Edmonton was without Dylan Wruck once again Sunday and fellow forward Kristians Pelss was out with an injury to his left leg.
The OKs lost centre Travis Ewanyk to an “upper-body injury” early in Game 2 and shortened their bench. Ewanyk had missed most of the season after having shoulder surgery.
Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal said unequivocally that Pelss and Ewanyk would be back for Game 3.
“Kristians Pelss took the warm-up, so we expect (him) to be in the line-up,” said Laxdal. “(Ewanyk) is all right. He’ll play Tuesday night.”
Laxdal felt that not being able to roll four lines hurt his team.
“That could have been a reason for the short disadvantage, we couldn’t have the depth we would normally have,” said Laxdal.
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The Warriors are asking Moose Jaw fans to wear red to Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. The loud and proud red worked in 2006. Why not?
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Speaking of fans, kudos to the folks on the Warriors fan bus. There might have been 8,000 Oil Kings fans in Rexall Place, but they were easy to hear at times as they took up some pro-Warriors chants.
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Congratulations to Tim Plett who won tha Allan Cup with the South East Prairie Thunder. Plett was with the Warriors from 2001-03. The “Steinbach Streak” played 83 games with the Warriors.
The Thunder beat the Rosetown Red Wings 4-1 in the final. Rosetown featured former Warrior Carter Smith from Eyebrow and former Warriors captain Steven Gillen. The Red Wings also had former Moose Jaw midget AAA player Jared Jagow in their ranks.
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Edmonton’s bus was one player lighter when it left town Monday at 9 a.m. Overager Rhett Rachinski was busy writing a final exam at the University of Alberta.
Rachinski apparently had his Psychology 105 final the same morning as the team left and after completing the exam, he jumped in a car with some of the Oil Kings staff to make the trip to Moose Jaw.
“It’s hard to focus when you’ve only got one class and you know you’re missing a lot of classes,” Rachinski told Chris O’Leary of the Edmonton Journal after Game 2.
“You’ve got to go in (to class) when you get back from the road. It’s tough, but my mom’s a teacher and she kind of influenced me pretty early. She said, ‘You’re going to school.’ I’m sure it’ll pay off if I do end up going to school, and it takes my mind off of hockey a bit.”
You can read O’Leary’s full story here: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Kings+Rachinski+class/6505555/story.html
While most WHL players juggle hockey and high school at some point, there are a rare few who juggle university classes as well.
Former towering Warriors defenceman Lane Manson was one. He felt he would finish his schooling at some point and didn’t want to be too far removed from the classroom when the time came.
I’m sure there have been many others over the years as well.
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In case you were wondering, Laurent Brossoit was born in Port Alberni, B.C. on Vancouver Island and grew up in Surrey, B.C. on the lower mainland. He was in french immersion until Grade 9, but says he can barely speak french at all any more.
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Brossoit said he is used to his team coming through for him when they need a goal to shift the momentum.
“We’re so relentless. When we get down, I don’t honestly think we’re ever out of it,” said Brossoit. “We get better and better throughout the game. We’re notorious for having slow starts. I go into games kind of expecting that a little. Our third period is our best so when we’re ahead I have a lot of confidence and even when we’re behind I still have a lot of confidence.”
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O’Leary also reports that when the Oil Kings return home after their two games in Moose Jaw, it will be their logo — and not that of the Edmonton Oilers — that will fill centre ice at Rexall Place.
