Monday, Apr. 21, 2008

Goalies take center stage in WHL Western Conference final

By Jack Millikin, Herald staff writer

If you like epic battles, then you had to love Games 1 and 2 of the Western Hockey League Western Conference finals between the Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs.

Two games, two dramatic 1-0 double-overtime finishes, tying the series tied at 1 heading to Spokane for Game 3 at 7 p.m. today.

At the center of it all has been goaltenders Dustin Tokarski of Spokane and Chet Pickard of Tri-Cities, who both showed the potential that could one day land a starting job in the National Hockey League.

And if the weekend games were any indication, any NHL scouts in attendance were drooling.

"It's always great to play against another good goaltender. It makes it exciting for the fans, for the players and for the goalies themselves," said Pickard, the top-rated goalie in North America, according to NHL.com, heading into the upcoming NHL entry draft in June.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Winnipeg native is projected as a first-round draft choice.

Pickard, 18, has played like it all year, with 46-12-2-2 record, a 2.32 goals against average and a .918 save percentage during the regular season.

He's been even better in the playoffs, going 10-1-1, 1.40 and .951, including the Americans' first-ever home win in a Western Conference final on Sunday.

Pickard stopped every one of the Chiefs' 45 shots, including an impressive second-period move by Spokane center David Rutherford, whose wrister found only the leather of Pickard's glove.

But like any self-respecting goalie, he gave ample credit to an equally stingy defense.

"In the playoffs, it comes down to defense. Defense wins championships as they say," said Pickard, who had a scoreless streak of 166 minutes, 45 seconds snapped Friday night in a Game 1 double-overtime loss. "They've had some huge blocked shots.

"In the playoffs everything gets put under a microscope. One bounce can change the momentum."

One bounce was enough for Americans center Drew Hoff, who collected the puck in the left circle and scored the game-winner in the second overtime, halting Tokarski's scoreless streak of 186 minutes, 15 seconds.

"I think it took a bad bounce in front of the net," said Tokarski, admitting that goals like that are hard to erase from memory. "Realistically, no. You just try to get a good sleep and just keep battling."

Tokarski, 18, was magnificent in Game 1, stopping all 24 Tri-Cities shots in a 1-0 win. The 5-11, 185-pounder could also go fairly high in the NHL draft based on his own season (30-10-0-3, 2.05 GAA, .922 regular season; 9-2-2, 1.25, .949 playoffs), which would fulfill his own lifelong dream.

"I've been dreaming of being in the NHL my whole life," he said. "If any team takes me anywhere, I'm going to be ecstatic."

With the series tied at 1 in the best-of-7 series, fans will get at least three more chances to watch the NHL hopefuls in action. And you can count on more close games.

"There's a lot more on the line now. There's lots of desperation with teams playing smart and very hard in the defensive zone," said Spokane coach Bill Peters. "(Goaltending) is this sport's most important thing you can have. If you don't have a good goaltender it doesn't matter what's in front. You're not going to win.

"You can get away with it for a while but not very long."

Fortunately for Tri-Cities and Spokane, it's a dilemma neither team has to worry about in this series.

• Comments
• Add Comment
• Disclaimer