Day 87: Horton Hears The Horn

While this Horton (left) hears the Who, Nathan Horton heard the goalhorn when he scored the winner against the Selects.

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

Rebounding from a shutout loss in Calgary the night before, the Rovers righted the ship on at home against Lethbridge, dealing the Selects a 3-1 defeat. After a sluggish scoreless first which saw only 13 total shots, Pavol Demitra and Nathan Horton found the back of the net to put the Rovers on top by two heading to the third. Emerging from the break, the Rovers seemed energized while the Selects forgot to show up. Baffin dominated the frame, scoring again on a Kris Draper deflection and outshooting Lethbridge 18-2 in the period with Trevor Linden’s marker off a late scramble 12 seconds from fulltime the only blemish on Martin Gerber’s evening. Gerber finished with 18 saves on 19 shots while Marc Denis faced 37 shots, stopping 34.

The Rovers now have two days off before travelling to Lethbridge and then playing the Vampyres three consecutive times, twice at home. The win kept pace with the Mounties atop the division at 60 pts each with 23 games to play.

Day 86: None Shall Pass

Unfortunately, Baffin had no sword to smite Vesa Toskala, who stonewalled the Rovers 3-0.

Calgary, AB (CP)

When the Rovers hit Calgary, it’s always a battle. Dating back to RHL13, the Vampyres have been the chief nemesis of Baffin Island and have always played them extremely tough, regardless of who has been wearing the Vampyres vestement. This season has been no different. As the rotating door in Calgary still operates at full spin, the players who happen to comprise the team on a given night always give their best effort against the Rovers. On this night, the clear star was goalie Vesa Toskala, who stopped all 32 Rover shots on his way to a 3-0 win.

The Vamps struck right out of the gate as Marek Zidlicky snuck a knuckleballer from the point past Martin Gerber in the first minute of the game. John Madden increased the lead to two midway through the period on a breakaway pass from Dan Boyle. Despite being outshot 12-5 in the first and 21-9 through two periods, the Vampyres maintained the 2-0 lead going into the third. The insurance was delivered early by Eric Boguniecki, who converted another pass from Boyle. The Vampyres managed only 15 shots in the game, catching Gerber on an uncharacteristic bad night. “Marty has been better, there’s no question”, Stringer said of his starter. “But we know he’ll bounce back. He’ll start against Lethbridge tomorrow night. Mark it down”.

There were some questions after the game regarding icetime. The coaching staff were apparently content to roll four lines despite being down through most of the game. In fact, no Rover forward played less than 11 minutes and none more than 17. “Is this all you’ve got?”, an agitated Stringer asked of an inquisitive reporter. “Our fourth line can play, you know. It’s not like we weren’t getting shots or chances. The goalie just played better. Ok, you go tell Legwand and Hall that it’s their fault that we lost because they were getting minutes. You go do that, genius”. The presser abruptly ended with Stringer indignantly leaving the podium.

The loss drops the Rovers back into a first-place tie with the Mounties, each with 58 points and 24 games remaining. The Rovers hold the tiebreaker with one extra win. The team flew out directly after the game to prepare to host the Selects at home tomorrow night. As indicated from post-game comments, Martin Gerber is expected to start for the second straight night.

Coaches Corner

Heading into our next stretch of games against Calgary and Lethbridge, we’ll likely continue with the current lines that have served us well recently.

Stillman Jokinen Gl.Murray
Frolov Demitra Recchi
Halpern Draper Horton
Laaksonen Legwand Hall

Jokinen has really turned it on since joining the top line, and Draper has continued to score on the third unit. Hopefully Demitra can get that second unit going… what we as a staff would give to actually get all lines firing at the same time…

Oh yeah, and Gerber will be in goal tonight. Mason may play one of the games against the Vampyres, but it likely won’t be this week.

Who’s Number 1?

Martin Gerber (left) and Chris Mason (right) have both played well for the Rovers this season.

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

As the excitement of the All-Star break fades to the background, the stretch drive begins tonight. With the Rovers having three full days off before travelling to Calgary to face the Vampyres (the first of four meetings between the clubs over the next two weeks) and little else to talk about in the interim, one has to wonder if there is not a goalie controversy brewing on Baffin.

At the midpoint of the season one certainly would have said no, as Martin Gerber had carried the load except for a few games missed due to injury, and carried it well. Backup Chris Mason played well also, but very sparingly. But heading into the break, the coaching staff decided to give Mason three consecutive starts against Albany and St. Pete’s while a healthy Gerber sat and watched. Are we seeing a shift in the starting position, or is there something else on the horizon?

“Not much to write about today, is there”, Stringer chuckled when posed the question. While he may be light-hearted about the issue, it can’t be denied that a goalie rotation could upset the positive dynamic that been around the Rovers through the first half of the season. “We really just wanted to give Mase some action. He’s a good goalie. We rode Marty pretty hard in the first half, and there were a few times when he had to leave games because he tweaked something. We just want to keep both guys fresh for the playoffs, because we’ll need everyone to be sharp when the time comes”.

Gerber seemed to take the impromptu vacation in stride. “I’m satisfied with what I’ve done in the first half. If the coaches want to play Mase for a game, that’s fine. I think I’ve proved that I can play, so I’m not too worried”. Mason was equally as relaxed, but didn’t shy away from his desire to play. “Any goalie that would tell you that they’d rather sit than start is not right in the head”, Dr. Mason diagnosed. “Of course I’d rather play more, but I’ll play when I’m called on and when I’m not I’ll stay ready for the next call. Marty’s a great goalie and I think I can play as well. That’s not a bad thing”.

Stringer has not named a starter for the game in Calgary, though it is expected that Gerber will be back in the nets. Whether it is Gerber or Mason, the coaching staff knows that if one guy starts to falter they have a solid alternative waiting in the wings thanks to the strong play of both guys.

Standing Pat?

As the selling happens fast and furious in the Champs conference, why are the Rovers on the sidelines?

Iqaluit, NU (IFPW)

This past week has been a very busy one in the Champions Conference. Two franchises, the 500s and the Selects, have announced that they are each overhauling their star-studded rosters with an eye to the future. Names like Sundin, Tanguay, Schneider, Hejduk, and Souray have landed with new teams, some of whom are in direct competition with the Rovers at the top of the standings. Why then has GM Steve Stringer not gotten in on the action? Doesn’t he feel that he owes it to the fans to get involved and bolster the team? We cut to the chase with the man himself.

IFPW: So what’s the deal, how come these big names are going to division rivals?
SS: Come on, do you think I can stop teams from trading guys to certain teams just because I’m in a race with those teams? At least be realistic with your questions.

IFPW: Ok then, let’s talk specifically. How come Alex Tanguay isn’t a Rover?
SS: The reason is money. Our payroll is such that we just can’t add anyone at this time. Yeah, we did talk to the 500s about some guys and there was a fair exchange of ideas, but in the end if we can’t pay them, there’s no use in acquiring them. We could have agreed on a return, but the finances didn’t make sense.

IFPW: That’s crap. When Mats Sundin goes to the Mounties, you’ve got to respond.
SS: Maybe you should look back. We’ve been one of the more active teams this season. We acquired Mark Recchi, Cory Stillman, and Danny Markov during times when we weren’t fighting a feeding frenzy caused by a mass sell-off. Of course we’d love to add more players, but at some point you’ve got to be realistic.

IFPW: What is your take on the Rover prospect list? Could any of them be moved for further help this year?
SS: You never say never, but there are some guys who I believe will play for a lot of years in Iqaluit. Phaneuf is one, Malkin another, and Lehtonen another. Frankly I don’t think our youth pool is that deep that we can just trade away promising youngsters willy-nilly. A lot of deliberation went into the trading of Grigorenko and Tambellini. We feel that both guys will be quality RHLers in the near future. But we look at things over the long haul; we know our revenue situation and our bank balance will dictate that in the coming seasons we’ll have to spend less than we have been over the past three seasons. That will mean that our youth will have to play an even more prominent role in keeping our team successful both on the ice and on the ledger.

IFPW: You’re in the middle of a run for first overall and you’re talking about the ledger?! That’s not what the fans want to hear!
SS: I’ll tell you what the fans don’t want to hear: ‘Sorry, we’re broke because we traded the farm for rental guys, and now we have no money for free agents and limited prospects for the future. See you in three seasons when we can be competitive again’. That’s something I’m not going to let happen. Of course the focus is on this year’s team. We’ve been doing very well, and anticipate a long run in the playoffs. But anyone who doesn’t also look ahead isn’t doing the fans a favour either.

IFPW: All I can say is you’ll have a lot of angry fans if this team crashes and burns in the second round because you didn’t add that final piece.
SS: I’ll be more disappointed than anyone, and I’ll ultimately be accountable to the fans. But don’t try to paint this as we haven’t been trying. We’ve stepped up and spent the money to bring in the guys we felt we needed. Now it’s their time to step up, and we feel that they will.

I. C. Stair for Iqaluit Frozen Puck Weekly

Champs, Premier Split RHL15 All-Star Classic

Yellowknife, NWT (CP)

This year’s All-Star Classic ended with each conference winning one game. The Champs, backstopped by Miikka Kiprusoff, drew first blood with an 8-4 rout over Martin Brodeur’s Premier squad, but the Premier rebounded behind Roberto Luongo to edge the Dwayne Roloson-led Champs 3-2 in the back-end. Marian Hossa led all scorers with one goal and four assists over the two game set and was named All-Star MVP, while Luongo stopped 32 of 34 shots to earn top goaltender honours. “We really had a great time here, and I think the fans enjoyed it most importantly”, Champs coach Steve Stringer said after the second game. “A big thank you goes out to the organizing staff here in Yellowknife; they did a fabulous job”.

GAME SUMMARY
RHL15 All-Star Game #1

SCORING 1 2 3 4 T PPA PPG FOW FOL SHOTS ON GOAL 1 2 3 4
T
------- -- -- -- -- -- --- --- --- --- ----- -- ---- -- -- -- --
---
Champions 4 2 2 0 8 2 1 30 14 Champions 15 9 12 0
36
Premier 1 2 1 0 4 4 1 14 30 Premier 12 11 6 0
29

Corner Battles Time of Possession by Zone
Passing
Other Stats Hits Won % Won Offensive Neutral Defensive Total Comp
%Comp
----------- ---- --- ----- --------- ------- --------- ----- ----
-----
Champions 17 20 52.6 09:54 07:59 11:20 29:13 114
85.7
Premier 19 18 47.4 10:04 09:34 11:09 30:47 107
73.8

GOALS ALLOWED 1 2 3 4 T SHOTS FACED 1 2 3 4
T
------------- -- -- -- -- --- ----------- -- -- -- --
---
Kiprusoff 1 2 1 0 4 Kiprusoff 12 11 6 0
29
Brodeur 4 2 2 0 8 Brodeur 15 9 12 0
36

GOALS
-----
# TEAM PER TIME PLAYER GOAL# ASSIST #1 ASSIST #2 TYPE
------ --- ----- ------------ ----- ------------ ------------ --------
1 CHA 1 03:54 Kovalchuk 1 Sundin Pronger EST
2 PRE 1 08:15 Smyth 1 Forsberg Satan PPG
3 CHA 1 12:08 Datsyuk 1 Tkachuk Mrn.Hossa EST
4 CHA 1 16:55 Rucchin 1 EST
5 CHA 1 17:28 Guerin 1 EST
6 PRE 2 07:31 S.Walker 1 Timonen McEachern EST
7 CHA 2 10:56 Kovalchuk 2 Mrn.Hossa S.Niedermaye EST
8 PRE 2 17:47 Timonen 1 S.Walker Holik EST
9 CHA 2 19:09 Mrn.Hossa 1 Kovalchuk Datsyuk PPG
10 CHA 3 00:16 Datsyuk 2 S.Niedermaye Mrn.Hossa EST
11 PRE 3 03:47 Kubina 1 Sakic Timonen EST
12 CHA 3 05:32 Chara 1 Elias Palffy EST

PENALTIES
---------
PER TIME TEAM PLAYER PIM MINORS MAJORS MISC. MATCH GMISC GRMIS
--- ----- ---- ------------- --- ------ ------ ------ ----- ------ -------
1 04:37 CHA Johnsson 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
1 07:14 CHA Elias 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
1 19:16 CHA Tkachuk 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
2 02:50 CHA Chara 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
2 08:36 CHA Mrn.Hossa 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
2 08:36 PRE Kubina 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
2 11:12 PRE Jagr 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
2 18:55 PRE S.Walker 2 2 0 0 0 0 0

GAME DETAIL
RHL15 All-Star Game #1

All-Star Champions
----------------------------- -- GOALS -- FO FO Fight
PLAYER MIN GL AS PT SOG PP SH GW GT +/- PIM W L BS HT W L D CW CL PC
PI
------------ --- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- --- --- -- -- -- -- - - - -- -- --
--
Fedorov 15 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
2 2
Rucchin 12 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
1 1
Datsyuk 20 2 1 3 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 11 6 0 1 0 0 0 2 2
5 1
Sundin 13 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0
Kovalchuk 18 2 1 3 3 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3
9 1
Tkachuk 21 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
9 1
Elias 11 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
8 0
Konowalchuk 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 2
Guerin 12 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
7 0
Palffy 12 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
6 0
Mrn.Hossa 20 1 3 4 6 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
4 1
Lehtinen 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2
0 1
Norstrom 17 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 1
12 0
Lidstrom 21 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
6 0
Chara 15 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 3
7 1
Pronger 23 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 2
9 1
S.Niedermaye 23 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
8 2
Johnsson 21 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1
15 4
Roloson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
Kiprusoff 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1

TOTALS 60 8 12 20 36 1 0 1 0 20 10 30 14 2 17 0 0 0 20 18
114 19

-- GOALTENDING --
PLAYER SV GA W L T EN SO
------ -- -- - - - -- --
Roloson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kiprusoff 25 4 1 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 25 4 1 0 0 0 0

All-Stars Premier
----------------------------- -- GOALS -- FO FO Fight
PLAYER MIN GL AS PT SOG PP SH GW GT +/- PIM W L BS HT W L D CW CL PC
PI
------------ --- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- --- --- -- -- -- -- - - - -- -- --
--
Sakic 17 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 -3 0 7 6 0 2 0 0 0 3 1
8 4
Forsberg 17 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 1 1
6 2
Holik 14 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 1
2 1
Lang 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
6 4
R.Nash 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
2 2
Smyth 15 1 0 1 4 1 0 0 0 -2 0 1 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 2
Damphousse 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0
McEachern 12 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0
6 0
Satan 22 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
4 2
S.Walker 15 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 3
4 3
Alfredsson 12 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 1
Jagr 9 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0
Timonen 27 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 2
14 1
Niinimaa 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
10 7
Leopold 21 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 -5 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 2
4 3
R.Blake 17 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2
8 2
Kubina 18 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
8 0
Visnovsky 16 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
6 2
Brodeur 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 2
Luongo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0

TOTALS 60 4 8 12 29 1 0 0 0 -20 6 14 30 2 19 0 0 0 18 20
107 38

-- GOALTENDING --
PLAYER SV GA W L T EN SO
------ -- -- - - - -- --
Brodeur 28 8 0 1 0 0 0
Luongo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 28 8 0 1 0 0 0

GAME SUMMARY
RHL15 All-Star Game #2

SCORING 1 2 3 4 T PPA PPG FOW FOL SHOTS ON GOAL 1 2 3 4
T
------- -- -- -- -- -- --- --- --- --- ----- -- ---- -- -- -- --
---
Champions 1 1 0 0 2 3 1 28 16 Champions 17 11 8 0
36
Premier 2 0 1 0 3 4 0 16 28 Premier 11 6 9 0
26

Corner Battles Time of Possession by Zone
Passing
Other Stats Hits Won % Won Offensive Neutral Defensive Total Comp
%Comp
----------- ---- --- ----- --------- ------- --------- ----- ----
-----
Champions 28 28 51.9 10:18 07:46 11:42 29:46 97
85.8
Premier 33 26 48.1 09:41 08:21 12:12 30:14 92
74.8

GOALS ALLOWED 1 2 3 4 T SHOTS FACED 1 2 3 4
T
------------- -- -- -- -- --- ----------- -- -- -- --
---
Roloson 2 0 1 0 3 Roloson 11 6 9 0
26
Luongo 1 1 0 0 2 Luongo 17 11 8 0
36

GOALS
-----
# TEAM PER TIME PLAYER GOAL# ASSIST #1 ASSIST #2 TYPE
------ --- ----- ------------ ----- ------------ ------------ --------
1 CHA 1 04:43 Pronger 1 Sundin Palffy PPG
2 PRE 1 07:21 Niinimaa 1 Lang EST
3 PRE 1 12:17 McEachern 1 Holik Niinimaa EST
4 CHA 2 17:35 Tkachuk 1 Datsyuk Mrn.Hossa EST
5 PRE 3 08:53 Smyth 1 Niinimaa Sakic EST

PENALTIES
---------
PER TIME TEAM PLAYER PIM MINORS MAJORS MISC. MATCH GMISC GRMIS
--- ----- ---- ------------- --- ------ ------ ------ ----- ------ -------
1 01:10 PRE Forsberg 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
1 02:16 CHA Chara 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
1 04:40 PRE Smyth 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
1 08:59 CHA Kovalchuk 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
1 14:46 PRE Timonen 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
2 13:14 CHA Norstrom 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
3 09:28 CHA Datsyuk 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
3 18:41 CHA Elias 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
3 18:41 PRE Kubina 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
 GAME DETAIL
RHL15 All-Star Game #2

All-Star Champions
----------------------------- -- GOALS -- FO FO Fight
PLAYER MIN GL AS PT SOG PP SH GW GT +/- PIM W L BS HT W L D CW CL PC
PI
------------ --- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- --- --- -- -- -- -- - - - -- -- --
--
Fedorov 21 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 0 2 0 0 0 4 2
3 0
Rucchin 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
4 0
Datsyuk 12 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 -2 2 5 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
4 2
Sundin 14 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 1
5 1
Kovalchuk 16 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 2
Tkachuk 14 1 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 -2 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
3 1
Elias 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
8 0
Konowalchuk 12 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0
2 0
Guerin 13 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 2
Palffy 15 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 1
Mrn.Hossa 14 0 1 1 5 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
6 0
Lehtinen 15 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3
4 0
Norstrom 19 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 6 5
4 1
Lidstrom 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 5
11 1
Chara 19 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 3 2
9 1
Pronger 19 1 0 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1
9 1
S.Niedermaye 26 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 5 5
14 2
Johnsson 17 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 1
Roloson 59 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
Kiprusoff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0

TOTALS 60 2 4 6 36 1 0 0 0 -10 10 28 16 2 28 0 0 0 28 26 97
16

-- GOALTENDING --
PLAYER SV GA W L T EN SO
------ -- -- - - - -- --
Roloson 23 3 0 1 0 0 0
Kiprusoff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 23 3 0 1 0 0 0

All-Stars Premier
----------------------------- -- GOALS -- FO FO Fight
PLAYER MIN GL AS PT SOG PP SH GW GT +/- PIM W L BS HT W L D CW CL PC
PI
------------ --- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- --- --- -- -- -- -- - - - -- -- --
--
Sakic 14 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
4 2
Forsberg 14 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 0 5 0 0 0 1 1
4 0
Holik 13 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 2
9 2
Lang 17 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 3
7 3
R.Nash 16 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 3 2
3 0
Smyth 15 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 2 2 5 0 4 0 0 0 3 1
5 2
Damphousse 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
1 1
McEachern 13 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 0
4 1
Satan 16 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 2
7 5
S.Walker 13 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
2 2
Alfredsson 12 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
6 2
Jagr 18 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 3 4
3 0
Timonen 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 3
8 3
Niinimaa 16 1 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
6 1
Leopold 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1
3 3
R.Blake 24 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 1
5 1
Kubina 19 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 2 2
7 1
Visnovsky 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
8 2
Brodeur 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
Luongo 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0

TOTALS 60 3 5 8 26 0 0 1 0 10 8 16 28 3 33 0 0 0 26 28 92
31

-- GOALTENDING --
PLAYER SV GA W L T EN SO
------ -- -- - - - -- --
Brodeur 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Luongo 34 2 1 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 34 2 1 0 0 0 0

Days 81-82: Weekend Sweep

St. Pete’s, FL (AP)

The Rovers flew south to St. Pete’s a day early to hit the beach, then the next day they hit the Wicked Ale for a 4-2 road victory. For the second straight game captain Olli Jokinen tallied the winning goal, this one late in the third period in a 2-2 game that was close only for the efforts of Patrick Lalime in the Ale nets. Lalime was ambushed to the tune of 47 shots against, but held the Ale in the game for 57 minutes. Glen Murray and Pavol Demitra gave the Rovers a 2-1 lead after Martin Straka opened the scoring early in the first. Eric Brewer iced the game 33 seconds after Jokinen’s go-ahead marker. Chris Mason won his second straight start, stopping 19 of 21 shots for his seventh win of the season.

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

A quick flight home saw a short turnaround to the next Baffin game at home against Albany for the second time in four days. Unlike Thursday, however, this game was not close as the Rovers overwhelmed Ed Belfour for four goals on 17 shots in the first period to take a 4-0 lead into the lockerroom. Kris Draper scored twice in the frame, as did Mark Recchi and Jeff Halpern. It was a lead they would not relinquish as they maintained the pressure in the second, again outshooting the StrapHangers by a 16-5 margin. Mark Recchi notched his second of the game early in the third and Nathan Horton pushed the lead to 6-0 minutes later to conclude the Rover scoring. Sergei Samsonov’s goal 13 seconds after Horton’s was the only blemish on Chris Mason’s evening as he stopped 22 of 23 for his third consecutive win.

The three wins moved Baffin Island four points ahead of the Mounties for first place, with Kitchener holding one game in hand. The Rovers now have three days off before entering a curious stretch of nine days during which they play the Selects twice and the Vampyres four times.

Day 79: Olli-Olli Oxen Free!

“Awesome”, Rovers captain Olli Jokinen on how it felt to skate on the top line and score the winning goal against the StrapHangers on Thursday.

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

When Rover Report visited with Olli Jokinen last week, he felt he was still contributing to the team even though he was not seeing the icetime he has been accustomed to in recent years. Now, a day after the coaching staff tabbed him to center the #1 line in a line shuffle, he feels even better. Jokinen scored twice, including the game-winner in the third period, in the Rovers 3-1 win over the StrapHangers. “Everyone wants to play lots and score big goals, but opportunity isn’t something you directly control”, Jokinen said after the win. “But when you get your chance, you have to take advantage. Tonight was awesome”.

Jokinen made his mark early, deflecting home an Eric Brewer point shot on power-play just over three minutes into the game. Kevyn Adams tied the game with his third of the season just past the midpoint of the frame. The Rovers outshot the Hangers 12-6 in the period and increased the pressure in the second, only to be repeated stymied by ex-Rover Ed Belfour. Outshot 18-6 in the second, Belfour stood on his head. Time and again he robbed Rover shooters of what seemed to be sure goals, his best effort coming on a sliding pad-stack save off an Alexander Frolov attempt while on a long 2-on-1 with Pavol Demitra. “Eddie always plays us tough… has ever since he’s been in Albany”, Stringer said of his former netminder. “It seems like it’s always a battle against him, so we were lucky to squeeze enough by him to get the win”.

With the StrapHangers retreating into a tight defensive shell to start the third, it was open season on Belfour. However it wasn’t until the 13 minute mark of the period when Jokinen broke the deadlock, taking a breakaway pass from Danny Markov and going in alone to beat Belfour with a quick snapshot low to the glove side. Nathan Horton added an insurance goal later in the frame, tapping home a gorgeous cross-crease pass from Jeff Halpern on a play that caught the StrapHangers defense napping. Chris Mason, getting the start for Martin Gerber, stopped 13 of 14 shots for the win, while Belfour was stellar, making 40 saves in defeat.

The win moved the Rovers two points clear of the Mounties for tops in the Champions Conference. Both teams have played 39 games. Baffin now has a day off before travelling to St. Pete’s to meet the Wicked Ale and then returning to again host the StrapHangers.

Notes: Sports talk radio in Iqaluit was buzzing with speculation that the Rovers were about to make a major trade with the 500s. Stringer addressed the situation after the game.. sort of. “Yeah, Indy seems to be active in the trade market right now. If we become active, you’ll all hear about it. But right now, we aren’t”.

Champs Conference All-Stars: Inside the Selections

Yellowknife, NWT (CP)

Talk leading up to the All-Star game was relatively quiet regarding player selection as tight battles at the top of each conference continued to rage and league standing had enraptured the media. However, as the spotlight began to shift north to the I&S Mine Shaft, site of the RHL15 All-Star games, speculation as to the All-Star lineups began to grow. That said, Champion Conference head coach Steve Stringer took to the podium this afternoon in front of a packed room to announce the All-Stars for his conference. The complete lineup is as follows:

C – Sergei Fedorov – CAP (s), Pavel Datsyuk – FUN, Mats Sundin – MOU, Steve Rucchin – SPE
LW – Ilya Kovalchuk – CAP (s), Keith Tkachuk – ROA, Patrik Elias – SOC, Steve Konowalchuk – VAM
RW – Bill Guerin – FUN (s), Marian Hossa – SEL, Zigmund Palffy – STR, Jere Lehtinen – 500
D – Nicklas Lidstrom – SOC (s), Scott Niedermayer – FUN (s), Chris Pronger – ROV, Kim Johnsson – ROV, Zdeno Chara – MOU, Mattias Norstrom – WIC
G – Miikka Kiprusoff – MOU (s), Dwayne Roloson – CAP

“With any All-Star team, there are way too many guys that deserve to make it but can’t because of the numbers game”, Stringer said about the challenge of assembling such a team. “It always comes down to having to choose one or two guys out of a group of eight or ten and you know that every guy there could do the job and do it well”.

One eyebrow-raiser among the omissions was Fredrik Modin, the conference’s second leading scorer. “Modin was a real tough choice. It came down not only to numbers, but to team representation. Many slots were spoken for before we had to make real choices”. The Rovers are represented by their top defensive tandem of Pronger and Johnsson, though no Rover forwards made the cut, and neither did starting goalie Martin Gerber. “Kim and Chris obviously deserved to make the team, so I made sure they were there”, Stringer said of his Dmen. “But then when we got to the forwards, we had to fit in so many teams that there weren’t many spots remaining. Demitra got serious consideration, but Sundin deserved it more. Marty [Gerber] is certainly deserving, but Roloson simply had better numbers across the board and deserved it just that much more. Like I said, wasn’t easy”.

The inclusion of defensive forwards Konowalchuk, Rucchin, and Lehtinen also drew questions. “Like I said, team representation was a key factor. With Mark [Benvenga] dismantling his team so quickly, it put a big challenge to us. Suddenly instead of Sundin, Tanguay, and Schneider, there weren’t many guys left. Jere was his leading scorer, but is best known as a defensive guy. Then, looking around we saw Rooch and Kono were also leading their teams in scoring, so it was the natural thing to do to select them all, filling the representation and gaining a shutdown line and all our PK guys in the one shot. Draper was another guy that was considered, but it came down to those three being the best reps for their respective clubs. That defensive line became the first unit chosen just because of the circumstances of those three teams, then we filled the remaining two offensive lines last”.

Other players that just missed the cut include Martin St. Louis, Dany Heatley, Markus Naslund, Wade Redden, and Sergei Gonchar, as well as numerous others. More than 40 players were debated for the 20 slots. Team breakdown saw the top five teams in the conference land multiple players, with the Mounties, Capones, and Funboys sending three apiece while the Rovers and Sockeyes each send two. The remaining seven teams have one representative. The All-Star games are slated to be played tonight.

Shuffling the Deck

The Rovers prepare to host the StrapHangers with new line combinations.

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

As the Rovers head into a stretch of games against two struggling teams in the StrapHangers and Wicked Ale, the coaching staff are going to experiment with a new look down the middle. Olli Jokinen, with four goals and two assists in the three games prior to the Funboys loss, finds himself skating on the top line alongside wingers Cory Stillman and Glen Murray. Pavol Demitra, Murray’s long-time linemate, drops to the second line with Alexander Frolov and Mark Recchi, while Kris Draper will shift to third line centre between Jeff Halpern and Nathan Horton. The fourth line remains intact with David Legwand centering Antti Laaksonen and Adam Hall.

The move is an attempt to improve the overall production of the group as Jokinen is the team’s top rated passer among forwards at 82.3%, while Draper was completing less than 70% of his pass attempts. “Kris has played very well for us as his eleven goals indicate”, Stringer said during the scrum after practice, “but we want to see if Jokinen’s playmaking can jolt the top lines. We’ve felt all season that this group has more to give, so we’ll continue to tinker until we get them playing to their potential”.

After the game, Stringer had a roster selection meeting via conference call with fellow All-Star coaches Brad Schott and Paul Myers. Stringer will guide the Champion Conference All-Star squad this season, and the lobbying among his players to get on the team has been intense. “I won’t lie, we’ve all been in his ear”, Chris Pronger laughed when asked about the situation. “I think even Moose [3rd string goalie Johan Hedberg] has been chirping about getting on the team. Personally I think my mom would make a better choice in net than him, but don’t tell him I said that”.