Ice hand out awards, clinch home ice for round one
The Kootenay Ice handed out their regular season awards on Saturday night at the RecPlex and then proceeded to beat Edmonton 2-1.
It was the last game of the regular season for the Ice and the team’s third win in a row. The victory allowed Kootenay to clinch home ice advantage in the first round of the WHL play-offs. The team will take on Medicine Hat.
On Saturday, Kootenay threw 51 shots on Edmonton netminder Laurent Broissot, the Oil Kings third string goalie who played magnificently.
“He played very well,” said Ice coach Mark Holick. “For the most part, Broissot played a very good game. You’ve got to give the kid credit. He came in here and they had nothing to play for and he did very well.”
James Martin scored the first goal of the game with a snap shot at 5:22 of the first period to give Kootenay the 1-0 lead. Dustin Sylvester and Kevin King picked up assists of the goal.
The Oil Kings tied the game when Sebastien Svendsen tipped a blue line blast from Robin Soudek at 7:04 of the second period.
Kevin King got the winner for Kootenay as he stole the puck at the Edmonton blue line and skated in and fired it past Broissot at 14:17 of the second.
“They played hard,” said King. “It would be easy for them to pack it in in their last game. But this was what we needed heading into the play-offs. They battled hard and we had to battle that much harder and I think that’ll prepare us better in the end.”
The Oil Kings made a run at the Ice late in the third period with the goalie pulled but Ice netminder Todd Mathews, who was not tested much during the game, was strong when he needed to be.
“We knew we had to run the table, that aside, the important thing was we wanted to get our game going,” said Holick. “We were pretty good in all three zones. We stayed above the puck; closed off some lanes; had good stick presence; blocked some shots. The stuff that’s going to win you games in the play-offs, we did well.”
Ice Notes –
Seven different Ice players received awards Saturday at the team’s 12th annual award night.
Rod Hunter Ltd. Players Award – Dustin Sylvester
Apollo Ristorante Most Valuable Player – Dustin Sylvester
Ron Collision / Dixon Service Centre Top Defenseman – Brayden McNabb
Alpine Toyota Rookie of the Year – Joey Leach
Skyway Distributors Most Improved Player – James Martin
BDO Dunwoody Most Underrated Player – Ryan Molle
East Kootenay Community Credit Union Community Relations Award – Matt Fraser
Rocky Mountain Diesel Scholastic Player of the Year – Nathan Lieuwen
Jewels on Ninth Player of the Month – Joey Leach
East Kootenay Community Credit Union Community Player of the Month – Dustin Sylvester
Fan Club’s Player of the Year – Dustin Sylvester
The Domino’s Pizza Top Play-off Performer will be announced at the conclusion of the 2009-2010 WHL Playoffs
First round Schedule –
The best of seven WHL Eastern Conference first round series will start in Cranbrook on Friday, March 19.
Friday, March 19 @ Kootenay – 7:00 pm
Saturday, March 20 @ Kootenay – 7:00 pm
Tuesday, March 23 @ Medicine Hat – 7:00 pm
Wednesday, March 24 @ Medicine Hat – 7:00 pm
Friday, March 26 @ Kootenay – 7:00 pm *
Sunday, March 28 @ Medicine Hat – 6:00 pm *
Tuesday, March 30 @ Kootenay – 7:00 pm *
*If necessary
All times listed are in Mountain Standard Time
Tickets for the first round of playoffs will go on sale on Monday, March 15 at 10:00 am and will be available at the Kootenay ICE Office and Kootenay Collectibles.
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