 |
| Power
Play |
26.8%
- 1st |
| Penalty
Killing |
79.0%
- 14th |
| FORWARDS |
| ALEX
LEAVITT |
40-88-128
(+20) |
| MARK
KOLANOS |
31-31-62
(+2) |
| JASON
VISSER |
19-38-57
(+11) |
| DEFENSEMEN |
| CHRIS
BARTOLONE |
18-42-60
(+25) |
| DAN
LAPERRIERE |
18-33-51
(+11) |
| JON
LANDRY |
9-33-42
(+22) |
| GOALTENDERS |
| ROB
McVICAR |
11-4-2
(0 SO)
3.66 GA
.903 PCT |
|
| MARCO
EMOND |
5-3-0
(0 SO)
4.50 GA
.879 PCT |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
Arizona
vs Laredo |
|
|
SCHEDULE |
| 1 |
APR.
14 |
ARIZONA
6 - LAREDO 4 |
SEED
2 |
2 |
APR.
15 |
ARIZONA
1 - LAREDO 3 |
SEED
1 |
38-19-6
(82) |
3 |
APR.
18 |
LAREDO
4 - ARIZONA 3
(OT) |
42-19-3
(87) |
| |
4 |
APR.
19 |
LAREDO
3 - ARIZONA 4 (OT) |
|
| |
5 |
APR.
21 |
LAREDO
1 - ARIZONA 2 |
|
| |
6 |
APR.
25 |
ARIZONA
2 - LAREDO 9 |
|
| |
7 |
APR.
26 |
ARIZONA
6 - LAREDO 1 |
|
| Arizona
Wins Series 4-3 |
|
SERIES
PREVIEW |
| |
Laredo, TX - This series still needs to be played? Aren’t the Texas Brahmas and Colorado Eagles playing for the Ray Miron Cup?
No, on all counts.
Neither of these clubs has played for a week or more. The SunDogs eliminated the New Mexico Scorpions April 7th and the Bucks eliminated the Odessa Jackalopes sometime in March.
The Bucks entered the conference playoffs as the number one seed again or perhaps still are. The SunDogs captured the Southwest division crown with a late season run and then capped the Scorpions in six games. The Bucks cruised past the Odessa Jackalopes in a sweep and have not been tested since February.
Monday will see the start of this series in Laredo and both clubs will need to get game legs in shape. Only the 'Dogs have seen any hitting in their win over New Mexico. The Bucks used finesse and overwhelming talent to avoid the 'Jacks in their series.
Offense
For the SunDogs, Cory Urquhart picked up 15 points in the opening series on 9 goals. But he trails Alex Leavitt by one point in scoring. Leavitt has 16 points on an amazing 13 assists. Against the Scorpions he was the ultimate set-up man for the 'Dogs.
Leading the postseason charge for the Bucks are forward Chris Stanley and defenseman Adam Rivet who have each collected eight points on four and three goals respectively. Alex Goupil and Jeff Bess each chipped in seven points each against the Jacks, each scoring two goals.
The offensive talent of the SunDogs holds a slight edge in this category. The problem is that none of the forwards play with a defensive thought. The Bucks’ forwards play a better, all-around game and defend as well as they play offense.
The nod on offense goes to the Bucks.
Defense
The 'Dogs have a decent defensive core and Dan Laperriere had eight points in the first series on two goals and was a plus-2 for the series when the rest of the club was a minus-1. Chris Bartolone also picked up eight points on seven assists. But they receive little support from their fellow blueliners.
A single number highlights the defensive effort of the entire Bucks’ roster: plus-36. The Bucks simply dominated the Jacks in all aspects of the game in the opening series. While that number will be tested against the Dogs’ offense the team concept is engrained by head coach Terry Ruskowski in Laredo. Leavitt and Urquhart will not have the open space to roam and set up as they did with New Mexico.
The team defense of the Bucks gets the nod.
Goal
The weak link in the SunDogs’ roster is in net. A steady parade of goalies, including some decent talent early in the season, has marched through the Arizona crease. Robert McVicar was undefeated in the opening series and was bailed out by the offense of the 'Dogs, not the defense. The SunDogs simply step on the ice and attempt to score and consider defense a Plan B. Marco Emond absorbed both losses to the Scorpions and was ineffective in net all season for the SunDogs and the Eagles earlier in the campaign.
Dustin Traylen picked up three wins in the opening series with the Jacks. He posted a 2.34 GAA and a 0.904 save percentage. And just in case Traylen is spelled in net during this series John Ceci posted a 2.00 GAA and a 0.920 save percentage.
The nod in net goes to the Bucks.
Series Prediction
This is a team game, tired cliché, and the Bucks play it to near perfection. They were burned last year in the championship series and have something of an axe to grind in getting back to the finals.
Laredo Bucks win the series 4-1.
Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com. |
|
| Game
1 |
Arizona
6 - Laredo 4 |
|
by Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Arizona
Leads Series 1-0 |
Laredo,
TX - The Arizona Sundogs served notice to the Laredo Bucks with three unanswered goals that this series was not going to be the walk in the park many thought it would be. Chris Bartalone led the Sundogs attack with a pair of goals and assists as Arizona skated to a 6-4 victory.
The first indication the Bucks would have trouble came the day before the game when Tyler Redenbach was assigned to the Sundogs by Grand Rapids (AHL). Redenbach tore up the CHL this season as he scored 66 points in just 31 games with Arizona. By the time this contest was over he would own two more assists included one he picked up on the game-winning goal.
Initially it did appear as if the Bucks were on their way to an easy game. Laredo's Andrew Desjardins and Dustin Traylen each picked up interference calls early on to give the vaunted Sundogs power play unit a chance to open the scoring. But Paul Elliot scored a shorthanded goal with a slap shot just seconds after Desjardins left the penalty box to put the Bucks up 1-0.
The first indication this would not be a low-scoring affair came when three goals were scored in the space of just 50 seconds. Arizona's Jon Landry scored on a two-on-one followed by a wrist shot by Cory Urquhart to give Arizona their first lead of the game. Laredo's Jim Hiebert shrugged off the scores and brought the Bucks back to end the barrage of goals. The first period scoring ended with Bartalone's first of the game to establish a Sundogs lead after twenty minutes of play.
At this point Igor Agarunov appeared to give Terry Ruskowski's club all the offense they would need to win. The 25-year old British Columbia native has had a productive playoff this year and he added to his fine post-season with a pair of markers, the first one which came just 21 seconds into the second period. Agarunov put Laredo up again when he defeated ex-teammate Marco Emond cleanly on a breakaway to give the Bucks a 4-3 advantage.
However the sun would set in the west in this contest as the Sundogs roared back with three unanswered goals. Arizona coach Marco Pietroniro was a fine scorer in his days as a minor-league pro and he had to have been proud of his club when they exploded on a team which had held their previous playoff opponents to just over two goals per game.
Steve Rymsha scored before the second period had ended to knot the score after 40 minutes of play. Bartalone continued the rally when he scored after being left all alone in the slot and Rob Lehtinen finished a two-on-one with help from Dan Laperriere to complete the game's ample scoring.
The result was a stunner given Arizona in one fell swoop had ended Laredo's five-game Southern Conference finals game one winning streak, the Bucks seven-game overall winning streak and their six-game home winning streak.
Meanwhile a pair of Sundogs continued amazing runs of their own as Urquhart scored to stretch his goal-scoring streak to 17 games and Alex Leavitt notched a point in his 24th consecutive outing.
Neither team will have much time to process the affair as they will play game two in Laredo this evening. One thing can be sure, Laredo fans may or may not like the result of the game, but they will certainly be entertained.
|
|
| Game
2 |
Arizona
1 - Laredo 3 |
|
by Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Series
Tied 1-1 |
Laredo,
TX - It would appear the announcement of the death of Laredo's defense after game one was premature. The Bucks used backup netminder John Ceci in place of Dusten Traylen and Ceci came up with 30 stops to backstop a 3-1 victory in game two of this series.
While Ceci deserves a lot of the credit for the win there is a good chance the pride of the Bucks, wounded by the six goals in game one, would have allowed them to tighten up anyway with Traylen in place.
Steve Simoes and Chris Korchinski helped the Bucks jump out to a 2-0 lead to take pressure of Ceci with Andrew Desjardins registering helpers on both of the goals.
Arizona halved Laredo's lead when Cory Urquhart scored with Alex Leavitt and Jason Visser registering the assists. The score allowed Urquhart to extend his goal scoring streak to 18 games which is an all-time North America professional hockey league record. Meanwhile Leavitt's assist extended his point-scoring streak to 25.
The enigmatic James Hiebert sealed the deal for Laredo. Hiebert, a wonderful player, is always on the edge of an emotional release and he indeed let loose after scoring the Bucks third goal of the night. Hiebert was so happy about the goal he decided to toss his stick into the crowd after his tally and was assessed a ten minute misconduct for doing so.
Arizona netminder Marco Emond kept up his strong play against his former team with 33 saves in a losing effort.
This series will move on to Arizona for the next three games of the series, the first of which will take place on Friday. If necessary the teams will return for to Texas for a game on April 25th.
|
|
| Game
3 |
Laredo
4 - Arizona 3 (OT) |
| PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Laredo
Leads Series 2-1 |
Prescott
Valley, AZ - Alex Goupil converted a rebound of an Adam Rivet shot at the 1:44 mark of overtime to give the Laredo Bucks a win and a 2-1 lead in their series against the Arizona Sundogs. The win also returns home-ice advantage to the Bucks and erases their game one debacle in Texas.
Fans at the Tim's Toyota Center saw a see-saw battle which at one point had their Sundogs in front by a 3-2 margin, but Laredo dashed their hopes with two unanswered goals.
James Hiebert continued his clutch playoff performance with the game's first goal when he tipped a Paul Elliot shot home. Mark Kolanos answered for Arizona when he capped a two-on-one rush with Tyler Redenbach with a shot past Laredo's John Ceci. Laredo's Chris Stanley found the back of Arizona's net with a backhand shot off a rebounded Jeff Bes parry.
Arizona took temporary control of the game early in the second period when a Chris Bartalone slap shot got past Ceci and Steve Rymsha converted a great pass by Redenbach into a 3-2 Sundogs lead. Laredo's Serge Dube unloaded a big slapshot of his own past Arizona netminder Marco Emond to tie the contest.
The two clubs skated the rest of the second period and the entire third period to a scoreless tie to set up Goupil's overtime heroics.
Arizona's Alex Leavitt and Cory Urquhart were held with a point and goal, respectively, to halt long streaks. The pair will try to get back on the scoreboard tonight when the Sundogs host Game 4.
|
|
| Game
4 |
Laredo
3 - Arizona 4 (OT) |
|
by Mitch Cooper - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Series
Tied 2-2 |
Prescott
Valley, AZ - A game that started out like a defensive standoff
turned into an offensive shootout with the Arizona Sundogs coming out on top
4-3, evening their series with Laredo at two apiece.
Laredo did everything they could to stop Cory Urquhart and Alex Leavitt from
scoring, but couldn't stop Arizona's second and third lines.
"They've got three lines that can score," Laredo's Jeff Bes told the Prescott
Valley Daily Courier. "Their top line is probably equivalent to any top line in
the AHL. But they've got three lines that can score so we've got to be prepared
and shut down each line."
Arizona led 2-0 after a first period that saw just 11 shots on goal. Rob
Lehtinen opened the scoring six minutes in on the team's first shot of the game.
The SunDogs extended the lead on a power play goal by Mark Kolanos.
The teams tripled their first period shot output in period two, putting the puck
on net 33 times. Dusty Collins scored an early unassisted goal to extend
Arizona's lead to 3-0 and it looked like a SunDog runaway.
But you can never count the prolific offense of the Laredo Bucks out of the
game. The Bucks stormed back with two second period goals by Chris Stanley and
Jeff Bes and put the game back in reach.
Laredo tied the match early in period three on a Matt Summers goal, but less
than a minute later, Collins netted the game winner, his second goal of the
game.
Arizona has home ice advantage for a pivitol game five. The teams meet
one final time Monday night at Tim's Toyota Center before heading back to Laredo
for game six and possibly game seven next weekend.
Contact the writer at: mitch.cooper@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
5 |
Laredo
1 - Arizona 2 |
|
by Mitch Cooper - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Arizona
Leads Series 3-2 |
Prescott
Valley, AZ - With the teams tied at two games each, calling Game 5 pivotal was an understatement. The winner would have a tremendous upper hand, needing only one win in Laredo to move on to the finals.
The teams matched each other shot for shot and goal for goal for 52 minutes until Karl Sellan put the game winner past Laredo goaltender John Ceci. Despite scoring 21 goals during the regular season, Sellan had netted only a single, meaningless goal in a loss against New Mexico nearly three week ago. He had one goal and two assists through ten games until his game winner.
Ceci and Arizona goaltender Robert McVicar both put together defensive gems for their respective teams, stopping 31 and 30 shots respectively.
The teams skated to a scoreless first period. Laredo's Steve Simoes drew first blood half way through the second period. But playoff scoring leader Cory Urquhart (12 goals snd 7 assists in 11 games) tied the game late in the period.
Both teams struggled on the power play, going a combined 0-10.
The series moves back to Laredo where the Bucks will have to win both games if they want a return cup finals engagement. The teams will have plenty of time to rest and contemplate their strategies. Game 6 is Friday night and Game 7, if necessary is Saturday night.
The winner will face either Colorado or Texas whose series is tied at three games apiece. That series will be decided in Colorado Wednesday night. A Colorado/Laredo matchup would be a repeat of last year's cup finals, won four games to two by Colorado. With Anaheim's loss to Dallas the other night the Eagles are the only team with a chance to retain their championship in North American professional hockey this season.
Contact the writer at: mitch.cooper@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
6 |
Arizona
2 - Laredo 9 |
|
by Mitch Cooper - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Series
Tied 3-3 |
Laredo,
TX - Anyone who thought the Laredo Bucks were
on their way out of the playoffs might want to rethink
their position. The Sundogs may very well rue the fact
they didn't eliminate the Bucks in Arizona. Laredo is
almost unbeatable in their home venue where, including
the playoffs, they are now 28-8-1.
Until tonight, neither team had won by more than two goals
and the penalties in Games 1 through 5 were comparatively
few and far between. All that went out the window in game
six.
Referee Tudor Floru had his hands full as the teams combined
for 112 penalty minutes on 42 infractions, leading to
22 power plays. The score sheet reads like a CHL hockey
rules infraction handbook as nearly every imaginable penalty
was handed out.
This included a misconduct to Arizona defenseman Matt
Sunderman and a game misconduct to Arizona forward Karl
Sellan, both for violating the abuse of officials rule.
The game misconduct could lead to a suspension of Sellan
for Game 7.
The Bucks (4 for 10) used their special teams to score
three straight power play goals by Chris Korchinski, who
scored twice, and Serge Dube to jump out to a 3-0 lead
in the first period. Arizona's Tyler Redenbach got one
back for the Dogs (1 for 12) with their only power play
goal of the game just before the period ended with the
advantage Bucks, 3-1.
Laredo continued their shooting onslaught in the second
period with four unanswered goals. Andrew Desjardins scored
twice, including a short handed goal. Korchinski completed
his hat trick and Paul Elliott added a late goal for good
measure.
Chirs Stanley scored the Buck's fourth power play goal
of the game early in the third period. Stanley also assisted
on three earlier Laredo goals.
Arizona's Alex Leavitt netted the Sundog's second and
final goal while Joshua Patterson added a ninth Laredo
goal.
The Bucks nearly doubled the Sundog's shot totals, outshooting
Arizona 52-27.
Laredo goaltender John Ceci was nearly perfect, stopping
25 of 27 shots. Arizona goaltender Robert McVicar allowed
seven goals on 41 shots and was replaced after the second
period by Marco Emond who stopped nine of 11 shots.
The series ends in Laredo tomorrow night with the winner
moving on to face the Colorado Eagles for the Governor's
Cup.
It would appear that the Bucks now have the upper hand
and it will be interesting to see whether or not Arizona's
Game 6 frustrations carry over to Game 7. If they do,
the Sundogs may find themselves heading back to Arizona
to clean out their lockers instead of preparing for Game
1 of the Cup Finals at home.
Contact the writer at: mitch.cooper@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
7 |
Arizona
6 - Laredo 1 |
|
by MItch Cooper - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Arizona
Wins Series 4-3 |
Laredo,
TX - The difference between Games 6 and 7 was
like night and day. It's difficult to understand what
came over the Arizona Sundogs in Game 6 of the CHL Southern
Conference semi-finals against the Laredo Bucks. The team
that more closely resembles an AHL team than a CHL team
totally lost their focus and their cool, and were drubbed
by Laredo 9-2. They were, to say the least, horrible in
every facet of the game, leaving the door wide open for
the Bucks to steal the series.
But whatever happened to them was quickly erased 24 hours
later as the Sundogs advanced to the Governor's Cup finals
against the Colorado Eagles by disposing of the Bucks
6-1, ending Laredo's bid for a fifth straight cup finals
and a repeat of last year's Colorado/Laredo match-up.
The defenses and goaltenders controlled the game in the
first two periods as the teams returned to playoff-style
hockey. Arizona got on the board first when playoff leading
scorer Alex Leavitt beat Laredo goaltender John Ceci.
Less than two minutes later, the Bucks tied the game at
one when Alex Goupil returned the favor, beating Robert
McVicar.
The teams skated cautiously during period two with Arizona's
Chris Bartolone scoring the only goal of the period, giving
the Sundogs a 2-1 advantage.
A one-goal lead over the Bucks is usually meaningless,
especially when their backs are up against the wall. They
have always finished strong in their home venue and the
scene was set for a fantastic finish in front of nearly
5,800 fans dressed in white.
Unfortunately for Laredo, the Sundogs were fantastic and
the Bucks were finished.
Before the final period was two minutes old, Laredo melted
down faster than the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, allowing
Arizona's Jason Visser and Tyler Liebel to score two goals
26 seconds apart. Minutes later, Cory Urquhart scored
a power play goal and the Bucks were quickly down 5-1.
A late goal by Steve Rymsha completed the scoring for
the Sundogs.
McVicar, who gave up seven goals on 41 shots in two periods
in Game 6, stopped 44 of 45 shots for the win. Ceci, who
was spectacular in Game 6, was mediocre in Game 7, allowing
six goals on 46 shots.
Arizona will face Colorado and try to take the President's
Cup away from the Eagles. The schedule is yet to be finalized,
but the series will open in Prescott Valley, Arizona.
Contact the writer at: mitch.cooper@prohockeynews.com
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| Power
Play |
18.0%
- 6th |
| Penalty
Killing |
88.5%
- 1st |
| FORWARDS |
| JEFF
BES |
46-60-106
(+40) |
| JAMES
HIEBERT |
26-38-64
(+31) |
| ANDREW
DESJARDINS |
22-37-59
(+21) |
| DEFENSEMEN |
| ADAM
RIVET |
18-30-48
(+29) |
| SERGE
DUBE |
9-37-46
(+25) |
| IGOR
AGARUNOV |
9-13-22
(+11) |
| GOALTENDERS |
| DUSTIN
TRAYLEN |
25-8-2
(3 SO)
2.23 GA
.919 PCT |
|
| JOHN
CECI |
7-7-0
(0 SO)
2.64 GA
.902 |
|
|
|
