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COUNTDOWN TO HOME OPENER
Fri, Sep 10 2010
STORM OUTLAST RAGE
Wed, Sep 01 2010
STORM DEFENCEMAN KENTON HELGESON GIVES SOME ATTENTION TO RAGE FORWARD CARTER PAGE
It was just a mean-nothing exhibition game, but a loss Wednesday night to the Dawson Creek Rage in the EnCana Centre in the B.C. city might have been a tough one to swallow for the Grande Prairie Storm.
Up 3-0 with less than four minutes to go in the first period it appeared the Storm were well on their way to victory in the second game in two nights between the two clubs.
The Storm ended up trailing 4-3 and had to scramble to pull out a 5-4 win and swept the North American Hockey League Rage in the pair of pre-season tilts. The Storm had won 4-1 in Grande Prairie on Tuesday.
John Girman, with his third goal in two games, gave the Storm a 1-0 lead on a beautiful individual effort at 11:39 of the first. He swept in from the left wing, moved around a Rage defender to the front of the net and deposited the puck behind Dawson Creek goaltender Jack Surgenor.
Tanner Fritz, at 15:28, and Darren Kramer, at 16:36, on similar goal-mouth tap-ins, upped the margin to 3-0 and the Rage was reeling.
Two quick goals, one a long wrister by Tyson McCallum that fooled Storm goaltender Kenny Cameron at 17:55, and then another off the stick of Jason Wark with just 1:21 to go in the first narrowed the lead to 3-2 and gave the Rage some much-needed life after playing most of the first on their heels.
"We gave up a goal against the flow of the game," said Storm coach/GM Mike Vandekamp of the first Dawson Creek tally. "It gave them life and put our guys on their heels."
The Dawson Creek comeback continued into the second period.
Wark’s second of the night at 12:57 of the second tied it at 3-3 and Jon Johanesson’s tally at 15:12 gave the Rage their first lead of the series at 4-3.
Losing the three-goal spread seemed to rattle the Storm for a good part of the second period.
"We struggled with the puck with the amount of turnovers in all three zones," said Vandekamp of the middle stanza
Girman’s second of the game, and fourth of the series, tied the game at 4-4 with just 1:25 to go in the middle frame. Jordan Forfar netted the winner with the only goal of the third period. Forfar, after taking a pass in front of the net, waited patiently for Rage netminder Andrew Walsh to commit and then flipped the puck past him.
Despite the one-goal Storm victory after 60 minutes of regulation play, the teams took part in shootout, as per Alberta Junior Hockey League pre-season regulations in an effort to practice what will be a staple during the AJHL regular season after games are tied.
Each team took five shots in the shootout. Simon Thieleman, who played the second half of the game for the Storm, stopped all five Rage shots. The only goal of the shootout came off the stick of Storm forward Spencer Mault, who scored on a high-light reel move.
Cameron started for the Storm and played the first half of the game and allowed three goals. Thieleman allowed one goal during his half. No shots on goal were recorded by the Rage off-ice officials.
Vandekamp wasn't disappointed how things played out against the Rage in the two games.
"There were some positives," he said. "We scored nine goals . . .we won the games."
He also liked the team's penalty killing, which didn't allow a powerplay goal in 12 Dawson Creek advantages over the two games.
The Storm and Rage are finished playing each other, but the Storm still have a couple of games to go in Dawson Creek.
The Storm take on the Prince George Spruce Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League on Friday and the Quesnel Millionaires on Saturday in the EnCana Centre. Both games are at 3 p.m.
First Alberta Junior Hockey League action for the Storm is Friday, Sept. 10 when they host the Sherwood Park Crusaders in the Canada Games Arena.
STORM NUMBERS DOWN TO 31
Mon, Aug 30 2010
COLIN DZIJACKY IS ONE OF SIX GOALIE LOOKING TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION
And then there were 31!
That’s the number of players still with the Grande Prairie Storm following the teams annual fall camp, which wrapped up on Sunday.
Eleven of those players are defencemen and six are goaltenders.
The numbers will start to dwindle over the next week as Storm coach/general manager Mike Vandekamp assesses his squad over four exhibition games.
Tuesday the team gets its first live action test when the Dawson Creek Rage visit the Canada Games Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. and tickets for the game are on sale at the Crystal Centre Box Office.
Wednesday the Storm travel to play the Rage in Dawson Creek at 7 p.m. Dawson Creek time and Friday the Storm are in the B.C. city to take on the Prince George Spruce Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League and Saturday the Quesnel Millionaires of the BCHL. Both those games are at 3 p.m. Dawson Creek time.
The Storm opens its regular season at home on Friday, Sept. 10 against the Sherwood Park Crusaders.
Here are the players still with the team:
Goalies: Chase Komistek, Colin Dzijacky, Simon Thieleman, Lino Chimienti, Kenny Cameron and Curtis Skip.
Defence: Caylen Walls, Matt Cumning, Jeff Clark, BenWoodley, Mathew Chrystian, Kenton Helgeson, Alex Lubczuk, Josh Phillips, Landon Hall, Nick Yeatman and Scott Nordstrom.
Forwards: Darren Kramer, Jordan Forfar, Taylor Cote, Mitch Neumeier, Spencer Mault, Jon Aylward, Warren Lothian, Cam McWilliam, Tanner Fritz, John Girman, Dan Correale, Zack Mungall, Daniel Dale, Brett Grant and Josh Juell.