Open Season on Moose Jaw

By Jeff Bromley
It was opening weekend of the WHL Eastern Conference Quarter-final this past weekend and the Kootenay ICE decided to do a little moose hunting and take a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Moose Jaw Warriors. Overtaking the Warriors by scores of 6-2 in game one and 4-0 in the return bill Saturday night in game two as the series shifted back to the Saskatchewan city for games three and four on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the two games belonged to ICE goaltender Dan Blackburn as solid performances on both nights continued to stymie the Warriors on almost every opportunity.

The Warriors, trying to employ different tactics on successive nights in order to find some success against the defending WHL Champions, didn’t have much luck. In Game One of the series the Warriors maintained that a physical presence against the ICE would be the plan of attack. That theory ended up putting the Warriors in the penalty box most of the night and defending against Kootenay’s number one ranked power play in the league. When the Warriors finally did get some momentum going, they ran into a brick wall named Dan Blackburn and besides the two markers that the Warriors did get from Brian Sutherby, it was inconsequential as the ICE played almost flawlessly in the 6-2 win with Zdenek Blatny notching a goal and four assists to set an ICE playoff game record for most points in a game and garnering first star honors.

On Saturday the Warriors entertained the idea of getting in Dan Blackburn’s face most of the night in hopes that the super-sophomore goaltender would let his concentration slip. That method of attack failed miserably as again the Warriors spent most of the night, including half of the second period in the box as the Referees Kevin Acheson and Derek Herman called an almost unheard-of five goaltender interference penalties on the Moose Jaw club on the strength of a Dan Blackburn shutout, 4- 0.

Going into Moose Jaw in the best possible position for the ICE, Coach Ryan McGill isn’t going to change the strategy that has so far been overwhelmingly successful. “We’re not going to change at all. We hopefully want to go in there and keep frustrating that team and if we can do that, that’s going to take them away from their game,” said McGill. Coach McGill admits that going to Moose Jaw where the Warriors have a league second-best 23-7-2-3 record in the ‘Crushed Can’, the welcoming is going to be hostile. “They’ve got some highly skilled forwards there that put the puck in the net. Obviously they didn’t get very many bounces but we want to keep playing the same way. Keep using our speed and continue frustrating them. It’s going to be a different atmosphere in their rink and we’re really going to have to be a patient hockey club.”

Moose Jaw Coach Curtis Hunt, going through something of a playoff trial by fire being named Coach with only three games left in the regular season, had some positives to take back to Moose Jaw even though the club is down two games in the series. “Last night (Friday) you take away the three goals and the nerves right away off the bat and with everything new it’s a little bit understanding,” said the rookie Coach. “Tonight it’s 1-0 going into the third and we’re right there and have a chance. Maybe that chance was taken away from us a little bit there but we did have a better effort but we’ve got to find a way to score. That’s the bottom line. You’re not going to win many games if you don’t score.” The frustration level on the Moose Jaw Warriors is admittedly high right now said Hunt, but not from where you would expect it. “I don’t think it’s so much with the goaltender (ICE goalie, Dan Blackburn). I think what’s frustrating for the team is some of the calls. They feel that it’s not fair at this time and maybe our bench was a little worked up over the referees but certainly we’ve got a lot guys that have scored a lot of points and they start to second-guess themselves. Looking for the pass versus the shot but we are playing a great goaltender and he’s played great in both games. So we’ll go back and talk about shooting the puck and simplifying down low and we should be in good shape.”

Game five, if necessary will go Friday night at the Rec/Plex. Game time is 7:00 P.M.

Quick Hits – Warrior goalie, Tim Barlow was arguably the best Warrior over the weekend. With the exception of a couple that the overage player might’ve wanted back, Barlow’s play kept the score from getting ugly. Take- away Barlow’s play and the score isn’t 1- 0 for the ICE going into the third frame of Game two, it’s higher, much higher….. In Game two, I’d never seen so many Goaltender interference calls in one game (five). The first two were aptly warranted but the next three were a little weak. Suffice to say that the Warriors didn’t learn from the first two calls and Referees Acheson and Herman weren’t letting any Warrior within ten feet of Dan Blackburn. As for the ‘run the goalie’ strategy, maybe the Warriors might want to rethink that. “They’re crashing the net pretty good, obviously to try and get Danny off his game,” said ICE Captain Dean Arsene. “You saw last night (Friday’s game) when he kind of retaliated a bit but he kept a cool head tonight and let us take care of it. As a defense unit we’ve got to do a little better job of getting in front of them and not letting them take Danny out but if they’re going to keep doing that and keep taking penalties, we’ll be on the power-play all night and we’re just fine with that.”….. Counting his last start of the season against the Wheat Kings, goaltender Dan Blackburn has let in just two goals in his last three games with two shutouts. The highly-touted prospect is hitting his stride once again when it counts – in the playoffs….Somebody let the referees now that it’s the PLAYOFFS. Fans want to see the player’s decide the game not the Zebras. Friday’s game had no flow whatsoever…. Friday’s crowd, at 2968 was surprisingly the second lowest in attendance of the season. I know that Moose Jaw historically isn’t a big draw but last time I checked – it is the playoffs. Kind of disheartening after the club fought all year long for home ice advantage only to have a crowd some 700 below the regular season average show up for game one of the playoffs.