RIMOUSKI – The Western Hockey League’s Western Conference All-Stars defeated the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Dilio Conference All-Stars 9-4 Wednesday night in the final game of the 2002 Hershey Cup CHL All-Star Series.
As a result the WHL, the Ontario Hockey League and the QMJHL all finish the series with identical 1-1 records, but the OHL was awarded the Hershey Cup on goal differential. The inaugural Hershey Cup was won last year by the QMJHL’s two all-star teams.
Jared Aulin of the Kamloops Blazers and Paul Gaustad of the Portland Winter Hawks both scored twice for the WHL stars, while Joe Balej (Portland), Brandin Cote (Spokane), Joey Hope (Portland), Eric Johannsen (Tri-City) and Dustin Johner (Seattle) added singles.
Karl Fournier (Acadie-Bathurst Titan), Yanick Lehoux (Baie-Comeau Drakkar), Michel Outlet (Rimouski) and Olivier Fillion (Acadie-Bathurst) replied for the QMJHL Dilio Conference All-Stars, which became the first Quebec team to lose at the Hershey Cup.
The WHL East led 3-2 after one period of play and the QMJHL Dilio Conference All-Stars tied the game early in the second period. But six consecutive goals by the WHL East All-Stars gave the WHL its first win at the Hershey Cup.
The OHL wound up the 2002 Hershey Cup CHL All-Star Series with a 1-1 record with a plus three goals differential, the WHL was 1-1 and even while the QMJHL was 1-1 and minus three. The QMJHL Dilio Conference All-Stars out-shot the WHL East All-Stars 42-25 before 4,762 fans in Rimouski.
WHL Eastern Conference goalies Billy Thompson (Prince George) and Barry Brust (Spokane) were the difference in this game, as Thompson stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced and Brust 16 of the 17 he faced.
The 2002 Hershey Cup CHL All-Star Series opened up in Ottawa on Jan. 16, when the QMJHL Lebel Conference All-Stars defeated the OHL East Conference All-Stars 4-2. Frederic Faucher of the Drummondville Voltigeurs sparked Quebec with a pair of goals, while Jonathan Bellemare of the Shawinigan Cataractes added three assists.
Matthew Lombardi of the Victoriaville Tigres and Jason Pominville of the Cataractes scored the other goals for the winners. Olivier Michaud of Shawinigan, Jean-Francois Racine of Drummondville and Pascal Leclaire of Montreal all played very well in the victory before 5,439 fans in Ottawa.
Zenon Konopka of the Ottawa 67′s and Blaine Down of the Barrie Colts scored for the OHL, while Peter Budaj and Andy Chiodo of the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and David Chant of the Barrie Colts played in goal for Ontario.
The series continued Jan. 31 in Red Deer, Alberta, when the OHL Western Conference All-Stars defeated the WHL Eastern Conference All-Stars 7-2 before 6,259 fans. Ray Emery of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Jason Bacashihua of the Plymouth Whalers combined to make 38 saves to lead Ontario to the win.
Steve Ott of the Windsor Spitfires, Rick Nash of London Knights, Brent Kelly of Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Brad Boyes of Erie Otters, Jay McClement of Brampton Battalion and Kris Newbury and Dusty Jamieson, both of Sarnia Sting, scored the OHL goals. Colby Armstrong of Red Deer Rebels and Garth Murray of Regina Pats replied for the WHL East.
The Hershey Cup CHL All-Star Series is an annual three-game all-star showcase featuring two all-star teams from each of the CHL’s three leagues. At the conclusion of the series the league that wins the most games or has the best goals for/goals against ratio, wins the Hershey Cup.
GAME SUMMARY
WHL EAST 9, QMJHL DILIO 4
First period
1.WHL Joe Balej (1) (Svatos , Aulin) 0.27
2.LHJMQ Karl Fournier (1)
(St-Pierre, Tessier) – PP 8.35
3.LHJMQ Yanick Lehoux (1) (Linglet,
Ouellet) – 10.18
4.WHL Paul Gaustad (1) (Stoll, Kobasew) 12.54
5.WHL Brandin
Côté (1) (Johner, Sauer) 18.24
Penalties – Kobasew WHL 1.11,
Stoll WHL 8.18,
Weller WHL 19.27
Second period
6.LHJMQ Michel Ouellet (1) (Lehoux, Linglet) – PP 1.07
7.WHL Paul Gaustad
(2) (Johner , Dicaire) 5.29
8.WHL Jared Aulin (1) (unassisted) 11.15
9.WHL
Jared Aulin (2) (Svatos, Hamhuis) – PP 16.00
10.WHL Joey Hope (1)
(unassisted) 19.31
Penalties – Plourde LHJMQ 3.28, Balej WHL 7.34, K.St-Pierre LHJMQ 7.34, Spiller WHL 13.34, Sanford LHJMQ 15.12
Third period
11.WHL Eric Johannsen (0) (Upshall , Gaustad) – PP 3.00
12.WHL Dustin Johner
(1) (Côté , Hamhuis) PP 12.25
13.LHJMQ Olivier Fillion (1) (Bouchard ,
Sanford) 14.53
Penalties – Durak LHJMQ 1.06, Gaustad WHL 6.37, Parenteau LHJMQ 8.28, Weller WHL 11.21, Malec LHJMQ 11.21, Parenteau LHJMQ 10.46
GOALTENDERS
WHL THOMPSON, Billy (22/25) & BRUST, Barry at 11:15 period 2 (16/17)
LHJMQ DALLAIRE, Dany (14/19) & RUSSO, Adam at 11:15 per2 (12/16)
SHOTS
WHL 12 13 10 – 25
LHJMQ 17 11 14 – 42
POWER PLAY
WHL 3-for-5 LHJMQ 2-for-5
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are no games scheduled in the WHL Thursday night.
There were four games in the WHL on Wednesday night. Calgary defeated Lethbridge 7-3, Tri-City stopped Prince George 7-2, Brandon defeated Prince Albert 5-1 and Saskatoon stopped Moose Jaw 5-2.
At Calgary, Owen Fussey scored four goals, all of them in the third period, to give the Hitmen their win. Ryan Getzlaf had a pair of goals form the winners, while WHL scoring leader Nathan Barrett had two goals for Lethbridge, his 34th and 35th of the season.
At Tri-City, Ben Kilgour scored three goals and added one assist to lead the Americans. Ryan Kinasewich scored a pair of goals for the winners, while Mike Wirll had his 23rd of the year for Prince George. Joel Martin made 23 saves in the Tri-City goal.
At Prince Albert, Jiri Jakes scored the game-winner and Robert McVicar made 26 saves to lead the Wheat Kings. Kevin Harris and Josh Garbutt both had two assists for the winners, while Perry Faul scored the lone goal for Prince Albert.
At Saskatoon, Davin Heintz scored three goals to spark the Blades. Trent Adamus added two assists to Saskatoon’s offence while Shawn Limpright had two assists for the losers. Michael Garnett made 28 saves for the winners.
ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are four games in the OHL on Thursday night. Toronto St. Michael’s (10) is at North Bay, Barrie (5) is at Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie (9) is at Windsor and Oshawa plays at Windsor.
There were no games in the OHL on Wednesday night.
QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are no games in the QMJHL on Thursday night and there were no games scheduled for Wednesday night.
On Wednesday night in Rimouski, the WHL East Conference All-Stars defeated the QMJHL Dilio Conference All-Stars 9-4, giving the OHL the 2002 Hershey Cup for the CHL All-Star Series thanks to a better goal differential.
For complete QMJHL statistics and standings, visit the official QMJHL site.
