The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page - December 16, 2008
POSSE WIN SHOOT-OUT AGAINST KAMLOOPS
With a league decision less than 24-hours away that could change the season for the Valley First Princeton Posse in an instant, the December 12th match against Kamloops Storm was a lot more than a crucial battle of two division rivals.
Both teams came out swinging and played a high-speed, heavy-hitting hockey game that was amazing to watch.
Kamloops opened the scoring 49-seconds into the game on the power play. The home team tied the game at 19:22 of the second period with a short-handed goal by Nick Cecconi. Kyle L'Arrivee earned an assist on the play.
Kamloops replied with two fast goals at 13:06 and 12:30 to lead the game 3 to 1.
Princeton's Brooks Christensen narrowed the gap with a goal at 6:21 (from Wade Masch) and a short-handed goal at 4:51 (Brody Brewster from Kyle L'Arrivee) tied the game at 3-all.
The third period saw Kamloops break the tie at 8:46 but the home team continued to battle and tied the game again at 3:31 with a goal from Matt Chomyc. Kieran Friesen earned an assist.
Both teams raced against the clock to score the go ahead goal before the end of regulation time but couldn't and ended up going into overtime.
The five-minute period zipped by with Kamloops firing six shots on goal to Princeton's four and no scoring, which moved the game into a shoot-out.
Princeton's first shooter, Kyle L'Arrivee scored. Scott Kirkham (Kamloops), Wade Masch (Princeton), David Gore (Kamloops), Brooks Christensen (Princeton), Devin Gannon (Kamloops) and Riley Ferster (Princeton) did not.
Austin Goode (Kamloops) scored, which tied the shoot-out at one goal each.
The Posse went through seven more shooters (Matt Chomyc, Jason Alessio, Thierry Martine, Derrick DeLisser, Leeland Malkinson, Brody Brewster and Nick Cecconi) without scoring. Kamloops also went scoreless after their next seven shooters (Mick Ludvig, Jamie Galbraith, Sean Menton, Taylor Stuart, Shae Naka, Daniel Medland-Marchen and Logan Hawgood).
Princeton's last shooter, John Minot scored, the Storm's Jose Reyes did not leaving Princeton with a 2-1 win in the shoot-out, which earned them a goal to win the game.
Both goalies, Michael Garteig (Princeton) and Kyle Graham (Kamloops) deserve special mention for the skillful games they both played never letting up from the opening face-off to the final of the shoot-out.
Final Score: Princeton 5, Kamloops 4 (SO). Shots on goal: Kamloops 42, Princeton 30. The Princeton Dairy Queen/Overwaitea three stars were: #3 - Kyle L'Arrivee, #2 - Matt Chomyc and #1 - Michael Garteig. Five Posse players named
A total of five Valley First Princeton Posse players will be highlighting their talents during All-Star weekend on January 17th in Chase.
Kyle L'Arrivee and Derrick DeLisser will play in the All-Star Game while Thierry Martine, Michael Garteig and Kieran Friesen will appear in the Top Prospects game.
RIVALRY FUELS POSSE LOSS TO CHIEFS
There was a lot more than just fur and pucks flying at the December 13th Valley First Princeton Posse game against Chase Chiefs.
Traditionally the final home game before Christmas is the annual Teddy Bear Game where fans are encouraged to bring stuffed animals to the game to toss on the ice after Princeton scores their first goal of the night. There were a lot of bears in the stands ready to take flight and they did - twice in the first period!
Chase opened the scoring at 14:39.
Princeton appeared to tie the game at 12:14 and the arena instantly filled with flying stuffed animals of every kind. There was a stoppage in play to allow for the collection of the toys, all of which were donated to the local Christmas Hamper Fund. Once play resumed it was discovered that Princeton had not scored at all. The goal was waved off due to a player being in the goal crease. Both the rink announcer and webcast crew missed the mistake.
Princeton did eventually tie the game at 2:27 with an unassisted goal by Nick Cecconi - which saw even more teddy bears and stuffed animals of all description pelt the ice surface at Princeton Arena.
The second period saw another intense 20-minutes of end-to-end action with speed and accuracy by both teams dominating the play. The rivalry between Chase and Princeton was obvious in the second period with both teams trading goals throughout the period.
Chase was first at 16:58.
Princeton tied the match at 2-all at 16:08 (Derrick DeLisser from Wade Masch).
Chase took the lead back at 11:40.
Princeton tied it up again at 8:00 (Brooks Christensen from Spencer Brooks and Wade Masch).
Chase took back the lead with 1:26 left in the period on a mistake by Princeton goalie Michael Garteig. Garteig had stopped a long shot and was clearing it to a teammate when Chase's team captain Casey Patterson swooped in from the blind side, intercepted the short pass in front of the goal and sent it into the net by airmail.
The goal knocked the momentum out of the Posse who could not regain control of the scoreboard in the third period. Chase added two more goals; their final one in an empty net, and the deal was done.
Final score: Chase 6, Princeton 3. The Princeton Dairy Queen/Overwaitea three stars of the game were: #3 - Brooks Christensen, #2 - Derrick DeLisser and #1 - Wade Masch.
Next week the Posse spend time on the road for a three-game run which will take them to Beaver Valley, Spokane and Grand Forks. The team will not play another home game until after the Christmas break, which will be January 2nd against Sicamous, followed the next night with a game at home against Summerland.
POSSE SKATES THROUGH LEAGUE DECISION
The big talk around Princeton last week revolved around what well happen to the Valley First Princeton Posse?
The team is not in financial trouble by any means as fundraising efforts are a way of life for the community-owned KIJHL franchise. The bullet the team was trying to dodge was related to an error in paperwork that left one player unregistered, thus making him an ineligible player. As has happened in the past, and most recently to Beaver Valley earlier this season, such an error usually is resolved by disciplinary action by the league.
The big question in Princeton was how severe will the penalty to the team be as there were a lot of options available. The team could have lost the 22 points earned with the ineligible player on the roster or the organization could have been fined. Other possibilities fell between those two extremes.
The player in question is 18-year old Kevin Darcy of Boston, Massachusetts who lists his hometown in the Posse game program as Sydney, Australia.
Darcy was asked by Posse webcast play-by-play announcer George Elliott to explain what happened during the second intermission of the December 12th game against Kamloops. At the time the league decision had not been made.
"We had an unregistered player - which is me - a mistake made by coaching staff and it went in so every game that I've played I was an illegal player," Darcy explained.
"And now (the league) is trying to suspend these games and I'm not exactly sure what decisions will be made. There could be just a suspension for the coach, the team could lose the points - it's hard to say if (the league) wants to make an example of the team here."
A league conference call was held December 11th to hash out details with a final decision expected to be made the following day. If it was, no one from the Posse organization was talking about it deciding instead to just play hockey.
What was referred to as a 'mistake made on the paperwork' forced the KIJHL to enforce rules to bring teams in line as the league made what was likely a fair decision - the Posse lost a total of 7 points, taking them from second place in their division with 33 points down to fifth place with 26 points and team Coach Dale
'Duner' Hladun will serve a nine game suspension.
The KIJHL deserves credit in not penalizing the players by taking away more points or penalizing the team organization and volunteers by fining the club while still maintaining a level of credibility expected at this level of hockey.
While the 'hits' will sting a while with the Posse, they have not lost much ground in the standings as they play in a very competitive division where nine points separate the second and last place teams.
