. The Saturday night game Jan. 29 is a benefit for Sawtooth Pony Club.
SENIOR CHIEFS 4, SUNS 3
SATURDAY, JANUARY 22
Langley Sr. Chiefs 3 1 0 4
Sun Valley Suns 2 0 1 3
FIRST PERIOD—(1) Langley, Corey Anderson (Mike Bardt), 2:39. (2) SV, Bryan Winkler 1 (Bryan O'Connell, Jon Duval), 8:40. (3) Langley, Anderson (Sean Stouse, Bardt), 11:03. (4) Langley, Chris Defrancescantonio (unassisted), 14:24. (5) SV, Winkler 2 (Charles Friedman), 14:42.
SECOND PERIOD—(6) Langley, Lance Reid (Difrancescantonio), 19:23.
THIRD PERIOD—(7) SV, Chad Levitan 9 (Jamie Ellison, Ivars Muzis), 5:41.
SHOTS ON GOAL—Langley Senior Chiefs 14-12-7 for 33; Sun Valley 8-9-8 for 25.
GOALIES—Langley Senior Chiefs, Stan Gregorowich (22 saves); Sun Valley, Ryan Thomson (29 saves, 6-3-0 record).
OFFICIALS—John Heinrich and John Olson.
NOTES—Suns forward lines were Matt Ward-Bryan O'Connell-Ryan Enrico, Chad Levitan-Jamie Ellison-John Miller, Cody Proctor-Charles Friedman-Taylor Rothgeb. The defensemen were Jon Duval, Ivars Muzis, Bryan Winkler, Trevor Thomas, Blake Jenson and Josh Jacobson. Back-up goaltender was David Stone......The Suns were 2-for-9 on the power play this weekend, and Langley was 1-for-5. The Suns had 16 penalty minutes and Langley 24.....Through 10 games, the Suns have 224 penalty minutes and opponents have 148, while the Suns are 10-for-40 on the power play and opponents 9-for-54.......Suns weekend scoring leader was Bryan O'Connell (1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points).....Langley forward lines were Trevor Toulmin-Lance Reid-Gary Butler, Stuart Bamscher-Tanner Rattray-Chris Difrancescantonio, Mike Bardt-Lee Bardt-Corey Anderson. The Chiefs defensemen were Jeff Herrington, Sean Stouse, Jessen Barber and Dillon O'Krane.
2010-11 Sun Valley Suns statistics
(7-3-0 overall: 6-2-0 home, 1-1-0 away)
PLAYER GAMES GOALS AST. PTS. PMIN
Ryan Enrico 10 6 10 16 20.0
Bryan O'Connell 6 8 7 15 0.0
Chad Levitan 10 9 2 11 15.0
Jon Duval 9 2 8 10 24.0
Matt Ward 10 3 5 8 8.0
Jordan Pritchett 4 5 2 7 4.0
Blake Jenson 6 1 5 6 2.0
Taylor Rothgeb 9 4 1 5 6.0
Vilnis Nikolaisons 4 2 3 5 6.0
Eric Demment 3 2 3 5 2.0
Charles Friedman 8 1 4 5 2.0
Trevor Thomas 8 2 2 4 30.0
Jamie Ellison 4 2 2 4 2.0
Zak Greenawalt 7 0 4 4 14.0
Ivars Muzis 9 0 4 4 6.0
Bryan Winkler 3 2 1 3 4.0
Cody Proctor 9 1 2 3 11.0
Sean Rynes 6 1 2 3 10.0
John Stevens 6 0 3 3 7.0
Josh Jacobson 7 0 2 2 12.0
Danny Ward 4 1 0 1 13.0
Sinjin Thomas 2 1 0 1 4.0
Ryan Thomson 9 0 1 1 2.0
John Miller 2 0 1 1 0.0
Kellen Corrigan 2 0 1 1 0.0
Noah Loyd 3 0 0 0 0.0
Kris Webster 5 0 0 0 9.0
Mike Connor 3 0 0 0 0.0
Peter Stevenson 2 0 0 0 2.0
Caleb Baukol 2 0 0 0 7.0
Bobby Sloper 1 0 0 0 0.0
Mat Gershater 1 0 0 0 0.0
GOALTENDER GAMES GOALS W-L AVG.
Ryan Thomson 9 27 6-3-0 3.00
Mat Gershater 1 4 1-0-0 4.00
Shots—Thomson 295, Gershater 20. Saves—Thomson 268, Gershater 16. Shootout saves—0. Shootout goals allowed—0. Shutouts—Ryan Thomson 1. Empty net goals—0.
SCORE BY PERIODS 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOT
Opposition 12 15 4 0 31, 3.1
Sun Valley 18 9 26 0 53, 5.3
