| Subject: Silos Top Totems, Re-Acquire Dvorak |
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Saskatoon Sun
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Date Posted: 19:18:58 03/09/03 Sun
With the Saskatoon Silos' season seemingly sinking into the sunset, the team managed to awake from their bad dream to take a convincing 4-1 victory against the GWHL's top team, the Victoria Totems.
Solid goaltending and a productive power play, two elements missing for much of the season, were the main reasons for the win.
Goalie Nik Khabibulin had one of his stronger outings of the year, giving up just one goal on 22 shots. Silos coach Bob Hartley was happy for his goaltender, but did not seem surprised that he would come up big.
"In spite of our recent winless streak, I think Nik has slowly improved his game", said the relieved coach. "I think that the talk of poor goaltending was covering up some other problem areas on this club."
One of the problem areas Hartley referred to was the powerless power play unit. That unit has been struggling at a 16-17% pace in recent weeks, which is several percentage points below where most teams would like to be.
"We have too many good offensive players on this club to be struggling like we have," Hartley said with a grimace. "Tonight, we got a goal from the first and second units, so hopefully we'll be able to get some momentum for the next few games."
Eric Desjardins was the game's first star, as he chipped in with three assists. Alexei Yashin, the game's second star, netted one goal and added an assist, while Jarkko Ruutu scored one goal to earn the game's third star award.
"Jarkko provides us with some energy whenever he is on the ice," beamed Hartley. "He has earned the chance to play on the first line, and he came through tonight with some offense."
Following the game, a trade between the Silos and the Quebec Remparts was announced. Coming back to Saskatoon is right wing Radek Dvorak, who was traded from the Silos in the off-season. Moving over to Quebec are left wing Steve Konowalchuk, right wing Mike Knuble and a 2006 3rd round pick.
"I didn't feel that this mix of players was jelling for us'" said Saskatoon GM Ken McKenna. "Our goaltenders have been taking a lot of heat this season, but I felt that our forwards were not always doing enough to support the goalies and defensemen. With Radek coming back, we now have another forward who is solid defensively, and can also chip in some offense."
Are any other deals in the works? "Not right now," said McKenna without hesitation. "We'll get a look at how Dvorak fits in over the next few games, then go from there. I think we showed signs tonight of coming to life, but this team has fooled me before."
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