WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

McKenzie, Herman score two each in win over Raiders

Published on January 17, 2007 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


Prince Albert, SK, January 17, 2007 - Ian McKenzie and Andre Herman had two goals each Wednesday night to lead the T-Birds to a 6-5 overtime victory over the Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Center in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

McKenzie's second goal, 58 seconds into overtime, was the game winner. Prab Rai carried the puck into the Raiders zone on the left side. Rai dropped the puck to McKenzie who put a wrist shot on goal from the top of the left circle. McKenzie's shot was blocked but he got the rebound to the left of the goal. McKenzie put a quick wrist shot back on goal from a tight angle that beat Prince Albert goalie David Aime over the blocker side shoulder.

With the win the T-Birds moved into second place in the US Division with a 21-13-1-11 record. The game against Prince Albert was the last game of a six-game road trip to the Eastern Division. The T- Birds finished the trip 2-2-0-2.

The T-Birds took a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 16:37 of the first period. David Richard had the puck in the left corner. Richard centered the puck to Brett Robertson, who got a weak shot off as he was tied up by a Prince Albert defender. Jan Eberle was to the right of goal and tried to get the rebound from Robertson's shot past Aime. The Raiders netminder made the save on Eberle but the puck rebounded to a wide open Richard to the left of the goal. Richard pounded the puck into a wide-open net to get the first goal of the game. It was Richard's fifth goal of the year.

Seattle outshot Prince Albert 10-9 in the first period.

McKenzie gave the T-Birds a 2-0 lead early in the second period. Rai had the puck behind and to the right of the Prince Albert net. Rai centered the puck to McKenzie in the high slot. McKenzie beat Aime with a hard wrist shot through traffic. McKenzie's 10th goal of the year came at 1:54 of the second period.

Ryan McDonald scored at 3:56 of the second to get the Raiders on the board. Mike Hellyer and Mike Gauthier had the assists.

Prince Albert (19-21-3-2) tied the game 2-2 at 16:09 of the second on a goal by Cody Gross. Jeff May had the only assist on the goal.

Brent Ottmann put the Raiders in front 3-2 when he scored at 17:34 of the second. Ashton Hewson and Bryce Lamb had the assists.

Holloway tied the game 3-3 when he scored a power- play goal at 18:53 of the second. Holloway took a face-off in the left circle in the Prince Albert zone. The puck went to the corner where McKenzie got to it. McKenzie put the puck up the boards to Holloway. Holloway came off the wall, deked a Raiders defender and came in on Aime. He beat the Prince Albert goalie high on the blocker side for his 18th goal of the year.

The T-Birds outshot the Raiders 10-9 in the second period and led 20-18 in shots after two periods.

Hellyer scored a power-play goal 31 seconds in the third period to give the Raiders a 4-3 lead. McDonald and Gauthier had the assists.

Newly acquired Herman tied the game 4-4 for the T- Birds with a power-play goal at 4:42 of the third. Jeremy Schappert had the puck at the left point. He fed the puck down the boards to Radek Meidl. Meidl skated back up the boards and passed back to Schappert who had moved along the blue line to the center point. Schappert unloaded a slap shot that Aime stopped. Herman got the rebound though and beat Aime low for the tying goal. Herman was acquired a week ago, at the trade deadline, from the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Jarrid Dowhay scored at 9:48 of the third to give the Raiders a 5-4 lead. Gross and Milan Jurik had the assists.

Meidl intercepted a pass at the Prince Albert blue line to help the T-Birds tie the game at 5-5. After intercepting the pass Meidl pushed the puck forward into the Raiders zone where McKenzie got it. McKenzie put a shot on goal from the right circle. Aime stopped the puck with his stick but the rebound went directly to Herman crashing the net on the left side. Herman put the rebound back at 13:04 to tie the game.

The T-Birds outshot the Raiders 12-8 in the third period and had a 32-26 advantage in shots after 60 minutes.

McKenzie's game winner was the only shot by both teams combined in overtime.

Seattle goalie Jacob DeSerres stopped 21 of 26 shots and improved his record to 6-5-0-2.

Aime made 27 saves on 33 shots and his record is now 6-6-2-0.

The T-Birds return home on Saturday, January 20, to face the Portland Winter Hawks at KeyArena at 7:05 p.m.

Thunderbird tickets are currently on sale for all 2006- 07 regular season home games. Tickets are priced at $20, $16 & $12. Tickets may be purchased by calling 206-628-0888 or 206-448-PUCK (7825) or online at www.seattlethunderbirds.com. Tickets may also be purchased at all TicketMaster Outlets, the KeyArena West Box Office Monday - Saturday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM and The Hockey Store located at 14326 124th Ave NE in Kirkland. For additional ticket information on Season Tickets and Group Rates please call 206- 448-PUCK.

Check out the Seattle Thunderbirds Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Western Hockey League Stories from January 17, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central