Alberta Cup- Game Report

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hfboardsuser

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Nov 18, 2004
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I took in the 4th and last of the Day 1 games being played here at the 2005 Team Alberta Cup in Edson, Alberta. The Team Alberta Cup is a showcase for the province's best 2nd-year Bantam (age 13-14) players. Standouts are chosen to represent the province and possibly the country at larger tournaments.

Famed alumni of this event include Kyle Chipchura, Dany Heatley, Scott Hartnell, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Bertram and Devin Setoguchi.

Team Northeast Alberta faced off against the Calgary North Stars in a battle of North-South rivals.

The first period was a wash for both teams, with the North Stars looking especially rough. Neither squad found their legs until the final 3 minutes. Northeast goaltender and Sherwood Park native Jesse Kallechy was the most entertaining player of the first 20 minutes. Despite his short stature, he put on a tremendous show of athleticism and glovework in the face of an 18-shot barrage. Only 2 went the other way.

Wet ice bogged down play for the first crucial minutes of the second frame, and neither team was again able to grab the momentum. Despite initiating the majority of the physical contact, Team Northeast could not pull away. This would come back to haunt them. A scramble left of the net left Kallechy unable to see the puck, and North Star Steven Murray executed a perfect wraparound at 11:05 to score the game's first goal. To his credit, Kallechy's right pad was a mere second too late- close enough that no one in the building realized it was a goal until the ref signalled it as such.

Perhaps remembering the old adage that the shifts right after a goal are most important, Team Northeast went on the forecheck. Mammoth forward Philip Gervais, whose speed and footwork made him stand out from his teammates, made a beautiful fake before beating a North Stars defender by a single step. His move also fooled netminder Daylyn Flette, and a perfect snapshot found the twine to knot the contest at 1.

This was the goal that woke both teams up. A series of thundering checks from both teams erupted, sending fans reeling with each bang. Steven Murray used the thick traffic during one foray into the Northeast zone to screen Kellechy. His patience and timing paid off as he coasted around the tangle of bodies and into an opening, where he wristed home his second of the contest to give the North Stars the lead. This goal came a mere 1:07 after Gervais'.

The relentless checking and battling was non-stop, and again helped the North Stars gain a step on their opponent. Defenseman Shawn Ostrow, Murray and forward Tyler Eskesen led the rush and created a logjam of bodies to the left of the net. A bouncing puck off Ostrow's stick found Murray's, and the accidental tip sent the biscuit rolling across Kellechy's chest and into the basket. Murray was credited with his 3rd goal of the game. Ostrow earned his second assist and Eskesen his first.

At the conclusion of the second, fans on both sides gasped in awe at the shot count- 44-4, in favor of the Stars.

It would only get worse from there. Spirited rushes from Gervais and towering defender Dylan Ryan led to a grand total of 5 shots in the 3rd period. 11:50 into the 3rd, North Star Samuel Higgins let go a textbook snapper from just past the left faceoff dot to make it 4-1. Kallechy shut the door for the remainder of the game, but so did Flette. 4-1 was the final.

-Scoring Summary-

1st
None

2nd
11:05 Steven Murray (1) (James Mitchell, Colin Dueck)
8:22 Philip Gervais (1) (Nicholas Scott)
7:15 Steven Murray (2) (Shawn Ostrow)
3:24 Steven Murray (3) (Shawn Ostrow (2), Tyler Eskesen)

3rd
8:10 Samuel Higgins (Logan Gabel, Joseph Colborne)

-Game Stars-

Team Northeast: #15, Devon Kalinski (0-0-0)
Calgary North Stars: #18, Steven Murray (3-0-3)

-The Good, The Okay, and the Ugly-

Northeast:

Good
#11, Philip Gervais- Big speed, big skill, big size. A creative stickhandler and forechecker throughout, Gervais didn't have the best forum to display his wicked shot, as his entire team was held to 9 shots through 60 minutes. A WHL career could very well be in his future.

Okay
#30, Jesse Kallechy- Okay, he faced 56 shots. But his height and poor rebound control made the top of the net easy pickings. It didn't help that he lost sight of the puck on all three of Murray's goals. A fine technical goalie with decent reflexes, he quickly lost confidence and lost the flash he had in the 1st period.

Ugly
Every forward except Gervais- 9 shots. It's a miracle Team Northeast wasn't shut out. A poor performance overall.

North Stars:

Good
#15, Matthew MacDonald- He didn't get a point, but was he ever solid. A tenacious forechecker with excellent patience, passing skills and sense for finding holes in traffic. Really reminded me of T.J. Hensick. Fast when he wanted to be and with decent size, MacDonald definitely has a future.

Okay
#18, Steven Murray- It was tough to put him behind MacDonald, but he was just a notch below in terms of dominance. His ability to outwait and outguess the opposition should not be underestimated, and his willingness to take abuse without lashing out and harming his team was just great to see. He deserved all three goals and the game star.

Ugly
#3, Colin Dueck- He's got the size. He's got the speed. But where in the heck was his hand-eye coordination? After laying out massive hits with aplomb in the first, he went downhill fast. You'd think that every pass he got was a grenade ready to go off. This forced his team to break up a great offensive-zone setup in order to go after the puck on missed point passes. He was just as bad on rushes.

Links


Gamesheet


Official Team Alberta Cup Website
 
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