Saturday, Mar. 22, 2008

Tri-Cities proves its standing

ANNIE FOWLER HERALD STAFF WRITER

Commissioner Ron Robison was on hand Friday night to award the Tri-City Americans the Scotty Munro trophy for winning the Western Hockey League's regular-season point title.

The Americans accepted their trophy, then proceeded to beat the Kamloops Blazers 6-1 in front of 3,676 fans at Toyota Center in Game 1 of their best-of-7 first round playoff series.

"I think what happened was the result we were looking for," said Tri-City coach Don Nachbaur. "We had that victory hangover in the first. Our effort was there, but not the execution, but we got it going in the second."

Game 2 is tonight at Toyota Center. The series then shifts to Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops on Tuesday and Wednesday for Games 3 and 4. The series will rotate venues for the remaining games if necessary.

After a scoreless first period, the Americans exploded for four goals in the second period, by four different players.

Radek Meidl got the ball rolling just 1:14 into the period, picking up a puck that was blocked by Kamloops goalie Justin Leclerc and lifting it into the net.

Working on a power play, the Americans took a 2-0 lead just 1:24 later as Taylor Procyshen's shot went up and over Leclerc, landing near the goal line and tumbled into the net.

Tyler Schmidt gave Tri-Cities a 3-0 lead, blasting in a rebound off a shot by Jason Reese at 14:34, and Yellow Horn scored just 28 seconds later, taking a cross-ice pass from Kruise Reddick and burying the puck at the left post.

"It was a pretty high tempo game," said Yellow Horn, who also had an assist. "A couple of different bounces early on and it could have been different. Every night is going to be a battle. They are a physical team and the stakes are high."

The Blazers had 11 shots on goal in the second and 22 through two periods, but Chet Pickard kept a tight lid on the goal.

"I think there is no secret they are the best team in the league for a reason," said Kamloops coach Greg Hawgood, whose team has lost 15 of 16 dating back to the regular season. "I think we were standing around watching them at times. They have the best goalie in the league and he was there to make those saves."

The Americans kept firing away in the third period and took a 5-0 lead at 12:57 when Shaun Vey connected with Reese on a pass across the crease and Reese put the puck in at the right post.

Pickard's bid for a shutout ended when Kamloops' Mike Gauthier found himself all alone in the slot and found a corner of daylight beside Pickard with 2:04 left in the game.

Despite the Blazers' goal, the Americans were relentless. Johnny Lazo closed out the game with the team's third power-play goal with 57 seconds left on the clock.

"We had some power plays (10) and put the puck toward the net," said Americans defenseman T.J. Fast. "That was good to see. We had a week off to get ready and hopefully we can stay structured and make it work to our advantage."

The Americans, who had won their last five regular-season games and eight of 10 heading into the playoffs, had several scoring chances in the first period, but came up empty.

Leclerc, who stopped all 11 of the Americans' shots in the first period, finished with 36 saves.

Notes

Vey finished with three assists for the Americans, while Adam Hughesman added two. ... Friday marked just the fourth time the Scotty Munro Trophy had been awarded to a team south of the Canadian border. Everett won the trophy last season, while the Portland Winter Hawks won it for the 1979-80 and 1997-98 seasons. ... Pickard was named the WHL 'Fan's Choice' player of the week. Pickard was 3-0 last week, allowing just four goals in 86 shots for a 1.33 goals against average and a .953 save percentage. Fans can vote on the weekly award at www.whl.ca. ... In the spirit of the playoffs, the Kamloops players were sporting electric blue and bright orange hair, with a few colorful mohawks popping up throughout the lineup. ... Kamloops has bowed out in the first round in its last seven playoff appearances.