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Connolly plays hero in return |
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Written by JIM SWANSON
Citizen Sports Editor
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Tuesday, 06 January 2009 |
First, he skated out in a red Hockey Canada jersey. Then, he rode off a hero in a white Cougars jersey.
Brett Connolly's return from a whirlwind stint with Team Pacific at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge came at a perfect time, and with a fantastic finish, for his Western Hockey League club. Connolly scored yet another beauty of a goal for the Prince George Cougars, this one coming with 38.4 seconds showing on the clock in overtime.
The marker, his 17th, gave the Cougars (15-26-0-1) a much-deserved - more on that later - 3-2 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors, and snapped Prince George's five-game losing streak. Five games, it should be noted, that were played without Connolly in the lineup.
“I thought he was a little tired, and I looked down the bench a few times in overtime and he was looking back and wagging his tail because he wanted to go,” said head coach Wade Klippenstein
“I put him out there, and thankfully he got the goal. Brett's a very special player, and he can make plays like that. We've seen it a few times this year, and the people of Port Alberni got to see it over Christmas.”
The 16-year-old Connolly, already wispy at six-foot-one and 162 pounds, emerged from the dressing room looking leaner than he did before leaving to play a starring role for the silver-medallist Pacific club. He even guessed he'd dropped weight over the holidays - something most people would be happy to do.
“I was really tired. I played six games in I don't know how many days,” said Connolly. “I missed (a goal) earlier in the game. I was mad about that one, it would've put us up a goal, but I was happy to get the winning goal and that our team got the win.”
Connolly and Marek Viedensky, who had an outstanding world junior tournament for upstart Slovakia in Ottawa, wore their international jerseys for a pre-game ceremony that brought an ovation from the announced crowd of 1,889 - more on that later, too.
The extra bodies were a big help for a team that had dressed as few as seven forwards in recent outings, but they provided more than just token bodies. Viedensky, who traveled all day from Ottawa, was a surprise addition to the lineup.
“It's a lift to have the depth, but to have the skill, too... they're important guys,” said Klippenstein.
In overtime, Connolly took a pass from Parker Stanfield and drove past defenceman Travis Hamonic, a late national junior team cut, and finessed a shot past Warriors goaltender Devan Dubyk for the deciding goal.
And yet, for all that, the main drama came from a terrible call by referee Sean Raphael to disallow a Cougars goal with 8:25 to play in the third period.
The only way Cougars assistant captain Tyler Halliday is likely to hear his name in the same sentence as the best player in junior hockey is like this: “That Tyler Halliday, he's no John Tavares.” But Halliday, a journeyman in his first WHL season at the advanced age of 19, broke in on the right side and deftly, a la Tavares against the Americans at the world junior tournament, picked the top corner, short side.
The puck clearly hit the back of the net, and fans got a convincing look on the video replay. Raphael decided to stay in the wrong, but not before getting an earful from Klippenstein at the Cougars bench.
“I thought we deserved to win the hockey game and had some things go against us,” said the coach.
“I can't remember the last time I coached a game and we didn't get a power play. I thought maybe the deck was stacked against us, but we battled and the right guy had the puck at the right time in overtime. I just mentioned to the ref that's the first time I've ever seen a goal judge overrule an on-ice official, especially an official that was so definitive with his call.”
It looked as though the officiating gaffe wouldn't skew the rightful result when, just more than a minute later, Justin Maylan finished a slick passing play with Alex Poulter. Maylan now has 10 goals, the first time he's hit double-digits in the WHL.
But Joel Broda, working after Raphael handed Marcus Watson a marginal slashing call - he called the sound, not the act - potted his league-leading 36th goal of the season.
Justly, it only served to heighten the drama for overtime.
“It worked out in the end, I don't mind giving up (an overtime loss) point to a team that's not in our conference,” said Klippenstein.
For just the 17th time in 42 games, the Cougars opened the scoring. Corey Tyrell, who has been hampered by shoulder problems most of the season, hammered home the rebound after Watson's bad angle shot was mishandled by Dubyk. It was Tyrell's first goal and point this season. The younger brother of injured ex-captain Dana had five goals and nine points in 70 games as a rookie a season ago.
The Warriors got even later in the first period on Ian Duval's goal that
Cougars netminder Joe Caligiuri would want back.
Connolly missed a chance to be the hero with 14 minutes to play in the third period. He was sprung by Watson, deked Dubyk out of his shorts, but scooped the puck just past the left post.
The Warriors were without the key components of their future as Connor Cox, Dylan McIlrath, Nathan McMaster and Quinton Howden, the top pick in the 2007 WHL bantam draft, weren't in Prince George. The four were involved in the under-17 tournament in Port Alberni.
The Cougars were missing goaltender Kevin Armstrong (knee), winger Brian Matte (concussion), and newly-acquired Robbie Ciolfi, picked up Tuesday for fellow 17-year-old forward Ryan Kowalski. The Cougars will have Ciolfi for a weekend road trip, and hope Armstrong's sore knee will be ready by Friday. Matt Cumming was a healthy scratch for Prince George on Tuesday, allowing 15-year-old defence prospect Jesse Forsberg to see his third WHL game.
The game marked the first meeting between the Cougars and Warriors since a blockbuster trade a year ago - Ty Wishart and Evan Fuller to Moose Jaw for Maylan and a first-round pick (which became Forsberg). With Fuller and Wishart not in Moose Jaw this year, and the Cougars set to get a number of years of service from Maylan and Forsberg, the verdict is a clear win for Prince George general manager Dallas Thompson.
KITTY LITTER: The Cougars ended up ahead 38-36 in shots on goal... Yes, Tuesday's attendance set a new CN Centre low. The smallest crowd to watch a game at CN Centre previously was 1,923, on Dec. 5 against Everett. The season they played in the Coliseum, the Cougars packed in 2,100 on a nightly basis... The Cougars weren't awarded a single power play. Moose Jaw was 1-3... Art Bidlevskii destroyed Moose Jaw's Travis Hamonic, his team's top defenceman, in a second-period scrap... The Cougars leave Thursday for a hellish road trip that has them in Everett on Friday, driving back to Kelowna for a Saturday game, then crossing the border again for Sunday's date in Kent, the new home of the Seattle Thunderbirds. After that, of course, is a trek north through the Fraser Canyon and up Highway 97.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 January 2009 )
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