The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page for March 16, 2010
GRIZZLIES LEAD SERIES 3-0
The 2009/10 Princeton Posse continued to navigate uncharted territory March 12th hosting their first-ever (in franchise history) Conference Playoff game.
Although the game was the third in a proposed best-of-seven series and the visiting team came to town with a two-game lead, stats were gathered and analyzed showing that during regular season play both teams split their six game series 3-3. The stats also showed Revelstoke had not won a game on Princeton ice at all during the season. The stats also showed the teams were so evenly matched that Revelstoke lead the regular season series scoring 24 goals to Princeton's 20.
But that was during the regular season.
The Grizzlies finished the regular season at the top of the Okanagan Shuswap Division and that was obvious with the way they played Game 3. The Posse, however, struggled throughout the majority of the game with their passing game and it showed.
Princeton's Evan Stack scored first at 3:28 of the first period with assists going to Spencer Kristensen and Dan Hillman.
Revelstoke tied the game at 1:49.
The second period was dominated by the Grizzlies, although both teams took the time to finish checks and tried to physically take control of each other.
Princeton's Jared Hidber nailed a Revelstoke player at 15:09 and was first assessed a hitting from behind penalty. Upon further consultation with players, coaches and fellow linesmen, referee Nick Swaine added a game misconduct to the call which appeared to have an affect on the way the Posse played the rest of the game.
Revelstoke added two more goals to lead the game 3-1 going into the third frame.
The Posse tried frantically at times to even the score and despite their hard work in front of, behind, beside and from every angle on goal they just couldn't fully penetrate the Revelstoke defense.
Princeton pulled goalie Brett Patchett for an extra man for the final two minutes of the game and came close, but Revelstoke's Kyle Ceretzke blew the wind out of the sails when a long shot from his own end found its way to the empty net.
Final score: Revelstoke 4, Princeton 1. Shots on goal: Princeton 30, Revelstoke 18. Penalties in minutes: Princeton 7 for 22-minutes, Revelstoke 2 for 4-minutes.
PRINCETON'S LONGEST SEASON COMES TO AN END
Princeton Posse hosted Revelstoke Grizzlies March 13th for Game 4 of the Okanagan Conference Finals. Revelstoke came into the Princeton & District Multi-Purpose Arena with a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
It was obvious early in the game that a different Princeton team was on the ice although Revelstoke finished the first period with two goals.
The start of the second period was delayed in order to give the wet ice surface a chance to freeze up.
Once play got underway both teams pushed and shoved their way into each other's ends.
Princeton got their first goal of the game at 4:04 on the power play. Dan Hillman got the goal with assists going to Spencer Kristensen and Brendan Stephen.
Getting on the scoreboard sent a jolt through the team, which showed on ice.
The third period was a completely different 20-minutes which saw a total of six goals scored.
Princeton tied the game at 15:01 with a power play goal by Ben Morgan. Assists went to Chad Brears and Brooks Christensen. It changed the whole momentum of the game until Revelstoke took back the lead at 9:28.
Then the Grizzlies added their fourth goal at 6:20 and their fifth goal at 4:55 and their sixth goal with 1:06 left to play.
Princeton continued to fight the rest of the game trying hard to regain ground but couldn't.
The Posse did add another goal with 49.5-seconds left (Dan Hillman from Jared Hidber and Nick Cecconi) but it was too late for Princeton.
The long season for the KIJHL team in the smallest market in the league was finally over. The 2009/10 Posse team went farther than any team before it playing a total of 58 games this season.
"It was easily the best Posse team ever assembled," said webcast play-by-play announcer George Elliott.
"I've watched just about every home game since the team moved to Princeton and I thought last season's team was the all-time best but this group of players were even better than that team. They have set franchise and personal records, which will likely be used for comparison of every Posse team to follow. It'll be a tough season to beat."
Final score: Revelstoke 6, Princeton 3. Shots on goal: Princeton 34, Revelstoke 22. Penalties in minutes: Princeton 7 for 38-minutes, Revelstoke 9 for 18-minutes.
Revelstoke wins the Okanagan Conference title sweeping the series in four games and takes on the winners of the Nelson/Fernie Kootenay Conference for the League Championships.
