The Edmonton Oil Kings season came to an end on Sunday afternoon.
Winterhawks forward Ty Rattie of Airdie, Alberta had a game for the ages. Rattie scored two shorthanded goals on the same Edmonton four minute power play in the first period as Portland defeated Edmonton 5-1 to win the Western Hockey League Championship 4-2.
Rattie, a top prospect with the St. Louis Blues, finished the game with a hat trick and was a +3.
A major reason for the Edmonton loss was their abysmal power play, which was horrible throughout the series. On Sunday, it was the Winterhawks that had the better scoring opportunities a man down.
Another thing that was horrible on Sunday was the attendance at Rexall Place. Only 7,449 fans attended the game. There was a large number of empty seats in the lower bowl. Dan Russell of Shaw Cable accurately compared Rexall Place to a library.
Henrik Zetterberg (Dan Nicholas, Wikimedia Commons)
One of the most exciting times in the world of sports is simply game seven. That’s what we’ll have Sunday night in southern California as the Anaheim Ducks host the Detroit Red Wings.
Last night, Red Wings’ captain Henrik Zetterberg scored at 1:04 of overtime to give the Red Wings a 4-3 win over the Ducks to tie their Western Conference quarterfinal series at three games apiece.
The Red Wings might have a strong core of veterans, but after all these years are still getting it done. Goaltender Jimmy Howard is playing at an elite level as Detroit will look to move on during their last year in the Western Conference. How dangerous will Detrot be next year in the East? The answer is very. The game will be seen Sunday night on TSN at 8:00 p.m.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
Saturday & Sunday– PGA–Players Championship–NBC–12 p.m.– Spain’s Sergio Garcia, probably one of the best golfers in the world to have never won a major, currently leads Tiger Woods by a stroke after shooting a -11 at Sawgrass over the first two days of competition. Garcia and Woods have won the Players Championship once before– Woods in 2001 and Garcia in 2008. As for the first round leader, American Roberto Castro, he went from -9 to -3 and 1st to 30th after shooting a 78 on Friday.
The Portland Winterhawks have the Edmonton Oil Kings on the brink of elimination.
On Wednesday evening in Edmonton, Brendan Leipsic of Winnipeg registered a goal and an assist as the Winterhawks defeated the Oil Kings 2-1 to take a 3-1 series lead in the Western Hockey League Final.
The Winterhawks, who also received two assists from defenceman Derrick Pouliot of Weyburn, Saskatchewan, will now win the Western Hockey League Championship if they win any of the final three games of their series against Edmonton.
Portland will play Edmonton in game five on Friday night (Shaw TV, 8:00 p.m.)
The Edmonton Oil Kings have fallen behind in the Western Hockey League Final. On Tuesday night at Rexall Place, Winterhawks goaltender Mac Carruth made 38 saves as Portland defeated Edmonton 3-1 to take a 2-1 series lead.
A pair of Winterhawks registered multi-point games. Right winger Oliver Bjorkstrand and left winger Taylor Leier each notched a goal and an assist. Meanwhile, Ty Rattie of Airdrie, Alberta continued his phenomenal playoffs by notching the game winning goal.
Rattie now has a WHL leading 17 goals and 33 points in the postseason. Game four is this evening in Edmonton.
The Edmonton Oil Kings came out with one of their most sluggish performances of the season on Saturday night in Portland in game two of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
The Oil Kings lost 3-0 to Portland and in the process played very lackluster hockey to say the least. For Edmonton to bounce back in the series, they need to play with greater intensity, energy and focus.
The mere fact the Oil Kings got a split in Portland is positive, but the bottom line is the hockey club is probably lacking confidence at the moment knowing the Winterhawks have the momentum in the series.
It will be interesting to see how this group of experienced junior players, where many had fathers who played in the National Hockey League, will bounce back. First they will have to stop T.J. Rattie, who probably has the best offensive hands in the WHL at the moment. Rattie scored the game winning goal at 9:09 of the first period in Saturday night’s win. Then, they will have to make the life of Winterhawks’ goaltender Mac Carruth more miserable. Carruth only made 16 saves for the shutout in Saturday’s game.
The 2013 World Men’s Hockey Championships will commence this weekend with Canada playing two games in Stockholm. The first will be against Denmark on Saturday (TSN, 8:00 a.m.) and the second will be against Switzerland on Sunday (TSN2, 8:00 a.m.).
There are four Oilers and one Flame on Team Canada. Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, Devan Dubnyk and Taylor Hall are the Oilers, while T.J. Brodie is the lone Calgary Flame.
Other notable players representing Team Canada are Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith, Carolina Hurricanes sniper Eric Staal, Florida Panthers defenceman Brian Campbell (defending Lady Byng winner) and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos, who was second in the NHL in scoring with 29 goals and 57 points. (more…)
On Tuesday evening in Edmonton, the Calgary Hitmen were eliminated from the 2013 Western Hockey League playoffs.
Michael St. Croix of Winnipeg scored twice as the Edmonton Oil Kings defeated the Calgary Hitmen 4-1 to win the Eastern Conference Final 4-3.
The Oil Kings outshot the Hitmen 38-26 and will now face the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League championships, which will commence Friday in Portland.
The Calgary Hitmen have stayed alive in the 2013 Western Hockey League playoffs.
Calgary Hitmen right winger Brooks Macek of Winnipeg, Manitoba scored at 6:59 of overtime to give Calgary a 4-3 victory to tie the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference Final at three games apiece. The seventh and deciding game is Tuesday evening at Edmonton’s Rexall Place.
The Hitmen were down 2-0 after the first period and 3-1 after the second period before center Brady Brassart scored seven seconds into the third period while the Hitmen had the two men advantage, and Macek tied the game at 7:56, also on the power play.
The Edmonton Oil Kings are one win away from returning to the Western Hockey League’s Championship Final. On Sunday, the Oil Kings will play the Calgary Hitmen at the Scotiabank Saddledome in game six of the Eastern Conference Final, leading the series 3-2.
On Friday night in Edmonton, the Oil Kings had a similar start in game five of the series to what they had in game four. Complete dominance. The Oil Kings scored three first period goals en route to a 5-1 victory. Game six can be seen on Sunday afternoon on Shaw at 4:00 p.m.
The Edmonton Oil Kings have evened the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference Final series with the Calgary Hitmen at two games apiece after a 7-3 victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Wednesday evening.
Assistant captain Michael St. Croix of Winnipeg, Manitoba led the Oil Kings in scoring with four points (one goal and three assists). Other Oil Kings that recorded multi-point games included T.J. Foster of Slave Lake, Alberta (two goals and one assist) and defenceman Martin Gernat, a top prospect for the Edmonton Oilers (one goal and one assist).
The Calgary Hitmen have taken a two games to one lead on the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Eastern Conference final.
Left winger Calder Brooks of Emerald Park, Saskatchewan and center Brady Brassart of Vernon, British Columbia each notched a goal and an assist as the Hitmen won 5-2.
The Oil Kings had the slight edge over the Hitmen in the first and third period of play, but the Hitmen completely dominated their provincial rival in the second period where they scored five unanswered goals all within a time period of twelve minutes.
This week on 15MOF we update the Boston Marathon bombings, look at an apology (of sorts) from the Edmonton Oilers, check in with the latest player to go under the knife and we cheer on the Edmonton Oil Kings.
In the GABBYs: David Ortiz, Stephen Curry, Keith Yandle, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Yovani Gallardo & the supporters of Argentina’s Huracan football club. The Punchline this week is Liverpool striker Luis Suarez!
The Edmonton Oil Kings have evened their Eastern Conference Final with the Calgary Hitmen at one game apiece in the Western Hockey League playoffs.
Calgary Flames draft pick Laurent Brossoit made 23 saves as the Oil Kings trounced the Hitmen 6-0 at Edmonton’s Rexall Place on Friday evening.
It was a great game for Oil Kings’ defenceman Martin Gernat of Kosice, Slovakia. Gernat had two goals and two assists. Other Oil Kings who sparkled offensively were Curtis Lazar and Henrik Samuelsson who notched a goal and an assist each. Edgars Kulda also had a multi-point game for the Oil Kings with two assists.
The Calgary Hitmen went into Rexall Place in Edmonton on Thursday night and won game one of the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference Final by a score of 3-2 in overtime.
Brady Brassart of Vernon, British Columbia, scored the game winning goal at 1:44 of the extra period from Jake Virtanen.
The overtime was action filled with great scoring opportunities on both ends of the rink. Oil Kings center Curtis Lazar hit the cross bar on a slapshot only ten seconds into overtime.
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