Written by TED CLARKE
Citizen staff
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Sunday, 13 April 2008 |
Mike Lalonde hadn’t graced a Prince George ice surface in eight years.
As he showed Sunday afternoon at the 23rd annual Lumber Kings Sports Club tournament, all that water under the bridge has done nothing to dilute his hockey skills.
The 26-year-old former Spruce King was the offensive catalyst with three goals and two assists to lead the Big Guy Lake Mohawks of Prince George to a 5-4 win over Kamloops in the C Division final at Kin 1.
“I hadn’t seen any of these guys for a long time and it was a lot fun being here,” said Lalonde, a Michigan State graduate and three-year pro in the East Coast Hockey League, who went overseas last season to play in Holland.
“We have some pretty good guys on this team -- it was nice to play with (former AHL pro) Derek Wood and Chris Desjarlais, who is from my hometown, Chetwynd.”
Kamloops, which lost 8-1 to the Mohawks in the morning game, was forced to play a semifinal game against the Carpenters of Prince George right before the rematch with the Mohawks.
“They were working hard from the start and it took us 10 minutes to take over,” said Lalonde, who plans to return next season to the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder. “Coming through the back door (in the tournament), they tired out and we came on strong. They probably could have beaten us if they had a lucky bounce.”
Lalonde got the Mohawks on the scoreboard halfway through the first of a two-period game, which cut the Kamloops lead to 2-1. Trailing 3-2 going into the second, Lalonde used his big league-shot to tie the game and a few minutes later gave the Mohawks a lead they would never relinquish, despite the best efforts of a familiar face wearing a visiting uniform.
Kamloops sniper Curtis Cardinal scored twice and added an assist against his former teammates. His second goal, which came after Desjarlais picked a corner on Kamloops goalie Willie Sellers, made it a 5-4 game, and that created a few tense moments for the home crowd in the packed arena.
But with defencemen Dustin Erickson, Cory Giroux, Rick Kooses and Aaron Bull, the former Vancouver Canucks draft pick, dishing out punishment at the Mohawks blueline and providing a cushion for goalie Tyler Cutknife, there was very little room for Kamloops forwards to penetrate the offensive zone.
“The thing about Prince George is there are so many good hockey players in this area and we knew we were going to
have to play our best game to win, and I thought we did,” said Cardinal, who left the Spruce Kings for WHL stops in Medicine Hat and Red Deer.
“But we started to try to protect our lead a bit instead of playing the way we did at the start and I think that hurt us. They came at me pretty good, I got two sticks broken over me on one shift and I don’t understand why there was no (penalty) call.”
Ryan Minnabarriet, the former Merritt Centennials forward, also connected for Kamloops, as did Matt Hampton.
Guy Prince was the other Big Guy Lake marksman.
In the C Division final, Little Guy Lake of Prince George knocked off Nicoslie of Fort St. James 4-2. Chris Fulton, Mike Fiddler, Nate Riley and Dustin Duncan were the Little Guy Lake goalscorers, while Justa Sam and Keith Morris replied for Nicoslie.
The Salty Islanders of Fort St. James captured the Oldtimers Division, defeating the Moberly Lakers 5-2. Terry Jullien scored twice for the Islanders. Terry Kirstner collected both Moberly goals.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 October 2008 )
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