The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page - March 4, 2008
POSSE/STORM START PLAYOFFS ON 'LEAP' DAY
Winning the Eddie Mountain West Division earned the Valley First Princeton Posse a bye into the second round of playoffs, which gave the team a much-deserved rest.
Game #1 of that series was February 29th against Kamloops and for those who are superstitious, there were no shortage of signs to signal the outcome of the game.
First, playing the first game of the series on Leap Day and second, a half hour delay in the start of the game following the shattering of a piece of Plexiglas during the pre-game warm up (in the Kamloops practice end) would have sent some fans running home screaming, but it didn't. In fact, Princeton Arena attracted probably more fans for this game than any other regular season game.
KIJHL President Bill Ohlhausen was in attendance and assisted Posse General Manager Blair Noel in presenting three awards prior to the opening face off.
Dan Hillman received the Eddie Mountain West Division Most Sportsmanlike Player Award with Brad Goss named the Eddie Mountain West Division Rookie of the Year.
Princeton Posse Coach Dale 'Duner' Hladun was also presented with an award the Eddie Mountain West Division Coach of the Year.
Ohlhausen also took the opportunity to compliment Noel on his six years of dedication to the team and league.
Ohlhausen encouraged the crowd to show their appreciation by giving Noel a round of applause.
Then it was on to hockey.
And was it ever a fast-paced, end-to-end exciting game to watch.
Kamloops opened the scoring at 1:40 with a blazing fast shot out of a face off in Posse territory.
Princeton's Logan Johnston responded at 9:06 when he one-timed a pass from Randall Groot and sent it deep into the Kamloops goal from just inside the blue line.
The arena was crackling with electricity and lit the goal lights brighter than ever when Princeton's Brad Goss poked at a rebound to score with 37.7-seconds in the frame. Taylor Stuart received an assist on the power play goal.
The second period was just as exciting, just as fast and just as electrifying except for one huge difference no scoring.
Princeton did out shoot Kamloops 20 to 12 in shots on goal for the period but both goalies played career-defining games.
The third period saw a continuation of the momentum until 6:42 when Kamloops called a time out.
Then at exactly the half way point of the period Kamloops tied the game.
Princeton hung on, but started to run out of gas. The Storm added their third goal at 17:02 and following another time out with less than a minute the play, Princeton pulled their goalie for an extra man, but by then the game was over.
The Princeton Dairy Queen/Finning Tractor Kamloops Three Stars were #3 Jeremy Wagner (Posse), #2 Scott Kirkham (Storm) and #1 Anthony Manfreddi (Storm).
Shots on goal: Princeton 46, Kamloops 36. Final score: Kamloops 3, Princeton 2. Kamloops leads the series 1-0.
Game #2 - March 1
Game #2 of the Valley First Princeton Posse and Kamloops Storm playoffs started March 1st in Princeton Arena with a special presentation.
Jim Pennington, Eddie Mountain West Division Vice-President presented the Posse with their First Place Division Banner.
Team Captain Brett Van Riper and Assistant Captain Dan Hillman accepted the banner on behalf of the team and quickly got into the purpose of the gathering to play a game of hockey.
And did both teams play a game!
Princeton scored first at 6:51 when David Smith fed the puck to Kyle L'Arrivee deep in the Posse zone. L'Arrivee then stick handled his way along the boards past the players boxes, behind the Kamloops goal and with one hand on his stick and crouched down low to the ice to keep balance, slipped the puck out around the glove side of the net to an awaiting Brett Van Riper who blasted it into the net.
Then Princeton scored again at 9:38 on the power play.
Wade Masch took a shot on goal from inside the blue line, which was deflected into the goal by Jeremy Wagner. Brett Van Riper also received an assist on the play.
The second period saw Kamloops score at 1:31 and 3:58 to tie the game.
The third period was dominated by Kamloops, although the Posse did not look as tired as they did in the third period of Game #1. The period also saw a number of questionable calls made by the officials, although both penalty boxes did seem full for most of the period.
Kamloops nailed two fast goals at 8:13 and 8:46, and pretty much sealed the deal with another power play goal with only 1:57 left to play.
The stats sheet tells a slightly different story, however. While Kamloops outshot Princeton 32 to 22, the Storm collected 75-minutes in penalties versus Princeton's 62-minutes (which included two bench minors four minutes apart in the second period).
The Princeton Dairy Queen/Finning Tractor Kamloops Three Stars were #3 Brett Van Riper (Posse), #2 Broc Backus (Storm), #1 Jassi Sangha (Storm).
Final score: Kamloops 5, Princeton 2. Kamloops leads the series 2-0.
