LetsGoDU

DU Recruit Leads Team To Playoff Series Victory

The Nanaimo Clippers led by DU recruit Kyle Ostrow, accomplished three things in Game 7 of their B.C. Hockey League second-round series with the Burnaby Express on Sunday at Frank Crane Arena.
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They won the game (5-4), they closed out a series, and they learned a valuable lesson about heart and determination, courtesy of the visiting Express.
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The Clippers, who had to scratch and claw for every goal they scored in the opening six games, built a 5-1 lead on Sunday, only to watch the Express mount a third-period charge that put both Sunday's win and Nanaimo's season in serious doubt.

Trailing by four goals, Burnaby's Chris Demoe cued the comeback with a power-play marker at 3:46 of the third. Express captain Tyler McNeely further cut into the lead at 5:20. And Burnaby climbed to within one goal of the Clippers when Express sniper Jovan Matic scored (from McNeely and Demoe) at 5:40.

"For a five-minute stretch we were panicking," said Clippers head coach Bill Bestwick. "That club gave us everything we could handle."

On the bench, Clippers forward Kyle Ostrow couldn't help but think he'd seen this movie before.

"Two years ago in the midget playoffs, I was with Calgary and we had a 4-1 lead in Red Deer. We ended up losing 5-4 and we were done," he said. "I kept having flashbacks (on Sunday). I didn't want it to happen again."

Thankfully for Ostrow, history didn't repeat itself and Nanaimo was able to withstand the Express comeback attempt to win the game 5-4 and the series four games to three.

Matt Irwin, Taylor Langford and Ostrow scored first period goals for Nanaimo, and Cody Danberg and Brendan Mason tallied in the second as Nanaimo finally seemed to figure out the enigma that was Burnaby netminder Matthew Gordon.

Langford, whose goal was the result of a Burnaby turnover and a fortunate bounce, says the secret was simple -- it came down to luck.

"We've been out-shooting them all series by two-to-one (shots were 42-21 in favour of Nanaimo on Sunday) and I knew sooner or later the floodgates were going to have to open," said Langford. "We finally got some lucky bounces. Our first three goals were all off lucky bounces and that's something we hadn't had all series."

Solving Gordon was one key to the Clippers' success and slowing Burnaby phenom & Wisconsin recruit Kyle Turris was the other. Nanaimo defenceman Erick Belanger addressed the latter with a thunderous body check on the gifted forward midway through the opening frame.

"(Burnaby) had been coming up the ice on the same set play for seven games. We needed someone to step up and take that opportunity away," said Bestwick. "Belanger certainly stepped up . . . and hit Turris hard.

"Belanger isn't a mean player and it was a clean check."

Turris limped to the bench following the hit and didn't take a regular shift for the remainder of the game.

When he was on the ice, he skated at half speed.

His second-period goal, a power-play marker at 6:15 that made it 3-1, should stand as a testament to his skill and willingness to compete.

Burnaby coach Rick Lanz, whose roster was decimated by injuries, praise his troops outside the Express dressing room.

"McNeely was playing on one leg and probably shouldn't have been playing at all . . . they broke the mold when they made that kid," said Lanz. "And then the best player in the league, Kyle Turris, gets hurt in the first period . . . but we still battled back. I couldn't be prouder of these guys."

As difficult as it is to believe following this hard-fought seven-game series, the road to the Royal Bank Cup only gets more difficult next round as the Clippers get set to battle the Cowichan Valley Capitals in the Coastal Conference final.

The Capitals, who disposed of the DU recruit Tyler Bozak's Victoria Grizzlies in the second round, were the only team in the BCHL to post a winning record over the Clippers (4-2) during the regular season.

"They are more physical, bigger, deeper and healthier (than Burnaby)," said Bestwick.

"They have a good offence and their defence got the job done against Victoria. We are going to have our hands full, there is no doubt about that."
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DU goaltending recruit Marc Cheverie did not appear in a single game of the seven game series. We understand he may be nursing an injury.

The first two games of the Coastal Conference final series are in Nanaimo (Wednesday and Thursday) while Games 3 and 4 are in Cowichan (Saturday and Sunday).

Note: DU recruit Stephen Cunninham from Boulder, Colorado plays for the Burnaby Express.