Between the rumors of a possible deal to end the NHL Lockout (and this Lockout beard I have growing, however terrible it looks) and the political season that I could give no brain cells about, I decided to take in a little WHL action on the internet radio. Period one was the Kamloops Blazers and Red Deer Rebels, and no scoring happened until I changed from that game after the period. Kamloops would go on to win 4-0 and are the only team to not lose in regulation this year. JC Lipon has won the CHL Player of the Week two weeks in a row, and with two assists in last night's game, he appears to be making a case for three in a row. Kamloops was a team last season that as a Winterhawks fan, scared me in the playoffs because they always play well, and though they lost in the Conference semi-finals, the Blazers didn't go quietly. This year, they appear to have redemption on their minds, and it's showing in a 9-0-0-1 record as of this morning. Red Deer has the defense to succeed, though it didn't show against Kamloops. Their biggest issue is staying out of the penalty box, as they currently lead the league in PIM with 246.
As for what I heard in the second period, it was the Everett Silvertips vs. Moose Jaw Warriors. Like Kamloops vs. Red Deer, that game was scoreless after one. Everett scored twice to open the second period, with Ryan Murray scoring one of the goals. However, Moose Jaw scored five unanswered goals to win 5-2. Everett has been struggling to score goals, and if and when the NHL lockout ends, it is likely that Murray will jump to Columbus. Since Murray is a spark plug for the offense, which truthfully does not say a lot about Everett's offense, the Silvertips will continue to struggle for goals until they can identify a goal scoring threat, something that hasn't happened even with Murray's presence. Moose Jaw is a middle of the pack team in the Eastern Conference, but they are capable of winning games when they count.
Because of the time difference, I did not catch a game for the third period.
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