Ibex End Streak

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, Colorado

The north wind known as the North Dakota (Bismarck) Ibex roared into town and promptly ended the Spurs 13 game win streak with a 4-2 victory. It was a dominating victory for the Ibex who were led by Thornton, Gagne and Cole. They each had 28 minutes of ice time and collectively scored 3 goals and 6 assists in the Ibex victory.
The Spurs played an undisciplined game in drawing 31 pim which gave the Ibex 11 power play opportunities. They converted on two of them (Thornton & Horton). Injured in the game for the Ibex were centreman Arnott (10 days) and blueliner Chelios (7 days). Spurs' rearguard Steve Staios has been shelved with a badly sprained ankle and could be out for up to 3 weeks or more.
Dasher Notes
Prior to the game, GM Poelker may have pulled a major gaffe in trading away the team's last remaining draft picks of value to the Hamilton Predators for port sider Ryan Smyth. Going to the Preds were the Spurs' 1st and 4th pick in 2008 along with $3 million USD. A gaffe...possibly. After this poor performance it looks that way. Forward Tyler Arnason is reported to be very disgruntled and has demanded a trade.
Arnason exclaimed, "What the heck does Poelker want?!?! I've been playing great setting up Joe, Mark and Marek. I want out of here...now!" Arnason was a late scratch when Smyth arrived in time for the game and was inserted in the lineup in place of him.
Coming to town tomorrow night are the division rival southwest Scorpions from down New Mexico way.

Sakic Pots Natural

- The Nest - Portland

In what is uncharacteristic for Captain Joe Sakic, he potted a natural hat trick after the game had already been decided with the score 7-1. Martin Gerber, starting for the injured Nik Backstrom, was more than rusty in allowing 10 goals on 43 shots. The other 7 goals were scored by 7 different Spurs' players. That's 17 goals in two consecutive games, talk about a roll.
Captian Joe said, "Ahhh...heck. I was just throwing the puck at the net, not really trying to score at that point. I have no idea why Gerber couldn't stop 'em." Perhaps, but Owls' management and players will, no doubt, remember this.
44 seconds after Sakic completed his natural, the Owls began their payback when rookie blueliner Danny Richmond of the Owls badly pummeled blueliner Bryan McCabe of the Spurs. McCabe was visibly shaken.
Lang scored his 20th for the Owls and Vanek his 21st in closing out the 3rd period. The Owls ended the game on a positive note in doing so.
Dasher Notes
The lopsided 10-3 victory marked the 13th win in a row and 41st of the season for the Spurs in 53 games.
This easily surpasses the victory total last season in 82 games.
The Spurs have a couple of days off before they next face the North Dakota (aka Bismarck) Ibex back home at the Coliseum.

Spurs Thump Musicmen

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, Colorado

The reigning CCHL Champion Musicmen came to town sporting an 18 game winning streak. The Spurs, hoping to extend an 11 game win streak of their own, pounced on the Musicmen in the second half of the opening frame coming out with a 4-1 lead at the end of the first.
While the 'men appeared a bit tired from their recent road trip, they somehow managed to launch 16 shots at Spurs' goalie Marty Brodeur who was up to the task on all but one of them! He also turned aside 38 of 40 shots in the game in stifling the Musicmen. This game saw sog equal, which has been a rarity lately, with the Spurs launching 41 shots at Tomas Vokoun, who may need a bit of a rest given his performance.
Gaborik (38) opened the scoring of the game, unassisted, for the 'men but then the Spurs roared back with four unanswered goals by Clark (4), Marc-Andre Bergeron (8), Sakic (33) and McCabe (12). The 2nd period saw Vinny Lecavalier score off the opening faceoff at the 43 second mark, his 37th, and it visibly took the wind out of the 'men's sails. The Spurs then added two more markers. One by rookie Paul Stastny, who reached the 20 goal mark on the season, and the other by Parrish (21) at 12:53 of the period.
Milan Hejduk scored his 29th for the Musicmen, a shorthanded marker, to close out the 2nd period with the Spurs leading by a hefty 7-2 margin. That proved to be the end of the scoring in the game as the Spurs laid back in the 3rd period not mounting much of an attack. While the 'men outshot the Spurs 18-9 in the period, they could not get another one past Marty Brodeur.
Dasher Notes
The win extended the Spurs current winning streak to 12 games, a club record. Comptroller Barney has reported that all tickets for remaining Spurs' home games are sold out. There were a few remaining but were sold within 30 minutes of the end of this game. This delights Spurs' management and CCHL league offices as the club had problems putting fannies in the seats in Yellowknife. The turnaround is remarkable.
The Spurs travel to Portland tomorrow for a game at The Nest. It appears backup Martin Gerber may be between the pipes for the Owls. Initial reports have starting netminder, rookie Nik Backstrom, sitting out with a strained groin. Blueliner Rachunek is also out for the Owls. The Spurs report no injuries.

Spurs Lasso Moon

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, Colorado

The Spurs continued their winning ways Friday night, increasing their current win streak to a season high 11 games, with a 7-4 win over the Moon from Havana. 'Ol Fidel munched on a few C-gars over that one.
Again, leading the way for the Spurs, were Hossa with his 34th and 35th markers of the season while linemate Lecavalier netted his 36th. Captain Joe added his 32nd with port sider Alexei Ponikarovsky attaining the coveted 20 goal mark of the season.
Defensive specialist Michael Peca added his 2nd of the season in the first period with blueliner Bryan McCabe closing out the scoring with his 11th, an empty netter, at the end of the third.
Dasher Notes
Coming to town next, for a Sunday matinee, are the red hot Dayton Musicmen. The 'men currently sport an 18 game winning streak, tops in the CCHL this season.
Injuries - come Sunday Dman Skrastins should be available for the Spurs so both teams will be 100% healthy.
Whether he plays or not is another matter. Marc-Andre Bergeron had another two helpers in this contest so Karlis might be spending time in the pressbox.
It should be a barnburner of a game! Tune in on the CCHL Network!

Spurs Top Ronin

- Ronin Arena -

The Spurs came into Victoria expecting to be shutdown by the defense corps of the Ronin. Through two periods it looked that way as the Spurs held a narrow 2-1 margin at the end of the 2nd period. The 3rd period, however, was another story, as both teams exploded for 9 goals with the Spurs netting 6 and the Ronin 3. Final score was the Spurs knocking off the Ronin 8-4! Certainly not the defensive type game that was expected.
Looks like this edition of the Spurs (formerly Yellowknife Diamonds) can score what's needed to win.
Blue liner McCabe led the goal scorers with 2 tallies, the last an empty netter.
Hossa had a 4 point game (1g,3a), Lecavalier 3 points (1g,2a) and Tkachuk 3 points (1g, 2a) as the Spurs top line continues to lead the way after relaxing for a couple of games.
Marc-Andre Bergeron, playing for the injured Skrastins, notched another two assists. It's becoming difficult to sit him as it seems he winds up on the scoresheet every game he plays.
Dasher Notes
This win gave the Spurs their second 10 game win streak of the season and it was their 20th road win. Just like last season, the Spurs currently have a better road record than home.
The Spurs get a much needed rest the next few days and next face the Havana Moon at home on Friday.
After that it will be the red hot Dayton Musicmen coming to town for a Sunday matinee game. However, the Spurs can't afford to look past the Moon. I'm sure Coach Q will see to that.

Spurs Trick Lawmen

- Ice House - Beverly Hills

The Spurs came into Beverly Hills all starry eyed. What a visiting clubhouse in the land of movie stars and swimming pools! Jeb & Granny would be proud!
As a feature contest on Saturday Nite in the CCHL, analysts Don Grapes & Mack Lean predicted a defensive struggle with the caliber of goalies each team had in Brodeur for the Spurs and Kiprusoff for the hometown Lawmasters. Well, the outcome shows what these experts know!
In the shootout of a contest won by the Spurs 7-5, not one, but two hat tricks were recorded by the visiting Spurs. Captain Joe, continuing his torrid pace, notched his 29th, 30th & 31st of the season while Marian Hossa netted his 30th, 31st & 32nd. The last an empty netter. The other goal was scored by Hossa's centreman, Vinny Lecavalier, his 34th of the season, at 07:02 of the 1st period.
Providing the punch for the Lawmen were Dany Heatley , two goals (31,32) and two assists along with Briere, one goal (17) and two assists.
Each team did well on the powerplay with the Spurs going 1 for 3 and the Lawmen 2 for 6.
The Lawmen also peppered Brodeur with 53 shots, possibly his biggest test of the season to date. Again, he was able to stop enough of them to squeak out the win. 'Ol Marty seems to just stop enough pucks most games to get the win whether he faces 20 shots or 50.
The Spurs were 'only' able to launch 31 shots at Kipper, but enough of 'em found the back of the net for the win.
Dasher Notes:
During the contest, blueliner Karlis Skrastins tweaked his groin again and will be sidelined for up to a week. In his absence, Marc-Andre Bergeron will most likely be activated to fill his active roster spot.
Marian Hossa became the first player in the CCHL this season to eclipse the 100 point barrier. He now has 101 points on the season in 49gp with 32 goals and 69 assists. He has also logged 23.9 minutes of ice time per game. Next up for the Spurs are the Victoria Ronin who boast the best defense in the league having allowed the least goals. The Spurs have the leading offense. Can the Spurs solve the Ronin at the Ronin's barn?

Liles Leads Spurs Over Lahr

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, CO

Tonight, blueliner John-Michael Liles had the game of his career for the Spurs in leading them over visiting Lahr Lynchjustiz. He recorded his second hat trick of the season and 5 points in all! He led the Spurs in shots on opposing goalie Tim Thomas with 6, scoring on half of them. Tim Thomas, who led the Spurs to the Conference Finals last season said, "John-Michael obviously knows my weakness after clearing the crease in front of me last season. I'll have to come up with a new approach for him."
To be fair to Thomas, there was a lot of screening going on in front of him by Liles' teammates. But that's just like Thomas, no excuses.
What he needs is his defensemen doing a better job clearing the shooting lanes of bodies in front of him.
Spurs' netminder Brodeur allowed one tally in the 1st period by port-sider Mark Bell(4) in registering the win in the 6-1 victory. Mark Bell also soundly thumped Ian Laperriere of the Spurs in a 2nd period bout. An assist on another goal and Bell would have registered the 'Gordie Howe hat trick'.
Also scoring for the Spurs were Ponikarovsky(18), Lecavalier(33) and Hossa (29).
Liles had registered his 16th, 17th and 18th goals of the season in recording his hat trick.
Dasher Notes:
Ponikarovsky (Pony) has scored 5 goals in his last four games playing on the checking line with Stastny and Laperriere. Putting Pony with Stastny and Lappy has sure set him on fire lately.
Next up on the schedule are the Beverly Hills Lawmasters tomorrow night at the Ice House in Beverly. Swimming pools....movie stars....
The Lawmen have been in a tailspin lately with 3 wins in their last 10. Hopefully they don't right the ship against the Spurs tomorrow night.

Spurs Scalp Renegades

- Big Sandy Arena -

The Spurs galloped into River Cities looking for another win. The Renegades came out intent on scalping the pilgrims from Denver and after the 1st period the visitors were bloodied and down 2-1. Salei(4) even strength and D.Roy(12) on the power play scored for the 'gades. In between these two scores Pony(17) scored for the Spurs.
Well, that woke up the visiting pilgrims and goalie Brodeur held the Renegades scoreless the rest of the way.
That's been the story lately, Brodeur gives up a couple and then wakes up.
Tkachuk(28) scored in the 2nd period, with Stastny(19), Sakic(28) and Arnason(3) scoring goals in the 3rd period for the Spurs.
Captain Joe said "We've been doing what we have to in getting the wins lately. Hopefully we can keep it going.
Finally the rest of us are taking the pressure off Lecavalier, Tkachuk and Hossa."
Dasher Notes:
Rookie Paul Stastny's marker was the game winner. Paul has 19g, 18a, 37pts centering the 3rd line and 2nd line PK so far in his first season in the CCHL. A lot of responsibility for a rookie but Paul has stepped up to the task. In addition to the scoring, he is a +15, has a phenomenal 26.4 scoring percentage with 3 shorthanded tallies to boot.
Tomorrow night it's back to the Coliseum for a game against Lahr.

Spurs Win 6th in Row

- Permafrost - Stockholm, Sweden

The Spurs won their 6th consecutive game and 16th of their last 17 with a 5-2 decision over the Mooseheads. Leading the Spurs to victory was port-sider Alexei Ponikarovsky, who notched his 15th and 16th markers of the season. Also scoring for the Spurs were Tkachuk (27), Sakic (27) and Marian Hossa (28).
Radivojevic (8) and Zetterberg (28) netted the two goals for the 'heads. Netminder Luongo of the 'heads had a tough game in giving up 5 goals on 31 shots. His counterpart on the Spurs, Martin Brodeur, stopped 25 of 27 shots in recording the victory.
Dasher Notes:
Next up for the Spurs are the River City Renegades at the Big Sandy Arena on Thursday.
The Spurs currently have 4 of the top 6 leading scorers in the CCHL. Marian Hossa leads the way with 94 pts (28g 66a), Lecavalier is 2nd in the league with 80 pts (32g 48a), Tkachuk is 4th with 74 pts (27g 47a) and Captain Joe Sakic is 6th in the league with 67 pts (27g 40a).

Brodeur Stops Scorpions

- White Sands Auditorium - White Sands, New Mexico

Netminder Marty Brodeur turned in a fine performance tonight in leading the Spurs over the Southwest Scorpions. Looks like his quality time with CuJo paid off as he stopped 33 of 35 Scorpion shots!
The Scorpions outshot the Spurs in the contest 35-28, but the Spurs came away with the win 5-2.
Mike Peca and the Spurs penalty killing units also put in a fine performance in killing off 9 of 10 Scorpion power plays. This and Brodeur's play were certainly keys to the win.
The Scorpions held the Spurs number 1 line pointless. However, the Sakic and Stastny lines were up to the task and provided the scoring punch. The Sakic line accounted for 3 goals (Sakic, Parrish and Svatos), while Stastny and Ponikarovsky each had a goal. Arnason again chipped in with 2 helpers.
Dasher Notes:
Next up are the Mooseheads at the Permafrost in Stockholm in a couple of days.
The previous meeting with the Mooseheads resulted in a 5-3 win for the Spurs at the Coliseum early in the season.

Sakic Nets OT Winner

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, Colorado

The Spurs returned home to face a formidable Long Island Express squad. The Spurs managed to squeak out a 5-4 OT win over Sid Crosby and his 'mates. The entire Spurs squad and netminder Marty Brodeur were sorely tested. Brodeur again turned in a so-so performance that was good enough to win but leaves one wondering as to just what is going on. He let in 4 goals on 26 shots for an unacceptable .846 SvPct. Looks like he'll be spending some quality time with CuJo, the Spurs backup goalie and goaltending coach.
Coach Q said "We have an off day tomorrow prior to our matchup with Southwest on Sunday. We'll be leaving early tomorrow and when we arrive it'll be the 'bag', the 'herbies' at practice. You can be sure of that! Hopefully Curtis and Marty can pick each other's brains and Marty can get straightened out."
The scoring for the Express was led by Brad Boyes who netted two, with one coming on the power play. They were his 6th and 7th of the season. Zach Parise, the former Spur, put on a puck handling and passing clinic in registering 3 assists. Johnny Madden, another ex-Spur who went with Parise in bringing Lecavalier and Skrastins to the Spurs, logged one assist. Sid the Kid was 'held' to one assist.
Leading the way for the Spurs was Captain Joe Sakic with the OT winner. Arnason and Marc-Andre Bergeron led in points on the scoresheet with two helpers each. While Bergeron's assists are nice, it appears he gets a bit lost at times on his defensive responsibilities. Of course, it wasn't just him. Overall team defense must be lax for that many goals to get by Brodeur on so few shots.
Dasher Notes:
The upcoming game against the Southwest Scorpions at the White Sands Auditorium will be another tough contest for the Spurs. The season record to date against the Scorpions is 2-1-1.
There could be a lineup tweak or two for the Spurs.

Spurs Clip Wings

- Eissporthalle Linz -

The Spurs defeated the Linz Blackwings on the 'wings home ice rather handily 6-2. Again, goalie Brodeur wasn't stellar in net allowing 2 goals on 19 shots, but with the Spurs' scoring ability lately it's a non-issue.
The Spurs launched 54 shots at Eddie 'The Eagle' Belfour. After the game Eddie said, "I'm too old for this crap. Do they think I'm some kind of kid?!?! Sheesh!!!" With that Eddie turned and stormed off into the 'wings locker room. His tirade directed at his teammates could be heard up and down the hallway.
Six different Spurs' players found the net behind Eddie with Marian Hossa again leading the way with one goal and three assists. Marek Svatos netted his first with the Spurs and of the season since being purchased from the Lawmasters.
Dasher Notes:
The Musicmen from Dayton broke the Spurs' season high 10 game win streak with their 11th in a row in beating Portland 8-4 tonight. They also tied the Spurs season high unbeaten streak of 11. Of course, the Spurs unbeaten streak included a tie.
Next up tomorrow night back at the Coliseum in Denver are the Long Island Express. Vinny Lecavalier's and Karlis Skrastins' former team.

Spurs Take Crusaders

- Copenhagen, Denmark - Carlsberg Arena

After the long trip to Denmark, the Spurs were looking forward to the match with the Crusaders. They were feeling pretty good about themselves after their big win in the last game. Coach Q was a bit concerned prior to the game hoping that his Spurs wouldn't be too cocky and take the 'saders lightly.
After the 1st period it appeared that way as the Crusaders forged a 2-2 tie. The 'saders goals by Penner (18) and Kelly (8) were sandwiched by Ponikarovsky's (13) to open the scoring and McCabe's (6) to clost the scoring in the 1st period.
Rumor was that Coach Q went on a heckuva chair and towel throwing tirade in the locker room during the period break.
Whatever he said sure worked since the Spurs came out roaring and scored 5 unanswered goals during the 2nd period. Those tallies were by McCabe (7), Sakic (23), Lecavalier (30,31) and Parrish (18).
Marian Hossa registered 4 more helpers while Keith Tkachuk had 3. The final score, Spurs 7 Crusaders 2.
Spurs' netminder Marty Brodeur let in 2 goals on 20 shots. Not exactly a stellar performance, but due to another offensive explosion, good enough to win.
His counterpart on the 'saders, Andrew Raycroft, has his own problems letting in 7 on 39 shots.
Dasher Notes:
Defending CCHL Cup Champions Dayton Musicmen have been making deals right and left with other CCHL GMs and are now poised to defend their title. Looks like they will be tough to unseat this year and probably for years to come. Look for them to also be big buyers in the UFA process next offseason contrary to reports coming out of the 'men's camp.
Next up for the Spurs on Thursday are the Linz Blackwings at the Eissporthalle Linz. This writer isn't sure where this is but the Spurs' charter pilot, Crash Davis, has assured this writer that he knows.

Spurs Blast Owls

- Denver, Coliseum - Denver, Colorado

The Spurs returned home from their loss to Karlstad in Sweden in bad spirits. After all, the Killers had ended
their club's season best winning streak of 10 games.
Coach Q decided to rest netminder Marty Brodeur, who had started every game since his arrival via the trade with Springfield. Curtis Joseph, (CuJo), was given the nod to start in net against the Portland Owls.
Well, the loss to Karlstad woke up the Spurs with a vengeance.
They clobbered the Owls 10-1 in front of their hometown fans!
CuJo proved more than adequate stopping 28 of 29 shots. The Owls lone tally came in the 2nd period by blueliner Aaron Ward unassisted.
The Spurs launched an incredible 61 shots at two Owls' goalies during the contest. Owls' netminder Backstrom was injured in the 3rd by one of the shots with backup Gerber finishing the game. Backstrom is expected to be back in action in a few days.
The Spurs also dominated the faceoff circle 52-31 and were 2 for 6 on the power play.
It was a dominating performance and the scoring was led by Marian Hossa, 3 goals and 3 assists, and Keith Tkachuk, 1 goal and 5 assists! Also putting in fine scoring performances were Lecavalier (1g 3a), Sakic (1g, 3a) and Parrish (2g, 1a).
Newcomer Marek Svatos put in a better performance than the last game, registering one assist during 16 minutes of ice time, playing with Sakic and Parrish on the 2nd line.
Dasher Notes:
Next up for the Spurs is another trip to Scandinavia. This time it's Copenhagen, Denmark and the Crusaders at Carlsberg Arena. Another tough opponent in Scandinavia.
On another note, in light of the acquisition today of Nik Lidstrom by GM Canosa of the Victoria Ronin, Spurs' GM Poelker is considering other deals. Hey, why not?! The Cup is in reach, here, at the halfway point of the season. The Spurs may never be in this position again.

Killers Kill Spurs Streak

- Karlstad, Sweden - The Coffee Pot

The Karlstad Killers put an end to the Spurs season high 10 game win streak (11 game unbeaten) in convincing fashion with a 6-3 win at The Pot in Karlstad. Killers...aptly named...eh.
The first goal of the game was scored by Cammalleri (15th) of the Killers at 04:29 of the 1st on the power play.
They put 3 more past a shaky Spurs' netminder Marty Brodeur before the end of the 1st period and never looked back.
The Spurs scored three of their own in the 2nd period by Stastny (16th) shorthanded and Lecavalier's two (27th & 28th), but it wasn't enough to solve a determined Killers squad and their goalie J.S. Giguere.
Giguere stopped the Spurs cold in the 3rd period and the Killers put the game away on goals by Hamrlik (5th) and Nagy (3rd).
Shots on goal in the game were fairly equal with the Spurs outshooting the Killers 38 - 36.

Dasher Notes
After the game there was a rumor floating about that the Spurs were interested in winger Gionta of the Killers.
Now I know GM Poelker is a bit confused since this is after acquiring winger Svatos.
Svatos was a disappointing -3 in 12 minutes of ice time with his new 'mates.
Next up for the Spurs are the division rival Portland Owls tomorrow night at the Coliseum in Denver.