Coming into their own, Lancers hockey celebrates a milestone
By Ryan Rogers
Sports Editor
January 16, 2008
After a disappointing start to the back-to-back double-header against the Queen’s Golden Gaels this weekend, losing 8-3, the Lancers stormed back to beat them 4-1 the following night at the Adie Knox Arena, winning Head Coach Pete Belliveau his 200th career win.
Queen’s opened the scoring in the first period as Mike Brisebois snuck in a turnover unassisted. But the Lancers responded, as rookie Kyle Nishizaki struck again after being fed an excellent pass by Josh Gaynor. He was right in front and made a great deke to score high glove side on the Queen’s net-minder, Brady Morrison. Bradyn Melrose also drew an assist on the scoring play.
The goal sparked Queen’s a little, as they fought back to put more pressure on Lancer goalie Jim Watt.
While the pressure was on, the Lancer’s Wes Ewer checked Jon Lawrence heavily as he was carrying the puck, creating a turnover and cleared the zone. The teams squared off their first period, with a tie, 1-1.
Queen’s came out from the second period striking the first few shots, and even hit the post with a wide-open chance from in front of the net, high on Watt’s glove side.
Windsor didn’t help themselves out any, taking all six of their penalties in the second period. The Lancers had a successful night on the penalty kill though, not allowing a single power play goal.
Shortly after their first penalty had expired, Wes Ewer returned to score on a second effort. After Queen’s goalie Morrison made an exceptional save, Ewer was able to put in the rebound to give the Lancers a 2-1 lead. Even Weber and Steve Walter drew the assists on the play.
All through the game, the Lancers were willing to get physical to protect the net and slow Queen’s down.
The Golden Gaels had control of much of the second period due to their frequent advantages on the power play, but the Lancers’ physical defense and shot blocking preserved their lead going into the intermission.
Starting the third period, Scott Todd came out and made a huge check showing that the Lancers weren’t going to back down.
Queen’s came out with a spark, but Windsor matched their energy. Watt kept the game under control, especially after an early two-on-one break that resulted in a high glove-side slap shot that he redirected away with his left shoulder.
Then the fourth line scored an important goal on a sneaker that was a dump-in shot from the point, but dribbled in through the pads of Morrison. The puck leaked into the net, and gave the Lancers a suffocating two-goal lead, with Mike Barbour’s fifth goal of the season. Nishizaki and Tyler McKinley drew assists on the goal.
Trevor Solomon slammed another big check on Queen’s, as the Lancers weren’t letting anyone near the net, and continued to use a two-man fore-check to keep Queen’s back on their heels.
Big Scott Todd kept the opposition guessing by mixing up big body checks with delicate poke-checks, all effectively diffusing Queen’s attempts at entering the offensive zone.
The Lancers benefited all night from excellent goaltending and crisp passing, that helped them not only clear the zone, but generate strong offensive pressure as well.
After a Queen’s time out, the refs were happy to let the game go, and weren’t calling much; to a point that it was dangerous. After a solid game, Solomon was decked from behind by Queen’s Pat Doyle, who received a five-minute major and a game misconduct with under a minute to go in the game. After that, with 30 seconds left to play Jon Ryan scored an empty netter to effectively end the game. Scott Gibson and Jon Romic drew assists.
Coach Belliveau recorded his 200th win in the OUA and was impressed with the full-team effort. “Without a doubt, our goaltender, Jim Watt played well. And then it spread throughout the team. Our D’s (defensemen) were solid. Our fourth line got a huge goal in the third period, that was huge.”
The game also was a changing of the guards, as the captaincy was moved to Alex White after a team vote elected him their leader. “At Christmas, (Chad) Snihur, our captain graduated, we all knew that. So we had a team vote and they voted for Alex White. He was my pick, too, it was a great decision,” said coach Belliveau. White is tied for 4th overall in the OUA and CIS with 14 goals on the season, and leads the Lancers with 21 points.
In a building year with 12 rookies in their lineup, the Lancers are starting to get their share of wins. After a horrendous start to the season, losing eight straight, the team is now 3-3 over their last six. In defeating Queen’s, the Lancers took out the impressive first-placed team in the mid-East Division.
The game also featured a move for Darrell Parsons, who has played defense all his life. Parsons was moved up to forward, and even saw some time on the power play.
“He’s a lot stronger with the puck and he’s good down low. We wanted to put him out front,” said Belliveau. “He’s always up front anyways as a D-man. So we figured we’d make him play there,” he joked.
The Lancers also saw the return of Wes Ewer and Dillon Stokes to their lineup at Christmas, which injected some experience and help. Ewer scored the winning goal.
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