.jpg) |
| Lundqvist shuts out Ferrets in Classic |
Thunder Bay, Ont.- The scene was surreal in an atmosphere that brought professional hockey players back to simpler times and to where it all began.
>>>
Today was the first of what is hoped to be an annual Heritage Classic between the Thunder Bay Timberwolves and Winnipeg Ferrets. Played outdoors and in the harsh northwest Ontario winter of Thunder Bay. To make it more picturesque, it wasn't played in some cavernous stadium in front of tens of thousands of raucous fans (although it would have been guaranteed to sell-out in this hockey-hungry community). Even with corporate sponsors on the boards and on the CCHL regulation ice, it had the coziness of only five-hundred family, friends and fans and a pine covered mountain in the back ground while being played in a typical working class, Canadian neighbourhood that made this day special.
>>>
"It's an unbelievable feeling to be almost literally back to where it all began," said Timberwolves defenseman Marc Staal. A Thunder Bay-native whose family story is known to any hockey fan out there. The Staal family sod farm where Marc's father Henry set up his own Heritage Classic twenty years ago sits only a few kilometers away from the Northwood neighbourhood of this contest.
>>>
"To be playing for a team in my hometown is special enough," said Staal. "But this is so close for me to where it all started for my brothers and myself. Where it all started for most of us. Right here on an outdoor rink or pond. The cold burning your lungs, the pucks hurting that much more, and yet still wanting to stay out way after mom has called you in for dinner. This is amazing."
>>>
But not to be forgotten in all this reminiscing was a real two points at stake in a regular season game between the Timberwolves and their nearest neighbour to the west in the Winnipeg Ferrets.
>>>
It took some feeling of each other and the elements out before a spirited bout between Thunder Bay defenseman Dion Phaneuf and Winnipeg forward Greg Campbell to make this just another CCHL hockey game.
>>>
A little over two minutes after the fight, Rick Nash put the home club on top at 12:14 with his 24th on the year from his captain and Thunder Bay-native, Patrick Sharp and Sidney Crosby.
>>>
Twenty-one seconds later, Nash used his long reach in to intercept a cross-ice Victor Hedman pass in the neutral zone to break away on Sergei Bobrovsky to net his second tally in the Heritage Classic.
>>>
The Timberwolves were not done in taking advantage of the struggling Ferrets. At 15:49, Martin Erat scored his eighth of the year from Staal and Milan Lucic to put the home club up 3-0.
>>>
A power play goal from Antti Miettinen at 18:32 closed out the first twenty minutes of hockey with the Timberwolves up 4-0.
>>>
"Huge period right there," said Nash during the intermission. "We wanted to come out with our A-game, and take it to them early and often. This is a special game and we really want to enjoy this and make it something really memorable. But we really want and need every point in every game, so we have to keep our foot on the gas and keep going with this and then we can really enjoy this experience."
>>>
In the second period the game came to a screeching halt. The shots tapered off, the goals ceased and the cold seemed to wreak havoc on the players hands.
>>>
But with less than five minutes left in the frame, Crosby and former Timberwolf, TJ Oshie engaged in words first and then gloved punches before Crosby slashed his opponent before the two were separated. Earning #87 a major.
>>>
The blood boiling in his teammates again was more major.
>>>
"Sid plays with and edge doesn't shy away from the chirping," said Milan Lucic at the break. "The refs missed Oshie's slash before that and that's what led to what happened. If they're not going to call it, then Sid has no problem taking it back at them. We have to respect that and it really boosts the spirits on the bench when you see a guy of his caliber really sticking up for himself and really for his teammates."
>>>
In the third period it was once again all Timberwolves for twenty minutes.
>>>
Erat notched his second of the night at 6:59 from Matt Duchene and Lucic to make it 5-0.
>>>
Then a pair from Crosby at 9:03 and 17:57 sealed things up and closed out the 2012 Heritage Classic with the Thunder Bay Timberwolves beating the Winnipeg Ferrets 7-0.
>>>
"Big win in an extraordinary game," said head coach Craig Hartsburg. "I thought considering all the hype leading up to this game, for obvious reasons, that we might get caught up in it and be outplayed. But I was happy that the guys were ready, enjoyed themselves, and really just kept going with the game plan. Which was to come out hard, play our game and keep them off theirs all night. We executed it line by line. But we'll take this win and this event and the two points and move on to the next one. We have to. Our next opponent isn't going to care that we just beat Winnipeg in the Heritage Classic. They want to kick our ass, and we have to prepare for that."
>>>
The Timberwolves next game is Monday in Keflavik, Iceland against the Whalers [25-14-1]. They will be without their number one defenseman in Dion Phaneuf who was injured on a Alex Steen hit and will be out the next four days with an undisclosed 'upper body injury'.
>>>
3-STARS
>>>
*Henrik Lundqvist [THU] - 22 saves for 4th shutout of the season
**Rick Nash [THU] - 2 goals
***The residents of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
