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| Cody Jamieson (#88) had a big game last Saturday for the Knighthawks. |
Last Saturday, the Knighthawks needed a win in Game 2 of the
best-of-three series at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., to stay alive against
the Saskatchewan Rush, who romped to a 16-9 victory in Game 1 on May 26 at the
SaskTel Centre.
Early on in Game 2, it looked like the Rush were going to
keep their roll going. Just 50 seconds into the game, forward Robert Church
scored to give the Rush a 1-0 lead.
Saskatchewan’s edge expanded to 2-0, when Jeff Shattler
scored at the 3:32 mark.
From there, the Knighthawks took over. They scored three
straight to go up 3-2 before Rush sophomore forward Ryan Keenan scored his
first of two on the night to force a 3-3 tie at the end of the first quarter.
Rochester stormed in front opening the second quarter with
four straight goals to pull ahead 7-3 and cruised to a 13-8 victory before an
appreciative home crowd of 9,174 spectators.
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| Josh Currier (#27) had four goals last Saturday for the Knighthawks. |
The Knighthawks last championship win was back in 2014, when
they completed a run of winning the NLL title for three straight years.
One of the key players in that run of title wins was veteran
goalie Matt Vinc, who has won the NLL’s goaltender of the year award five
times. After a slow start in Game 2, Vinc was in prime form the rest of the way
making 47 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Knighthawks.
Once Rochester got ahead, Vinc ensured the Rush were never
able to rally to retake the lead.
Veteran forward Cody Jamieson netted two goals and two
assists to help the Rochester cause. Jamieson was the NLL final MVP when the
Knighthawks won the title in 2012 and 2013, and he was the NLL MVP in the
Knighthawks championship season in 2014.
Sophomore forward Josh Currier made the biggest impact for
the Knighthawks with four goals and two assists.
Graeme Hossack scored twice for the Knighthawks, while Eric
Fannell, Austin Shanks, Cory Vitarelli and Brad Gillies all had singles.
Gillies scored into an empty net.
Shattler had a huge game for the Rush piling up a hat trick
and four assists. Star forward Mark Matthews recorded for assists for
Saskatchewan. Ben McIntosh and Dan Dawson had singles for the Rush.
 |
| Goalie Matt Vinc is playing to his star form with the Knighthawks. |
The Rush are trying to capture their third title in team
history. They won the NLL title in 2015, when the franchise was still in
Edmonton, and in 2016, which was the club’s inaugural season in Saskatchewan.
Since the NLL final changed to a best-of-three format in
2014, the only time a series deciding Game 3 was needed was in 2014, which
marked the last time the Knighthawks won the title. The Knighthawks took Game 2
of that series 16-10 in Rochester against the Calgary Roughnecks and Game 3
that same night 3-2 in a 10-minute mini-contest.
Between action in the regular season and playoffs, the
Knighthawks have won 11 of their last 14 contests. While this year’s Game 3
will be a full 60-minute contest that could include the possibility of
overtime, Rochester is hoping history from 2014 will repeat itself.
The Rush will rely on the energy of their home crowd to
prevent that from happening.
Back in the Express with Nyhus
 |
| Mason Nyhus is taking part in Roughriders training camp. |
Nyhus is the backup quarterback with the University of
Saskatchewan Huskies Football team, and he is attending training camp with the
CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders as part of the league’s quarterback internship
program. The 20-year-old Regina product will enter his second season of U
Sports eligibility with the Huskies in the fall.
Nyhus came to the Huskies as a highly touted prospect from
the Riffel High School Royals football team in Regina. At Roughriders camp, he
is learning a lot when it comes to schematics, pocket movement and reading
defences.
The young signal caller has left a good first impression
with Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones. Veteran
Roughriders Canadian quarterback Brandon Bridge has also been impressed with
Nyhus.
The Express story on Nyhus can be found right here.
Express encore with Blades coach Love
 |
| Mitch Love is the new head coach of the Blades. |
Love came to the Blades after spending seven seasons as an
assistant coach with the Everett Silvertips. He was an assistant coach and an
assistant to the general manager this past season helping the Silvertips make
their second appearance in the WHL Championship series.
Love’s father, Harley Love, will be entering his second
season as a scout for the Blades. Harley was a scout with the Silvertips during
four of the seasons that Mitch worked there as a head coach.
Harley’s link to the Blades helped Mitch make his first
connection with the club’s management about a year before he was hired as head
coach.
The Express story on the Love family with the Blades can be
found right here.
Manson leaves Raiders for Bakersfield
 |
| Dave Manson addresses the Raiders players during a timeout. |
On Monday, the Raiders announced associate coach Dave Manson
had resigned from the team to become an assistant coach with the Bakersfield
Condors. The Condors are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.
Manson has a long and storied history with his hometown WHL
team. He played 218 regular season games for the Raiders between 1982 and 1986,
recording 24 goals, 72 assists and 666 penalty minutes.
After the franchise’s third season in the major junior
ranks, Manson helped the Raiders win junior hockey’s ultimate prize in the
Memorial Cup in 1985. Also that year, he was selected in the first round and 11th
overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL Entry Draft.
Following his playing days with the Raiders, Manson went on to
play in 1,103 career regular season games in the NHL from 1986 to 2002 collecting
102 goals, 288 assists and 2,792 penalty minutes with the Blackhawks, Oilers,
Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars and Toronto
Maple Leafs.
Manson, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighed 202 pounds in his
playing days, returned to the Prince Albert area to settle down after his
playing days were finished due to the fact he has numerous family members
there. Part way through the 2002-03 campaign, he became an assistant coach with
the Raiders, and he has remained a key part of that team since that time.
He left the Raiders to spend a couple of seasons as an
assistant coach with the Prince Albert Mintos of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA
Hockey League before rejoining the Raiders in 2011. Manson was promoted to
associate coach before the start of the 2012-13 campaign.
During his time as a Raiders coach, Manson, 51, was a huge
positive influence on the lives of numerous young players. He will likely have
that same impact on the players he coaches with the Condors.
While the people in Prince Albert will be happy that Manson
has the opportunity to coach professionally in Bakersfield, he will still be
missed in Hockey Town North.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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