GAME 3 COUGARS vs SAANICH BRAVES TONIGHT IN ESQUIMALT

The Victoria Cougars face an uphill battle when they play the Saanich Braves tonight in Game 3 of their South Island Division Semi-Final.

Game time at the Archie Browning Sports Centre, located at 1151 Esquimalt Road, is 7:15 p.m.

Entering tonight’s game, Victoria trails 2-0 in its best-of-seven series.  Last Thursday, Ty Jones scored the game winner at the 2:59 mark of the third period to pace the visiting Braves to a 4-3 victory.  Then 24-hours later, Saanich pulled out a 4-3 come from behind win at home when Mark Stinson scored with 1:55 remaining in overtime.

The Stinson-Ryan Komori-Trevor Yee line has been dominant thus far.  Stinson has one goal and three assists, Komori has two goals and one assist, and Yee has one goal.

Shots on goal though have been dominated by the Cougars, outshooting Saanich 92-44 through two games.

Braves’ goaltender Tanner McGaw has been stellar, entering tonight’s game with a .935 save percentage.

Jimmy Carter leads Victoria in scoring with one goal and two assists.

Injuries to Anthony Hordyk, who scored 28 goals during the regular season and Trevor McNeil, who averaged a point a game during the same time, continue to still plague the Cougars.

Filling in have been Mark Walton, a call up the South Island Thunderbirds and Brody Coulter, a call up from the Juan de Fuca Grizzlies.  Both players are only 17-years-old.

The winner of this series will face either the Peninsula Panthers or Westshore Stingers in the South Island Division Final.  Peninsula leads that series 1-0.

TEAM LEADERS:  Victoria – Wade Masch, 2 goals; Jimmy Carter, Eric Guthrie, Sam Rice, 2 assists; Jimmy Carter, 3 points; Chris Savage, 4 penalty minutes.  Saanich – Ryan Komori, 2 goals; Mark Stinson, 3 assists; Mark Stinson, 4 points; Ryan Komori, Brandon Nicholson, Ryan Toporowski, 4 penalty minutes

SPECIAL TEAMS:  Victoria – Power play: 33.3 percent (3-for-9). Penalty kill: 80.0 percent (4-for-5).  Saanich – Power play: 20.0 percent (1-for-5). Penalty kill: 66.7 percent (6-for-9)

GOALTENDERS:  Victoria – Max Pelzner (3.77 goals against average; .818 save percentage), Zach Wear (no appearances).  Saanich – Tanner McGaw (2.81 goals against average; .935 save percentage), Ben Kantor (no appearances)

SERIES:  Saanich leads, 2-0

PAST AND FUTURE MEETINGS:
Saanich 4 @ Victoria 3                                   February 25, 2010
Victoria 3 @ Saanich 4 (OT)                           February 26, 2010
Victoria @ Saanich                                         March 2, 2010
Saanich @ Victoria (if necessary)                   March 4, 2010
Victoria @ Saanich (if necessary)                   March 5, 2010
Saanich @ Victoria (if necessary)                   March 7, 2010

HOME/ROAD RECORDS:  Victoria, 0-1 at home.  Saanich, 1-0 on the road

BANTAM AAA CLIPPERS WIN ISLAND TITLE

By Brent Dunlop

The Bantam AAA Clippers hockey team made the finale to their undefeated season rather dramatic.

Playing their final league game in Powell River on Saturday, Nanaimo trailed 4-1 going into the third when the Clippers finally got it going winning the game 6-4 and the Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association league title.

The Clippers, who never lost a tiering or exhibition game on the Island, ended league play with 10 wins and two ties.

The banner will be presented at the first playoff game scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 30 at 3 p.m. vs the Victoria Racquet Club Kings in the Nanaimo Ice Centre #1 arena.

Another home playoff game takes place at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7 versus the Comox Chiefs at the NIC #1 arena in Nanaimo.

In an exhibition game Nanaimo played against the Juan De Fuca Grizzlies at the Frank Crane Arena on Sunday, the Clippers bounced back as they did the previous day to win 5-3 after trailing 3-1 into the second period.

Goaltending assignments were shared both days with Bradley Jenks starting both days and Liam Giroux finishing the games.

Saturday: Nanaimo Clippers defeated Powell River Paper Kings 6-4.

Garrett Dunlop scored two goals and had two assists. Will McNamara, one goal and two assists; Chase Lang, two goals; Tyson Harvey, one goal.

Other assists came from Keelan Larson, Brent Gianakos, Nick Gomerich, Ryan Coghlin and Brendan Taylor

Sunday: Nanaimo Clippers defeated Juan de Fuca Grizzlies  5-3.
Gibson Doney scored two goals; Ryan Coghlin, two; Brendan Taylor, one goal and an assist.

Assists came from Chase Lang, two; McNamara, two; and Dunlop and Nick Gomerich, one each.