A Night of Feeling Ill

One of the most frustrating things about the playoffs is that injuries or illnesses are treated as if one needs super double triple secret clearance AND two special handshakes just to be told someone has an upper or lower body injury or in the case of Evgeny Grachev "flu-like symptoms'.

In the end it was the Brampton Battalion who were left really sick as they lost to the Windsor Spitfires 4-1 but this game may have cost the Battalion more than just trailing in the series 3-1. The 3rd period turned into Cheapshot Hockey as the Battalion saw their starting goalie Thomas McCollum being helped off the ice after being run.

McCollum was favoring his leg and his status for Friday's game 5 is unknown, what is know is that Brampton coach Stan Butler was livid after the game at seeing his goalie be injured and just a minor called.

"I don’t know how that’s not a five-minute penalty,” said Battalion coach Stan Butler. “If you watch it, you see that. The referees have to make those calls, but for some reason in this series they put their whistles away and it goes back to 1970s standards.”

Now we get to see Evgeny Grachev's biggest test which is a "win or else" game if he is able to play on Friday. To be honest Grachev has to play unless he is bedridden and in a coma.

Grachev has gone though a lot of learning curves this season and while he was a part of Russia's World Junior team; Grachev was not as important to the Russian team as he is to the Brampton Battalion.

Can Grachev return and be a factor on Friday evening? Right now one has to say all the odds are against the Battalion from being down 3-1, possibly without their goalie and top left wing and facing the Spitfires.

Only in hockey.

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Out west the Calgary Hitmen were able to avoid being swept by Tysen Dowzak and his Kelowna Rocketsby finally discovering their power play and winning game 4 6-2. The Rockets still hold a 3-1 as the series shifts back to Calgary for Game 5 on Thursday.

Dowzak (wearing an "A") had an assist for his 4th point of the playoffs but like his teammates had no answer for WHL Player of the Year Brett Sonne. Sonne had a 4 point night including the game winner as we got a chance to see finally why he earned that honor.

Ranger fans should be very happy that Sonne will be playing for the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference as he is going to be a very good NHL level player in the coming years. A hard working player with a nose for the puck with some soft hands and great hockey sense; Sonne broke though and gives Calgary a hope of coming back in this series.

Once again for the Rockets the key was their special teams as when they win it is because the Rocket penalty kill shut down the other team. In Game 4, the Hitmen went 3 for 4 on the power play and shut the Rocket's out on their power plays at 0 for 5.

In the series so far in the 3 Rocket wins they held the Hitmen to 0 for 10 on the penalty kill so breaking out like the Hitmen did gives the Rockets a lot to think about in the short time between games.

The difference in NHL level travel and the WHL will be evident as according to sources the WHL has both teams sharing a plane to travel to Calgary for Game 5. The Hitmen are going to sit on one end of the plane while the Rockets on the other end with the media traveling with them sitting in the middle.

That would be one interesting plane ride that we sadly have to miss.

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A few people have noticed that there is version of this place over at Typepad so I was hoping not to have to address until the final product was released. However a few of you have different concerns that deserve being addressed.

First no this site is not going to become subscription only like Blueshirt Bulletin + as what I do here is separate from what Dubi does. Dubi was kind enough to offer me one of his Typepad spots after I have been having nothing but problems with Blogspot.

The work that Dubi does between the print version and Blueshirt Bulletin Plus is worth subscribing to but while not putting what is done here; the Ranger material over there has much more interest than what is done here.

Second given the worries that people have expressed about the Typepad version then no move is going to be made until we can insure that those of you who are regulars can continue to read us especially as we enter the draft season. I promise not to shut anyone out even if I have to email people a daily copy.

Third why the move? Simple Blogspot is run by Google and Google has gotten so big that they do not care if you are having problems. They want you to sign up for their advertising network which pays you nothing and gives you zero control over the types of ads run on your site.

I would gladly pay a fee if I was breaking even but I was making 15 cents a month and I need to at least cover the costs of phone calls to Canada every month. Like the Blueshirt Bulletin I lose money every month as I try to build up a place where Ranger fans can get a truly fair and realistic evaluation of Ranger prospects.

By working with the mother site Blueshirt Bulletin, Howlings, the media relations folks who supply us with the stories and pictures as the media who cover Ranger prospects and you Ranger fans who are like a vast spy network all over the world; together we can bring you the daily world of Ranger prospects .

That part will never ever change no matter what. Nobody is not going to be able to find out about Ranger prospects and those who exchange emails with me will tell you that.

Staying Alive

There are times when your hard work does not always show up in the scoresheet and that was the case in the "must win" Game 3 for the Brampton Battalion.

The Battalion jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then held on to win 4-2 over the Windsor Spitfires in a game where Evgeny Grachev did a lot more than the one assist he got credited for. The win cuts Windsor's series lead to 2-1 as the series shifts back to Brampton for yet another "must win" game on Wednesday.

Grachev as we said was credited for just one assist as well as a +2 but we wish there was a stat that showed other things such as power plays generated for your team. If that was the case then Grachev was a +2 there as he drew 2 key penalties against the Spitfires.

Both penalties were momentum shifters for the Battalion as the first penalty was an interference call in the first period as Grachev trying to attack the Windsor net. The second was also the result of Grachev going on the attack as he got caught with an elbow.

The Battalion did not score on those penalties but they were able to press the attack and eventually built up a 4-0 lead. Grachev got an assist on the 4th Brampton goal as he out worked 2 Spitfires for the puck that teammate Cody Hodgson got to the front of the net and Jason Dale shoved in.

With a 4-0 lead though the Battalion let off the gas pedal and we got to see why Windsor's Taylor Hall is one of the favorites to be the first pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Hall is an impressive offensive machine who almost singlehandly got Windsor back into this game.

Hall was the entire Windsor attack in the 3rd period as he scored one goal but had several different chances to score. This is a player to key a very close eye on as there is a very good reason why Hall is leading the OHL in playoff scoring at 15-19-35 in 15 games.

The bigger story is that Grachev was an active presence on the at both ends and as we have said all during the playoffs, the more active Grachev is then the better a chance of winning that Brampton has.

With the assist Grachev also did not go 3 consecutive games without a point, a feat he has not done since the very beginning of the OHL season. The question can Grachev go on another scoring streak to carry the Battalion to the OHL championship?

We will find out part of the answer on Wednesday evening when Game 4 takes place in Brampton.

When the 2008-09 season began nobody other than Ranger scouts knew the name Tysen Dowzak but that is no longer the case. The 6'5 215 lb one more win and Ranger fans will say he is a champion.

Dowzak's Kelowna Rockets shut out the Calgary Hitmen 2-0 and now own a commanding 3-0 series lead in their WHL Finals series. After 3 straight wins the word "upset" no longer applies as this Rocket team is right now playing perhaps the best hockey in all of the Canadian Juniors.

Dowzak has as his coaches wanted all season elevated his game to where Dowzak is now on the ice in the biggest moments of the game, on the penalty kill and now he is even out there on the power play. The Rocket now have won 5 straight playoff game after trailing Vancouver 2-1 in their conference finals.

Watching Dowzak looking for his shot these days is something we have to get used to but developing some kind of offense is a must for Dowzak if he has any hopes of an NHL career. There is no question that Dowzak has the defensive skills to be a force but if he can improve his first pass out of the zone, if he can take enough shots to force other teams to take him seriously and if he can put some points on the board then Dowzak has a shot.

In the game, the Rockets took the play to the Hitmen in the first period combining good solid defense with an attacking offense that limited the Hitmen to just 3 shots on goal. The Rockets got their first goal from an unlikely source as they had put out what was their energy line/4th line when the game appeared to be headed to some chippy play.

Moments before Ryley Grantham was offering to fight a couple of the Hitmen when on the very next play, he scored his 4 goal of the playoff. That goal proved to be the game winner as the Rockets and Hitmen settled in for what proved to be a defensive struggle highlighted by some very hard (but also clean) hitting.

The second period was scoreless but the Rockets settled in more in a defensive role and that almost cost them as the Hitmen were able to start generating offense. If not for Rocket goalie Mark Guggenberger standing on his head the Hitmen would have tied and then went on to win this game.

In the third period the game came down to the Rocket's defense and Guggenberger holding off a Hitmen attack as the Hitmen reversed the first period numbers and out shot the Rocket's 10-3. The Rockets were able to score an empty net goal with just 6 seconds remaining in regulation for the final score.

Of course nobody on the Rockets is thinking that the Hitmen are going to roll over and hand Game 4 over to them. The Rockets know that they escaped Game 3 thanks to their goalie and winning this series is going require a lot more work.

Game 4 is on Wednesday in Kelowna.

(Grachev courtesy of Aaron Bell, Dowzak courtesy of Tim Swanky)

When the Dust Clears

If last night was a major upset win then what do you call winning a second straight game on enemy ice? Tysen Dowzak and his Kelowna Rockets are calling it a 2-0 series lead over the Calgary Hitmen.

Last night was not the Rocket's best effort but in game 2 from the second period on; this was a Rocket team that took the game away from the Calgary Hitmen and won going away 5-2.

We have talked about the offensive play from Michael Del Zotto and Evgeny Grachev but Tysen Dowzak's defensive play is a major factor as to why the Rockets are 2 wins away from a WHL championship.

In the first period it was Dowzak who was blocking shots, protecting his goalie by clearing out the crease cleanly and legally, and getting the puck up ice out of danger. This is not the same Tysen Dowzak who we first interviewed back in Portland.

In the second period, Dowzak and company gave up the first goal but that did not faze the Rockets at all despite the Hitmen out shooting them 16-6; if anything you could see that this Rocket team knew they could come back and win this game. The Rockets got the tying goal in the middle of the period but the rest of the second period was marred by some highly suspect officiating.

In the 3rd period, it was the Rockets who took the attack to the Hitmen as the leaders of "Big Bang Hockey" gave way to their offensive attack. The Rockets even after losing the services of leading playoff scorer Jamie Benn showed they were more than just heavy hitters out shooting the Hitmen 15-7.

The Bloodoff brothers Evan and Lucas combined for 5 points in this game and Mikael Backlund added 2 goals as the Rockets broke open the game with 3 goals for a 4-1 lead. The Hitmen added a goal to cut the score to 4-2 but then the Rockets played their "Big Bang Hockey" and shut the Hitmen down.

Dowzak was out on every other shift during the last 5 minutes as the Rockets shortened their bench and helped to put the "nails in the coffin" by clearing the zone and feeding Lucas Bloodoff up the ice who found Rocket captain Colin Long for the empty net goal and final score at 19:58.

Dowzak had 6 blocks, 4 clears, 3 rushes for clear, 6 hits (including a very nice crease clearing in the 2nd period where he took out one player while screening a second) no shots, his assist and a +1 for the night. As we said this is nothing like the Dowzak we interviewed in February.

Give the credit to former Ranger defenseman Jeff Finley for his work with Dowzak and to Dowzak himself for going out and putting those teachings to great use. Dowzak is now on the ice whenever the Rockets have a penalty to kill or a last minute stop when protecting the lead.

When we watch the Rockets then boy Ranger fans have to feel glad that other than Tyler Myers (who is a 6'7 monster) that the other 7 Rockets who's rights belong to NHL teams are all out in the western conference.

This series is far from over as Rocket coach Ryan Huska is trying to tell anyone who will listen. It is hard to argue with him but after 2 wins on the road against the team that finished the WHL with the best record during the regular season; it is hard not to think that the Rockets are in the driver's seat.

The series now shifts to Kelowna for game 3 on Monday in what is expected to be a very loud and rowdy Prospera Place.

(Tysen Dowzak courtesy of Regan Bartel)

Mixed Surprises

Back in January if you would have told us that the Kelowna Rockets would be playing in the WHL finals we would have laughed at you for a few minutes and then thanked you for giving us such a good laugh.

Well the joke is on us at the moment after Tysen Dowzak and his Rockets upset the Calgary Hitmen 3-1 in game one of the WHL finals in Calgary. It was Calgary's first loss in the playoffs and even they have to be wondering what happened.

The Rocket win also prevented the Hitmen from setting a new WHL playoff record for most consecutive wins. The question now is did they wake up the Hitmen or is this "Big Bang Hockey" that effective?

Someone was watching over the Rockets on this evening as the Hitmen had chance after chance but would only be able to hit post after post. The WHL's best offense was a combination of snakebit and well defended as the Rockets jump out to a very surprising 1-0 lead as well as stealing away home ice advantage.

The key to this win was the play of the Rocket special teams as the power play scored 2 goals on 3 chances. Dowzak was an important part of the penalty kill which shut out Calgary on all 4 power play chances including a 6 on 4 in the last 2 minutes of regulation.

Dowzak has been a serious defensive standout as it appears that he has finally realized what he has to do in order to be an important part of the Rockets. That is great news for the Rangers as we have said that Dowzak is a long term project but he .now realizes what he has to do in order to make it as a professional hockey player.

Dowzak was a +1 with 2 PIMs, we credited him with 5 hits, 4 clears, 6 disruptions 1 shot on goal and 3 blocked shots. Even better from our point of view is that Dowzak showed his smarts by acknowledging that he and his teammates got lucky in the 3rd period; that they need to stop scrambling in their own zone and try to generate more offense.

For us what we want to see from Dowzak and the Rockets is that they come out with a better effort in Game 2 on Saturday evening. Against Vancouver, the Rockets won Game 1 but gave away Games 2 and 3. They can not afford to repeat that performance against the best team in the WHL.

In Brampton, the Battalion brought 3 teams to play in Game 2 against the Windsor Spitfires. The first team gave up 3 goals in the first period, the second team was the one we were used to seeing during the OHL playoffs and the third team got distracted by some very highly suspect calls.

Add the 3 teams up and you have a 5-3 Brampton loss which puts the Battalion in a 0-2 hole against the Spitfires. This one is a hole that we do not believe the Battalion will be able to dig themselves out of.

The 5-3 score is misleading because this game really was over in the first period. The Spitfires just dominated the Battalion outscoring them 3-0 as well as having a 22-4 advantage in shots.

In the second period the Battalion played well trying to climb back into this game but they were not really in it. The Battalion scored 2 goals but the Spits added 1 to end the 2nd up 4-2. In the 3rd period, it was the officials who made some highly suspect calls but even more shocking was a double minor issued to the wrong player.

Battalion winger Jason Dale took out Spitfire Mark Cundari with a borderline check from behind. After a lengthy conference the officials gave Battalion defenseman Brad Alberts a double minor; it was truly a bad call and Battalion coach Stan Butler was livid about.

The other call was a high sticking minor to Matt Duchene which killed a Battalion power play and even that call had us wondering if the NHL had sent an officiating crew to Brampton. It was a surprising poor performance from a group of officials after what has been a evenly called playoff season.

Yes we know we have not said a word about Grachev but that is because there has been nothing to say about his play. The Spitfires have shut Grachev down and turned him into a non-factor so far in this series.

It is up to Grachev to find a way to get himself untracked but the good news is that other than his first few games in the OHL, Grachev has not gone 3 games in a row without scoring. If the Battalion are going to have any hope of even winning a game in this series then they need Grachev, Cody Hodgson and Matt Duchene to get going otherwise this series will be over and done before they realize it.

Game 3 will be Monday back in Windsor so we will skip the corny stuff as it is simple. Grachev either brings his game or the Battalion are going to lose.

(Dowzak: Regan Bartel, Grachev: Aaron Bell)