| Subject: Calgary Circling the Wagons in Hoser Cup Finals |
Author:
Brock Rockjaw
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Date Posted: 18:51:53 09/10/02 Tue
In a city renown for it’s yearly rodeo, and which embraces the cowboy lifestyle, The Calgary Cougars fought there way into the Hoser Cup Finals in scenes reminiscent of the OK Corral. In both the quarter and semi final series, the Cougars found their back against the wall, down in the series and facing a game seven shootout where the only thing missing was a tumbleweed rolling past. Twice the Cougars were able to win when they absolutely has it, winning a pair of game sevens against the Silos and the Totems.
Calgary coach Craig MacTavish, in his first season with the Cougars, has been able to make the necessary adjustments to his lineup with the steely-eyed glare you’d see straight out of one of Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns. His latest, and boldest move has paid off for his team. Arturs Irbe was the Cougars go to guy all season, and managed to lead his team in their fight back in the quarterfinals against Saskatoon after being down 3-1 in the series. However in the semi-finals against Victoria, he was a shadow of his former self, and gave up some bad goals in the first 4 games, a few of which lead to some blown leads and subsequent losses. Irbe’s backup, Mike Vernon, didn’t fare much better, and MacTavish met with his coaching staff for a solution. “Trevor Kidd played well for the farm club in Red Deer this year, and we decided that his strong showing for us in the pre-season warranted a call-up for game5 against the Totems. Kidder was very excited when I phoned him, and caught the first plane down here.”
Despite losing his first game of the playoffs, Kidd managed to hold the Totems to only 2 goals. MacTavish stayed with the veteran for game 6 which the Cougars won to tie the series, and was the hero again in game 7 as Victoria was eliminated and Calgary found themselves in the Hoser Cup finals against Halifax.
Despite being the overwhelming underdogs, Kidd put on a fantastic show against the Harpoons in Game 1, as his team won 5-2. The Cougars were looking to steal the second game in Halifax tonight, to go up by two in the series before returning to Calgary.
Beaming with confidence after their first game upset, the Cougars came out flying in game 2. Nylander scored 2 minutes in to open the floodgates, and by the ten and a half minute mark the Cougars were up 4-0 on goals by Sundstrom, Sakic, and Kasparaitis. Jamie Pushor managed to notch one for the Poons at the 17-minute mark, and the score was 4-1 for the Cougars after the first frame.
The second period was completely dominated by the Cougars, as Nik Sundstrom notched his second of the game 10 seconds in, to chase Sean Burke, and bring in Mike Richter. However the Cougars kept the pressure on, as Steve Yzerman and Patrice Brisebois each scored to make it 6-1 Cougars after the 2nd period. Halifax came out the third strong, outshooting Calgary 11-7. However Kidd continued to play like a man possessed, allowing only 1 goal by Marian Hossa, giving Calgary the 7-2 win.
After the game, Kidd was all smiles, but urged caution for both his teammates and the fans in Calgary. “Winning the first two on the road is great, there’s no doubt about it. However that team down the hall is so strong that we just have to look at the next game and try not to get too far ahead of ourselves. Sean Burke has been brilliant in both the regular season and the playoffs so far. A pair of bad games by him could easily be righted by 4 straight shutouts. And while being up 2-0 in the series is a helluva lot better then being down 2-0, look at what we have been able to do the past 2 series. We were down 3-1 and 3-2 and came back to win both times. The Harpoons have just as much talent as we do, and we know it’s going to be a dogfight the rest of the series. This one could be far from over.”
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