Wednesday — March 17, 2004

Vilnis spells victory
in OT shootout

Enrico’s game winner
gets an overtime sweep

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By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

In his six seasons with the Sun Valley Suns since coming to Idaho from Latvia, 29-year-old wing Vilnis Nikolaisons has done everything for the Suns except drive the Zamboni.

Vilnis Nikolaisons delivers the shootout game-winner through the legs of Camels goalie Todd Shestok Friday. It was his 100th goal as a Suns player. Express photo by Willy Cook

Quick, shifty and smart, he’s a typical European player. His ability to see the whole ice is remarkable, which makes Vilnis dangerous each time he touches the puck. Rarely does Nikolaisons make a play that isn’t the perfect solution for the situation at hand.

A consummate team player, he’s there to help whenever a teammate gets in trouble with the puck or gets rousted about along the boards. He does it quietly, with one idea in mind, the success of the team. He’d rather hand out an assist than score a goal.

But Nikolaisons, who has learned English and built a reputation as a housepainter and married just recently, has scored plenty for the Suns since first visiting the resort while trying out for a minor league hockey team in Boise back in the fall of 1998.

Suns home-grown rookies Ryan McDonald (left) and Trevor Thomas celebrated a Suns goal. Express photo by Willy Cook

He won the Suns scoring title his first season, 1998-99, and will likely add a second title this season. In between, Nikolaisons has been the second-highest Suns scorer four times.

Already, he’s #7 on the all-time list with 264 points in six seasons, an average of 44 points each winter. If he played as many seasons, 18, as all-time leaders Bobby Noyes (408) and Glenn Hunter (362), he’d have 792 points.

You could make a good argument that Nikolaisons—who has an incredibly low total of 18 penalty minutes in his last 94 games—could be the best-ever Suns player by the time he retires.

But never, not once prior to last Friday night, had gentlemanly Vilnis Nikolaisons stood at the red line with the chance to single-handedly win a Suns game in an overtime shootout.

Chris King, Suns first-year wing from Rhode Island and Bowdoin College, did everything but score last weekend, but he created a slew of scoring chances. Express photo by Willy Cook

It was down to the ultimate wire in the Suns’ game against the Connecticut Camels, a solid, young team made up of many players who had played hockey for Connecticut College.

And the Camels boasted an outstanding goalie in Todd Shestok, 29, who had played three seasons of minor league hockey for the WCHL Fresno Fighting Falcons from 1996-99.

The score, 2-2 after three periods of dandy regulation play, was tied 3-3.

Four previous shooters on each team had tried, and only one on each team had scored a shootout goal against Shestok (50 saves) and Suns goalie Ryan Thomson (49 saves), also having a terrific game between the pipes. It boiled down to Nikolaisons.

Suns coach Chris Benson said, "It was a good situation for us—our best player standing on the red line with the puck between him and the goalie. Vilnis has a tendency to make goalies look bad." Even good goalies, that is.

It was his stage, certainly something he’s not completely comfortable with, but Vilnis made it look easy. He skated in and whipped a low shot through Shestok’s legs and into the net—his 100th goal as a Suns player.

The Suns, who had squandered a 2-0 lead and seemed likely to suffer their fourth straight loss, celebrated wildly around their quiet leader.

Benson said, "He saw the gaping five hole and popped it." Nikolaisons was almost apologetic about beating Shestok, saying afterward about taking and making the game-winning shot, "I had to—the hole was too big."

Nikolaisons made coach Benson’s choice of shooters look pretty good. The first four shooters were all rookie Suns players, but only Sun Valley Junior Hockey product Ryan McDonald, 20, of Hailey—the first shooter—made his attempt, with a shoulder fake and a shot beating Shestok high.

"We were hoping we didn’t need Vilnis, but we were also hoping we could get to him," said Benson.

Helping the Suns "get to" fifth and final shooter Nikolaisons was rookie goalie Thomson, who stopped 32 of 34 Camels shots in the second and third periods. "Ryan definitely kept us in the game," said Benson.

Thomson certainly kept the Suns in the shootout. He stopped Ben Smith with his right pad and J.F. Duschere with his left pad, yielded a low wrist shot by Skip Miller that tied it 1-1, then stopped Gerry Rinn with his chest and B.J. Nault with his arm.

And, after Nikolaisons made his shot and gave the talented Suns goalie from New England College his first Suns OT victory, Thomson was about the first player to congratulate Vilnis.

Amazingly, Thomson added another 4-3 overtime victory in 24 hours.

The Suns did it the hard way Saturday, rallying from a 3-1 deficit with two goals in the final two minutes including Luke Smith’s equalizer with just two seconds left and Thomson off the ice in favor of an extra attacker.

Then rookie Ryan Enrico, darting down the center of the ice, took a centering pass from Ryan McDonald and tumbled into the net past Shestok to score the winner midway through the five-minute overtime period.

Thomson made 29 saves and Shestok was immense, with 48 saves.

Benson said, "Connecticut’s goalie stood on his head for two nights. It was nice to crack him at the end. Our comeback win showed a lot of character, and it was definitely a good way to end our season at home. Ryan Thomson had another great weekend."

Things didn’t look good for the Suns deep into the third period.

Trailing 3-1, the home team got a break from a five-on-three power play and defenseman Eric Demment took advantage. Demment drilled home a low shot with Ivars Muzis jamming the crease. The power play goal made it 3-2. It stayed that way as time ticked off.

Goalie Thomson skated off the ice and the Suns inserted an extra attacker in the final 20 seconds. They kept it in the Camels zone. Enrico chased down the puck behind the net and got it to Luke Smith at the side of the net. With only two seconds left, Smith punched it toward the Camels goal.

"Luke threw it toward the net and it looked like it went in off the goalie’s foot," said Benson. That made it 3-3.

Playing an NHL-style four-on-four overtime for the first time, the Suns capitalized on youth, quickness and speed in the open ice. Ryan McDonald, headed for New England College to play hockey, brought it up the right side and centered the puck to New England College product Enrico.

And Enrico scored the winner, assuring the Suns of a .500 season.

"It was good to see the home products play this well for us," said Benson, referring to McDonald and wing Trevor Thomas, also a product of Sun Valley Junior Hockey.

The Suns (12-10), who had their team party Sunday at the Roundhouse on Baldy, finish up with a two-game set against the McCall Mountaineers Friday and Saturday, April 9-10 at Manchester Ice Centre, McCall.

Check the Express Web site for last weekend’s game summary and updated Suns season statistics. Also, see page B-23 for the Suns-Camels summary.

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Suns 4, Camels 3 (OT shootout)
Friday

Connecticut Camels 0 1 1..1 3
Sun Valley Suns 2 0 0..2 4

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FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, John Stevens 8 (Jamie Ellison, Ryan Enrico), 16:08, power play goal. (2) SV, Luke Smith 15 (Enrico, Chris Warrington), 19:53.

SECOND PERIOD—(3) Connecticut, Dave Watson (Dan Burkons, Ryan Montecalvo), 11:24.

THIRD PERIOD—(4) Connecticut, J.F. Duschere (Skip Miller, Tip Fleming), 1:27.

OVERTIME (5 minutes)—No scoring.

SHOOTOUT—(5) SV, Ryan McDonald 1. (6) Conn, Skip Miller. (7) SV, Vilnis Nikolaisons 14, game-winning goal.

SHOTS ON GOAL—For Connecticut, 10-15-19-3 (plus 5 shootout) for 52; for Sun Valley, 22-12-12-3 (plus 5 shootout) for 54.

GOALIES—Connecticut, Todd Shestok (47 saves plus 3 saves shootout); SV, Ryan Thomson (45 saves plus 4 saves shootout, 6-3-0 season record).

OFFICIALS—Referee, John Olson; linesmen, John Heinrich and Curtis Martin.

NOTES—The Suns squandered a 2-0 lead and were outshot 34-24 in the final two periods. Coach Chris Benson said, "We got off track in the second and third periods, even with our deep bench and talent."…..Suns forward lines were Ryan Enrico-Luke Smith-Vilnis Nikolaisons, Chris King-Jamie Ellison-John Stevens, Frank Salvoni-Caleb Baukol-Rohan Verplank, Trevor Thomas-Chris Benson-Ryan McDonald. Rotating on defense were Eric Demment, Chris Warrington, Ivars Muzis and Josh Jacobson…..Paul Baranzelli and Pat Finnegan were out of town, playing for Minneapolis Green Mill in the U.S. Senior Nationals this past weekend in Fond du Lac, Wisc….Connecticut’s 5-10, 165-pound goalie Todd "Shester" Shestok, 29, a painting contractor in Westford, Mass., played three seasons for the WCHL Fresno Fighting Falcons from 1996-99. He posted a 12-2 record in his best winter, 1996-97, and wound up 21-14 overall for the minor league hockey franchise….Shestok made three sparkling saves midway through the third period. He stopped Nikolaisons on a great set-up from Smith, then denied Enrico at the side of the net. That Suns line kept applying the pressure three minutes later and Shestok robbed Nikolaisons again, on a feed from Smith from behind the net. At the other end, Thomson made two brilliant close-in saves with a minute left to send it into overtime….After the first shooter, Ryan McDonald, made his shot, the Suns missed three in a row when Chris King rattled one off the pipe, Chris Warrington shot an airball and Shestok stopped Ryan Enrico’s low bid with his stick….Goalie Matt Gershater filmed the entire shootout with his hand camera, from out on the ice….This weekend, the Suns wore white Labatt Blue jerseys instead of their Suns jerseys. John "Cub" Burke, watching tonight’s game, ventured to guess that it was the first time in the team’s 29 years that they had worn jerseys other than their Suns jerseys. Player/coach Chris Benson said there was a convention of Labatts reps in town this week. He added that the team plans to autograph the Labatts jerseys and offer them for sale in taverns…..The Suns were generous to Kindercup star Max Tanous, 5, after the game, inviting the thrilled Ketchum boy into the locker room and signing autographs for him….The last time the Suns won a shootout with the fifth and final shooter scoring a goal was when Luke Smith beat the Seattle Indians 7-6 on Dec. 28, 2001. That one was a huge win for the Suns, snapping a three-season, 10-game winless streak in overtime games.

 

 

Suns 4, Camels 3 (OT)
Saturday

Connecticut Camels 1 1 1..0 3
Sun Valley Suns 1 0 2..1 4

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FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Ryan McDonald 2 (Trevor Thomas), 0:35. (2) Connecticut, J.F. Duschere (Tip Fleming, Mike Forbis), 3:43.

SECOND PERIOD—(3) Connecticut, Skip Miller (Duschere, Fleming), 4:42.

THIRD PERIOD—(4) Connecticut, Gerry Rinn (Anthony Segala), 9:12, power play goal. (5) SV, Eric Demment 7 (Jamie Ellison, Vilnis Nikolaisons), 18:16, power play goal. (6) SV, Luke Smith 16 (Demment, Nikolaisons), 19:58.

OVERTIME (5 minutes)—(7) SV, Ryan Enrico 12 (McDonald, Chris Warrington), 2:11, game-winning goal.

SHOTS ON GOAL—For Connecticut, 12-9-9-2 for 32; Sun Valley, 16-15-18-3 for 52.

GOALIES—Connecticut, Todd Shestok (48 saves); SV, Ryan Thomson (29 saves, 7-3-0 season record).

OFFICIALS—Referee, Richard Winkler; linesmen, John Heinrich and Eric Wingard.

NOTES—Hailey’s Ryan McDonald, 20, the son of Bob and Debbie McDonald, was a huge factor for the Suns, scoring 2 goals with 1 assist to tie for the weekend team lead with Ryan Enrico and Vilnis Nikolaisons. McDonald, always a big scorer in the Sun Valley Junior Hockey program, has grown to 5-8 stature and kept his speed and quickness. After graduating from Avon Old Farms prep school in Connecticut in 2003, McDonald just finished a year of Junior A hockey for the Lowell (Mass.) Loch Monsters. He was the team’s top plus-minus man and third-leading scorer and made the New England All-Star team. Next fall McDonald will be freshman at Division 3 New England College in Henniker, N.H., where Ryan Enrico and Ryan Thomson played college hockey…..There were 66 penalty minutes whistled tonight, and 106 for the weekend….The Suns (12-10) equaled the victory total of last year’s 12-6 season…..For the first time tonight, the Suns played an overtime session with the NHL-style four-on-four. "The Connecticut guys suggested it and we said why not?" said coach Benson, whose Suns team ended up capitalizing in overtime.….Eric Demment got in some excellent punches during a second-period fight with Dave Grienif of the Camels—and his teammates gave him a stick-pounding salute as Demment made his way to the penalty box….Speaking of stick salutes, the Suns gave their traditional end-of-season hockey stick salute to the home fans after their dramatic come-from-behind victory…..Benson said that goalie Matt Gershater would have played tonight’s game, but he had poison ivy….Back in action after missing several games with a back injury, Jamie Ellison gave the Suns some solid minutes this weekend and came up with 2 big points, enough to move the eighth-year center into sole possession of #5 place on the all-time Suns scoring list. Ellison now has 101 goals and 169 assists for 270 points, 1 point better than Kurt Wenzell……Tonight was the 697th game in Suns history. They’ve won 484…..The Suns are now 25-22-19 in overtime games over the team’s 29 seasons. Counting Friday, they are 4-7 in their 11 shootout contests since 1998. Here is a list of game-winning Suns OT scorers in team history: Jamie Ellison 2, John Finnegan 2, Kurt Wenzell 2, Phil Hoene 2, Paul Cartmill 2, Vilnis Nikolaisons 1, Ryan Enrico 1, Luke Smith 1, Brian Watts 1, Tom Forti 1, Dale Johnson 1, Mark Broz 1, Pat Kearney 1, Rip Kirby 1, Terry Heneghan 1, Chas Riopel 1, Brian Saksa 1, Beets Johnson 1, Phil Hebert 1 and Sean O’Connell 1.

 

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2003-04 Sun Valley Suns
Season statistics

(12-10 overall: 10-6 home, 2-4 away)

as of April 7, 2004

 

PLAYER	GAMES	GOALS	AST.	PTS.	PMIN
Vilnis Nikolaisons	22	14	20	34	4.0
Ryan Enrico	22	12	19	31	18.0
Luke Smith	22	16	11	27	22.0
Jamie Ellison	16	7	14	21	28.0
Paul Baranzelli	17	9	10	19	25.0
Ivars Muzis	20	5	12	17	4.0
John Stevens	21	8	8	16	19.0
Chris King	20	8	8	16	11.0
Eric Demment	15	7	7	14	19.0
Pat Finnegan	17	5	6	11	9.0
Chris Warrington	21	1	10	11	4.0
Rohan Verplank	16	3	6	9	6.0
John Miller	10	1	5	6	2.0
Brian Watts	9	3	1	4	4.0
Caleb Baukol	20	1	3	4	10.0
Kris Webster	2	2	1	3	2.0
Ryan McDonald	2	2	1	3	0.0
Frank Salvoni	11	1	2	3	4.0
Mike Selhay	9	0	3	3	15.0
Josh Jacobson	19	1	1	2	35.0
J.J. Hanley	13	1	1	2	0.0
Chris Benson	17	1	1	2	16.0
Tom Forti	2	1	0	1	2.0
Matt Gershater	8	0	1	1	9.0
Trevor Thomas	2	0	1	1	7.0
Kit Hughes	1	0	1	1	0.0
Ryan Thomson	12	0	0	0	0.0
Peter Miner	3	0	0	0	0.0
Paul Miner	3	0	0	0	0.0
Kevin Bullock	2	0	0	0	2.0
Billy Tryder	1	0	0	0	0.0
James Moskos	2	0	0	0	0.0
Bobby Farrelly	2	0	0	0	0

 

GOALTENDER	GAMES	GOALS	W-L	AVG.
Ryan Thomson	10.6	40	7-3-0	3.77
Matt Gershater	8	40	5-4-0	5.00
James Moskos	2	15	0-2-0	7.50
Bobby Farrelly	1.5	12	0-1-0	8.00

 

Shots—Thomson 374, Gershater 262, Moskos 81, Farrelly 59.
Saves—Thomson 329, Gershater 222, Moskos 66, Farrelly 47.
Shootout saves—Thomson 4.
Shootout goals allowed—Thomson 1.
Shutouts—Thomson 1.
Empty net goals—4.

 

SCORE BY  PERIODS	1ST	2ND	3RD	OT	TOT	AVE
Opposition	30	40	40	2	112	5.1
Sun Valley	32	30	44	3	109	5.0

 

 

INDIVIDUAL MARKS

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Two-goal games (14)—Luke Smith 3, Jamie Ellison 2, Vilnis Nikolaisons 2, Paul Baranzelli 2, Ryan Enrico 2, Chris King 1, Pat Finnegan 1, John Stevens 1.

Hat tricks or more (1)—Luke Smith 1 (4 goals).

Game-winning goals—Eric Demment 1, Vilnis Nikolaisons 1, Ryan Enrico 1.

Power play goals (19-68, 28%)—Vilnis Nikolaisons 3, Ryan Enrico 3, Eric Demment 3, Luke Smith 2, Ivars Muzis 2, Paul Baranzelli 2, John Stevens 2, John Miller 1, Brian Watts 1. Power play goals (opposition): 15-65, (23%).

Shorthanded goals (4)—Vilnis Nikolaisons 1, Ryan Enrico 1, Chris Warrington 1, Eric Demment 1. Shorthanded goals (opposition): 7.

Season penalty minutes: SV 277, opponents 304.

 

GAME RESULTS

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Total record: 12-10
Record in 1-goal games: 5-1
Record in overtime: 2-1-0
Games scoring 9 or more goals: 2
Games scoring 7 or more goals: 5

December 19 (H) Sun Valley 10, Portland Checks 2
December 20 (H) Sun Valley 5, Portland Checks 4
January 2 (H) Sun Valley 7, Boise Blades 4
January 3 (H) Boise Blades 8, Sun Valley 5
January 16 (A) Sun Valley 8, McCall Mountaineers 5
January 17 (A) Sun Valley 5, McCall Mountaineers 4
January 23 (H) Jackson Hole Moose 10, Sun Valley 2
January 24 (H) Jackson Hole Moose 6, Sun Valley 2
January 30 (A) Jackson Hole Moose 7, Sun Valley 2
January 31 (A) Jackson Hole Moose 4, Sun Valley 1
February 6 (H) Sun Valley 12, Bucks Furniture 8
February 7 (H) Sun Valley 5, Bucks Furniture 2
February 13 (H) Sun Valley 4, Midwest All-Stars 3
February 14 (H) Sun Valley 6, Midwest All-Stars 0
March 5 (H) McCall Mountaineers 7, SV 6 (OT)
March 6 (H) McCall Mountaineers 5, Sun Valley 2
March 12 (H) Sun Valley 7, Jackson Hole Moose 4
March 13 (H) Jackson Hole Moose 5, Sun Valley 2
March 19 (A) Jackson Hole Moose 10, Sun Valley 5
March 20 (A) Jackson Hole Moose 8, Sun Valley 5
April 2 (H) SV 4, Connecticut Camels 3 (OT shootout)
April 3 (H) SV 4, Connecticut Camels 3 (OT)
April 9 (A) Sun Valley at McCall Mountaineers
April 10 (H) Sun Valley at McCall Mountaineers

 

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