ICE CHIPS: The KOOTENAY ICE finished the EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER FINAL presented by KAL TIRE and HUSKY / MOHAWK , against the MEDICINE HAT TIGERS with a 2-4-0 record (2-1-0 at home, 0-3-0 on the road and 0-0 in overtime)…KOOTENAY finished the 2009-2010 regular season with a 43-24-3-2 record (21-12-2-1 at home, 22-12-1-1 on the road, 4-3 in overtime, 5-2 in shootouts) and in fourth place in the EASTERN CONFERENCE and tied for eighth place overall in the WHL…It is the seventh time in franchise history and fifth in the last six years that the ICE have recorded at least 40 wins in a season…KOOTENAY finished the 2009-2010 regular season with an above .500 record for the 11th consecutive season, which is the longest active streak in the WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE…The ICE clinched a playoff spot for the 12th consecutive year.
PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE: The ICE have a career playoff record of 69-56 (38-24 at home, 31-32 on the road, 18-10 in overtime)…KOOTENAY has 264 games of playoff experience which is the ninth most of the teams who qualified for the post season…RYAN MOLLE (31), DUSTIN SYLVESTER (29), KEVIN KING (27) and BRAYDEN MCNABB (20) lead the ICE in games played in the playoffs…HAYDEN RINTOUL recorded his first career WHL playoff goal on March 19th against MEDICINE HAT…BROCK MONTGOMERY recorded his first goal in WHL playoffs against the TIGERS in Game One…JOEY LEACH recorded his first career WHL playoff goal on March 19th against MEDICINE HAT…DREW CZERWONKA, who recorded his first WHL playoff point with an assist against the TIGERS in Game One, recorded his first playoff goal March 28th against MEDICINE HAT…ELGIN PEARCE, who recorded his first career WHL playoff point with an assist on March 19th against MEDICINE HAT, recorded his first goal in WHL playoffs against the TIGERS in Game Two…JESSE ISMOND recorded his first career WHL playoff point with an assist against MEDICINE HAT on March 20th…TODD MATHEWS recorded his first career WHL playoff shutout in Game Two against the TIGERS (20 saves)…JAMES MARTIN recorded his first career WHL playoff point with a goal against MEDICINE HAT on March 23rd.
DID YOU KNOW: KOOTENAY was 3-3-0-0 against MEDICINE HAT in the regular season…DUSTIN SYLVESTER (4-5-9), MATT FRASER (3-4-7) and BRAYDEN MCNABB (1-6-7) led the ICE in scoring against MEDICINE HAT in the season series while TRISTAN KING (3-6-9), LINDEN VEY (3-4-7) and MARK ISHERWOOD (1-5-6) led the TIGERS…The ICE played in their 1000th regular season game on February 23 against RED DEER…KOOTENAY finished the regular season with a .500 or better road record for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons…DUSTIN SYLVESTER finished the regular season eighth in League scoring (35-58-93)…SYLVESTER scored his franchise record 15th career shorthanded goal on March 3 in EDMONTON (previous record was 11 held by DUNCAN MILROY)…BRAYDEN MCNABB finished the regular season sixth in the WHL for points by a defenseman (17-40-57)…MATT FRASER, who recorded his 50th career WHL goal on March 3 against the OIL KINGS, recorded his 100th WHL career point on March 12th against RED DEER…KEVIN KING recorded his 150th WHL career point on March 13th against EDMONTON.
ONE YEAR AGO: After Game Three of the 2008-2009 Eastern Conference Quarter Final vs the BRANDON WHEAT KINGS the ICE were 0-3 and after Game Four were 0-4.
WEEK IN REVIEW:
Tuesday, March 23 – Kootenay 1 @ Medicine Hat 4 – Record 2-1 – Attendance: 3,816
Goal:
1 – Martin (1) from King and McNabb
Goalie: Todd Mathews (23 Saves, 4 GA)
Wednesday, March 24 – Kootenay 1 @ Medicine Hat 5 – Record 2-2 – Attendance: 3,966
Goal:
1 – Pacovsky (1) from Magnus
Goalies: Todd Mathews (20 Saves, 5 GA), Nathan Lieuwen (6 Saves, 0 GA)
Friday, March 26 – Kootenay 2 vs Medicine Hat 5 – Record 2-3 – Attendance: 2,598
Goals:
1 – King (4) from Boomer and Martin
2 – Pacovsky (2) from Boomer and King
Goalies: Todd Mathews (11 Saves, 3 GA), Nathan Lieuwen (7 Saves, 2 GA)
Sunday, March 28 – Kootenay 1 @ Medicine Hat 4 – Record 2-4 – Attendance: 4,006
Goal:
1 – Czerwonka (1) from Rintoul and Molle
Goalie: Nathan Lieuwen (20 Saves, 4 GA)