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WHL Portland Winterhawks

Mucha, Fans set records in Teddy Bear Toss

November 30, 2007 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Kurtis Mucha stopped a new team record 65 shots on Saturday night to lead the Portland Winter Hawks to a 4-3 win night over the Chilliwack Bruins in front of 6,343 fans at the Memorial Coliseum on the 10th Annual Teddy Bear Toss Night.

Mucha stopped all 36 shots he faced through two periods and then handled another 29 of 32 shots against in the third to lead the the Hawks to their second straight victory. The 65 saves were the most for a Hawks goaltender since December 6, 1977, when Bart Hunter stopped 59 shots for Portland.

The game got off to a strange start when the Hawks appeared to get their first goal 3:12 into the opening period when Chris Francis poked home a loose puck, but the goal was waived off due the net being knocked off the moorings. But, the bears had started to be thrown and the continued until all 20,372 were thrown on the ice, even with the goal not counting. The Teddy Bear number sets a new record for bears thrown during a Teddy Bear toss game.

It didn't take long for the Hawks to get the goal back, as Luke Walker poked in a rebound at the 4:36 mark to get the Hawks on the board with a power play goal. Travis Ehrhardt made it 2-0 with his second goal in as many games, as he fired a wrister from the slot over the blocker of Matt Esposito.

Portland stretched its lead to 3-0 as a Scott Gabriel wrap-around clear while short-handed got loose at center, setting up a two-on-zero rush with Matt Schmermund setting up Tyler Swystun for the short-handed marker halfway through the second period. Schmermund would wind up getting the game winner late in the second when he found a loose puck in his skates in the crease and fired it into the open net to increase the lead to 4-0 after two periods.

Chilliwack fought back in the third, getting a wrist shot from Mark Santorelli 3:47 into the third period to cut the lead to 4-1. They made it 4-2 when a flukey bounce off a skate eluded Mucha and slid in for the 23rd goal on the season for Oscar Moller. Finally, Brandon Campos scored a power-play rebound goal in the final minute with Esposito on the bench for the extra attacker to round out the scoring.

The two game winning streak is the first for the Hawks since January of 2007.

The Hawks now hit the road for four games in five games against BC division teams, starting on Friday night against these same Chilliwack Bruins.

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