Western Hockey League news 12/14

Teddy Bear Toss December 16

PRINCE GEORGE, BC- The Prince George Cougars are once again gearing up for their annual "Teddy Bear Toss" Night.

Set for December 16th when the 'Cats host the Kamloops Blazers, fans are encouraged to bring stuffed toys to the game and toss them on the ice immediately following the Cougars first goal. Representatives from Save on Foods will be handing out plastic bags at the front door to ensure that the stuffed toys are not damaged on ice. All items collected will go to benefit the Prince George Salvation Army and the RCMP Victim Services Unit.

For fans located behind the arena safety netting, your tossing range will not be altered, as local Firefighters will once again be situated in the rafters ready to raise the nets out of view after the Cougars first goal.

Furthermore, the Cougars and Salvation Army will be holding a Food Drive on December 16th. Salvation Army attendants will be located at the front doors collecting food donations to help people in need this Christmas.

The Cougars would like to thank the Salvation Army, Prince George RCMP Victim Services Unit, PGMHA, Northern Hardware, Shultz, Save on Foods, and the Prince George Fire Department for their help at this year's event.

The Cougars will also be hosting "SPCA Night" on Friday December 15. Stop by Section H of the concourse with pet food and supplies, office supplies, and donations.

Bruins edge Hitmen 3-2 in a shootout

Nick Holden scored the game-winning goal in a shootout to lead the Chilliwack Bruins to a 3-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen in WHL action Wednesday night.

Chilliwack trailed 1-0 after the first period before Oscar Moller scored at 1:18 of the second. The rookie Swede then assisted on a power-play goal by linemate Mark Santorelli less than two minutes later. The expansion Bruins have now won three straight games, including a 6-5 overtime win in Red Deer over the Rebels on Tuesday night, to improve their record to 10-22-2-1.

Alex Plante scored in the first period, while Brodie Dupont tied the game at 2-2 in the third for the Hitmen (21-11-0-3), whose winning streak ended at four games. The Hitmen had also won seven straight home games at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

The Bruins trailed 1-0 after one and held a 2-1 lead after two periods of play.

Chilliwack goalie Matt Esposito made 33 saves to record his second straight victory since being acquired from the Everett Silvertips on Dec. 8 in exchange for a fourth round pick in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft. Calgary netminder Dan Spence made 13 saves in a losing cause.

Ice Chips:

With a goal and and assist tonight, Bruins forward Oscar Moller now has nine multiple point games this season, second on the team to Mark Santorelli who has 15...Chilliwack is now 2-1 in shootouts this season...the Bruins are now 8-1-1-0 when leading after two periods...through 35 games the Bruins have been outshot 1068-824...With the Kelowna Rockets loss in Medicine Hat tonight, the Bruins now trail the Rockets by one point for the final playoff spot in the BC Division. Kelowna has two games in hand on Chilliwack...The Bruins return to action Friday night when they take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Lethbridge. The 'Canes are fifth in the Central Division with a record of 16-15-2-2.

Cowen Signs With Chiefs

The Spokane Chiefs have announced that Jared Cowen, the first overall selection in the 2006 Bantam Draft, has signed a Western Hockey League Standard Player's Agreement.

"We're very excited to make this announcement," Chiefs General Manager Tim Speltz said. "It's the next step in the process and we're looking forward to Jared joining our team at the end of the month."

Cowen will play for the Chiefs on December 30th and 31st in a home-and-home series with the Tri-City Americans.

"Jared and his family have been honest and upfront since we identified him as the first overall selection," Speltz said. "They showed a lot of class and integrity in coming down to camp and giving us a chance to show them what our organization is about."

The 6'5", 190 pound defenseman has one goal, 15 points and 73 penalty minutes with the Saskatoon Contacts of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League. Last season, in 41 regular season games, Cowen scored four goals, 16 points and added 66 penalty minutes.

Chiefs Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton said, "Jared is a dynamic player who was our number one choice, by far. We're ecstatic in having him play for the Chiefs and he will be a big part of our team in the future."

Cowen joins second and third round selections in 2006, Burke Gallimore and Justin Bertow, in signing with the Chiefs.

Giants defeat T-Birds

Vancouver, BC, December 13, 2006 - The Vancouver Giants defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2 Wednesday night at the Pacific Coliseum.

The T-Birds are now 13-9-1-8 in the US Division and are one point behind the Tri-City Americans for third place in the standings.

Kyle Lamb gave the Giants a 1-0 lead at 3:26 of the first period. J.D. Watt and Brent Regner had the assists. Seattle argued that Lamb kicked the puck into the net but the referees disagreed and the goal stood. Vancouver (25-5-2-2) outshot Seattle 13-4 in the first period.

The T-Birds outshot the Giants 11-5 in a scoreless second period. The Giants led 18-15 in total shots after two periods.

Seattle tied the game 1-1 at 1:13 of the third period. Thomas Hickey had the puck on the right boards at the hash mark just as a Seattle power play ended. Hickey fed the puck to Bud Holloway behind and to the right of the Vancouver net. After Hickey passed he headed towards the crease. Holloway passed back to Hickey and he took a quick wrist shot that Vancouver goalie Tyson Sexsmith stopped. Aaron Gagnon was to the left of the goal and knocked in the rebound for his 20th goal of the year.

The T-Birds took a 2-1 lead a little over two minutes after their first goal. Gagnon chased down a puck behind the Vancouver net. He made a centering pass to Holloway charging own the slot. Holloway one- timed Gagnon's pass past Sexsmith at 3:23 of the third. Scott Jackson had the second assist on the go- head goal.

Tim Kraus tied the game 2-2 for the Giants at 5:52 of the third. Regner and Sexsmith had the assists.

Spencer Machacek put the Giants in front 3-2 with an unassisted goal at 10:39 of the third. Milan Lucic had the only assist on the goal.

Seattle outshot Vancouver 13-12 in the third period although the Giants held a 30-28 margin in shots at the end of the game.

Seattle goalie Derek Yeomans made 27 saves on 30 shots and his record is now 10-6-1-6.

Sexsmith made 26 saves on 28 shots and his record is now 16-4-1-1.

Seattle has three games this weekend, two at home and one on the road. Friday, the T-Birds take on the Spokane Chiefs at KeyArena at 7:35 p.m. in the first game of a home-and-home series. Saturday night the T-Birds are in Spokane for a game at 7 p.m. The Everett Silvertips are the last game of the weekend when they are at KeyArena for a game at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday.

Thunderbird tickets are currently on sale for all 2006- 07 regular season home games. Tickets are priced at $20, $16 & $12 Tickets may be purchased by calling 206-628-0888 or 206-448-PUCK (7825) or online at Seattle Thunderbirds Hockey. Tickets may also be purchased at all TicketMaster Outlets, the KeyArena West Box Office Monday - Saturday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM and The Hockey Store located at 14326 124th Ave NE in Kirkland. For additional ticket information on Season Tickets and Group Rates please call 206- 448-PUCK.

Everett Falls to Spokane 4-2

Tonight the Everett Silvertips fall to division rivals, the Spokane Chiefs, by a score of 4-2. The Chiefs lead this regular season series 3-1. Everett remains the top dog in the US Division with a 25-4-0-1 record and 51 points. Spokane, now second in the division, has 38 points and a 17-11-3-1 history.

In the first period the Chiefs scored two goals in a span of 50 seconds to put them up 2-0 at the close of the period. The first came from Justin Falk, a four on four tally, after he wristed it behind David Reekie. Following his teammate's lead Drayson Bowman scored a power play marker after he roofed the puck over Everett's goalie.

Spokane continued their scoring into the second period with a goal from Sean Zimmerman, after he sent his shot through a screen. The second period closed with the Chiefs on top 3-0.

Similar to the game against Seattle, the Silvertips turned the heat up in the final period. The first goal of the night for the team was actually caused by a botched play by Kevin Armstrong, Spokane's netminder. The puck was cleared down the center of the ice, while Everett was short-handed, and ended up jumping over Armstrong's stick into the back of the net. Dan Gendur received credit for the tally with an assist from David Reekie. Everett scored again four and a half minutes later, at 8:50, while on the extra man advantage. Lukas Vartovnik earned his fourth goal of the year while Zack Dailey and Jonathan Harty received credit for the assists.

The Silvertips tried to hang on and tie the game up but Michael Grabner stole the glory by tallying a short-handed, empty net goal to finalize the game at 4-2.

In goal tonight for Everett was David Reekie. Despite his 24 saves on 27 shots, he earns a loss and falls to 7-4. Kevin Armstrong, in net for the Chiefs, stopped 22/24 and bumps his goaltending history to 10-7-2-1. On the power play Everett converted on 1/7 while Spokane scored on 1/10. The Chiefs out shot their opponents 28-24.

The Silvertips are back in action on Friday and Saturday night when they go up against their contenders for the top spot in the Western Conference, the Vancouver Giants. On Friday the puck drops at 7:30pm in Vancouver, BC at the Pacific Coliseum. The very next night Everett hosts the Giants with the battle beginning at 7:05pm at the Everett Events Center.

Chiefs double up Everett, 4-2

The Spokane Chiefs earned their third win in four chances with a 4-3 decision over the Everett Silvertips on Wednesday night in the Spokane Arena.

Defensemen Justin Falk and Sean Zimmerman each scored their first goals of the year and Michael Grabner finished the game with an empty netter to push the Chiefs to a season high six games over .500 and into second place all alone. The Tri-City Americans, now two points back of Spokane, were idle and have two games in hand.

Falk scored the first goal of the game at 15:39 of the first period with assists going to Derek Ryan and Ondrej Roman.

Drayson Bowman scored his 13th of the season with a power play marker at 16:31 of the first. The 17- year-old brought the puck down the left wing and deked David Reekie, forcing the Silvertip goaltender to commit, before roofing it stick side.

The lone goal in the second was scored by Zimmerman at 13:09 pushing Spokane's lead to 3-0.

Everett tallied twice in the third, once shorthanded on an odd hop past Spokane's Kevin Armstrong for their first goal of the game at 5:24. Everett pulled within one at 8:50 with a power play goal by Lukas Vartovnik. Despite those two Silvertip goals, Armstrong was solid in net stopping 22 shots, including 11 in the third period.

The Chiefs were shorthanded five times in the third, including three times in the final six minutes, but Armstrong made a number of stops. Grabner iced the win with a lenght of the ice emptynet, shorthanded goal.

The Chiefs are now 17-11-3-1 on the season with 38 points with two games on the weekend with the Seattle Thunderbirds. Spokane will travel to KeyArena on Friday for a 7:30 match-up with Mike Boyle going on the air at 7:00 with Comcast HockeyTonight on KJRB 790 the Fan.

In their final game before the holiday break, the Chiefs will host Seattle on Saturday night. Fans are encouraged to bring a can of food or non-perishable item to the game to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Tickets to all home games are available by calling the Chiefs office at (509) 535-PUCK or TicketsWest at (800) 325-SEAT.