Mac Olsen
Express Staff
@SmokyRiverExprs
The end of the regular season is in sight and the Falher Pirates are positioning themselves for a place in the finals.
The Pirates had two games at home for the end of the regular season, the first on Jan. 20 against the Grimshaw Huskies. They won the game handily by a score of 12-6, pleasing Coach Taylor Cote.
“We had lots of goals tonight,” says Cote.
“We found a way to overcome adversity in the second period and we controlled the third period to finish the game.”
The teams were evenly matched in the first period, however.
Jeff Chalifoux scored the opening goal for the Pirates at 2:39, with Craig Anderson and Pat Rowan receiving the assists.
Then Brian Sommers scored at 3:50, and Cedric Harvey and Darren Brochu received the assists.
But the Huskies caught up in short order. Brendan Hawryluk scored a power play goal at 5:49, with Carson Fairless and Kyle Weegar assisting.
Moments later, at 6:25, Kyle Richardson evened the game at two-all. Logan Putio received an assist, while Weegar received his second.
Then Fairless scored a power play goal at 8:27, with Client Reid and Ty Wiebe assisting.
But the Pirates evened the game at 11:38, when Pat Rowan scored a power play goal.
Jeff Chalifoux and Jeremie Perron assisted.
However, Fairless put the Huskies in the lead again at 14:17 with a power goal, slipping the puck in from the side.
Ty Wiebe and goaltender David Gingera received the assists.
Nonetheless, the Pirates had the last word, Dakota Mason tying the game at 14:51.
Cedric Harvey and Neil Maisonneuve collected the assists.
The first period ended 4-4.
The second period started out with the Pirates believing they had scored on the Huskies’ net.
But the officials declared it invald because the net was knocked out of position.
Then, four minutes in, Brendan Bogdanek of the Huskies took the puck down the ice on a breakaway opportunity and scored. Kale Helgesen received the assist.
Putio followed up at 8:35, putting the puck into the attic on the approach.
Wiebe and Fairless collected the assists.
Not to be outdone, Perron put the puck in the attic for Pirates at 12:58, with Sommers and Harvey sharing the spotlight.
Then Kolton Caron backhanded the puck into the net at 13:44 and T.J. Cunningham collected the assist.
Craig Anderson put the Pirates at ahead 15:06 with the team’s seventh goal.
Sommers and Mason collected the assists for this goal.
Then, with a player in the box, the Pirates managed a short-handed goal. Sommers took the puck down the ice on a breakaway opportunity and scored unassisted at 17:27.
The second period ended 8-6 in favour of the Pirates.
The Pirates dominated the third period, with four more goals.
Harvey scored at 1:10 with assistance by Mason and Sommers. Check the Express’ Facebook page for a video of the goal.
Mason scored the team’s tenth goal at 2:43, with Harvey and Sommers sharing the moment.
At 14:16, Pat Rowan fired the puck into the net on a power play opportunity. Craig Anderson and Jeremie Perron received the assists.
Played stopped at 14:45, as Cedric Harvey of the Pirates and Brendan Hawryluk got into a fight.
Harvey received received a penalty for instigating a fight and a game misconduct. Hawryluk received a two-minute penalty for fighting and a game misconduct as well.
The game ended with T.J. Cunningham scoring a short-handed goal unassisted at 16:23.
The Pirates won the game by a score of 12-6. Shots on net for the game were 58-35 in favour of the Pirates.
Look for some action shots of the game at smokyriverexpress.com.
Pirates versus Regals
The High Prairie Regals came to town in the evening of Jan. 25.
Jacob Anderson opened the scoring for the Regals at 6:24, with Nelson Anderson assisting.
At 9:50, while a player short, Rollie Gladue scored an unassisted goal for the Pirates.
The teams scored three more goals in the second period.
Jacob Anderson scored his second goal of the game for the Regals at 3:11, with Nelson Anderson assisting again.
The Pirates followed with two goals. Koltin Caron scored at 4:12 with Darren Brochu and Pat Rowan assisting.
Then Craig Anderson scored the team’s fourth goal and Dylan Cunningham joined in the effort.
The game was 3-2 for the Falher Pirates at the end of the second period.
High Prairie was desperate to even the game in the third period.
They tried repeated attacks on the Pirates’ net, but to no avail.
Pat Rowan scored the Pirates fourth goal at 12:13 in the third period, and Craig Anderson assisted.
Taylor Cote scored the team’s fifth and final goal at 18:49, with assistance by Joel Pelletier.
The game ended 5-2 in favour of the Pirates.
Total shots on net for the game were 42-30 in favour of the Pirates.
