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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Jan 19, 2014 15:03:02 GMT -6
Game 38
Stampede streak continues with explosive 8-6 win over Patriots.
Twelve players ended up with points today and three players each had four points when the Stampede outlasted the Patriots in a goal-fest. The contest opened with four Stampede goals and they held leads of 4-0 and 5-2 at different points. The veteran Milan Hejduk led the way with a hat trick and assist. Valtteri Filppula and Kevin Klein each had a goal and three assists.
Brian Elliott survived for his 11th win of the season and is quickly closing in on the .500 mark for the season and is just four wins away from 100 for his Stampede career. That would make him just the second goaltender to reach that milestone for the franchise along with Brian Boucher.
The Stampede are now in a tie with the Rink Rats for 7th place after the Rats dropped their meeting with the Sparrows, the Bulls lose to the Thunderbolts and fall three points behind. Now with a 7 game winless streak, the Dugouts are in the mix as they hold the 6th spot by just two points over the Rats and Stampede.
Up next, the Stampede welcome the Cougars to Nashville in what will be a very difficult contest. Out of town the Bulls host the Warriors, Rink Rats host the Demons and the Dugouts travel to take on the Roustabouts.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Jan 20, 2014 10:21:21 GMT -6
Game 39
Stampede Surge Into Sixth
A big 3-1 victory over the Cougars today has the Stampede into the sixth playoff spot as the midpoint of the season approaches. Today it was the elder statesmen, Steve Sullivan and Mikael Samuelsson finding their chemistry to spark the win.
Samuelsson scored the opening goal with an assist by Sullivan in the first period. The rest of the games scoring was in the second period. Marion Gaborik tallied the Cougars lone goal before Samuelsson notched his second, also assisted by Sullivan. To round out the day's goalscoring, Sullivan put one in the net with the helper from Samuelsson.
Brian Elliott stopped 27 shots and improved his win total to 12 on the season and 97 total with the Stampede. Secondary assists in the game went to newcomers Dustin Brown and Tom Gilbert, plus one more from rookie Steve Oleksy. The only negative right now is that Milan Hejduk came off of his streak so we may see some line shuffling for the next game against the Voodoo.
This victory earned the Stampede points in five straight contests and in 10 of the last 14. Although they are now in sixth with 33 points, that is a tie with the Dugouts, two points clear of the Rink Rats at 31 and still only three points clear of the ninth place Bulls who have 30.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Jan 21, 2014 18:12:12 GMT -6
Game 40
Stampede Streak Suddenly Stopped
The Voodoo handed the Stampede their first shutout of the season and tightened the battle for the final playoff spot in the Campbell conference. Tomas Vanek, Sami Salo and Paul Gaustad scored for the Voodoo and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 Stampede shots for the shutout win.
The Dugouts lost 8-5 against the Warriors, the Rink Rats crushed the Patriots 7-0 and Bulls also won in a shutout by a 3-0 score over the Citadels. This puts the Rink Rats, Stampede and Dugouts all at 33 points and the Bulls are sitting at 32 in 9th place. The second half of this season will surely be an exciting sprint to the finish.
The action heats up again tomorrow when the Stampede visit the Rink Rats. The Dugouts hit the road against the Grizzlies and the Bulls travel to take on the Corinthians.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Jan 22, 2014 20:17:59 GMT -6
Game 41
Stampede Rock Rink Rats
The Stampede took control of the 6th spot today with a big 4-2 win over the Rink Rats. This contest was all about Stampede control as they took command with three goals in the first period by Manny Malhotra, Brooks Laich and Drew Stafford. Then in the second period Steve Sullivan ran the score to 4-0 before the Stampede turned to their defensive game and held off the Rats comeback attempt.
Brian Elliott stopped 31 shots, including all 13 in the third period to earn his 13th victory of the season and he is once again on the verge of a .500 record. The team overall is still a few games away from that mark, but the victory today does place them into second place in the division, a huge surprise to everyone in the league as we round out the first half of the season.
The Stampede will play that 42nd game to reach halfway on Monday, they travel again to take on the Citadels. The curious thing about Monday's schedule is that all four teams in the Campbell playoff chase will face the four teams at the bottom of each WHL division. The Rink Rats host the Icedogs, the Dugouts welcome the Patriots and the Bulls welcome the Warriors.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Feb 2, 2014 10:27:28 GMT -6
Game 42
The Stampede hit the midway point of this season with a bit of disappointment amid some very encouraging play. Today it was a 4-3 overtime loss to the Citadels. Making the loss more difficult was a Rink Rats win, meaning the Stampede slide back to third in the division and seventh in the conference.
This one started with a Citadel score by Nathan Horton but the first period ended in a tie after Curtis Glencross scored one of this own. That was all of the scoring until the third period when the Stampede actually took the lead on a Manny Malhotra score. It looked possible that the Stampede were on their way to another victory but a small lapse halfway through the period saw that hope slip away.
Mikhail Grigorenko scored at the 10:51 mark, and the stunned Stampede had their guard down when Alex Burmistrov netted another quick strike at 11:13. That put the team behind 3-2, but they dug deep and tied the game thanks to Clayton Stoner's blast with five minutes remaining. That one sent the game to overtime where the Cits Travis Zajac ended it just before the game could be declared a tie.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Mar 21, 2014 11:42:22 GMT -6
Communication restored... The Stampede public relations department mysteriously vanished for close to two months following the halfway point of the season, but were are here to announce the return the the WHL forums. Some may point out that the blacked out period coincided with a recent slump in team play and that perhaps motivation (lack of...) led to the breakdown. Others will note that the team moved their main offices to the other side of town, and others might argue that it was a combination of the two. Who knows...
What did we miss? 17 games, a 5-11-1 record during that time and the team briefly slipping out of that 8th spot. The chase for that last spot has really been given a makeover as well. The Rink Rats have gone on a fine streak and cemented themselves firmly in the battle for the 5th/6th spot with the Voodoo. Even the Bulls appear safe at the moment with a 5 point lead on the Stampede in the 7th spot, though they could likely still slip up and be caught by the 8th place combatants the Stampede (8th with 46 points) and the Grizzlies (9th with 45 points).
The team at one point lost seven straight games during a 2-9 stretch to begin the second half. It was a serious blow to the morale of the entire organization, but they have perhaps begun to turn things around again now with a 3-2-1 record in the last six since that point.
The team is just one victory short of matching last season's total and are on pace for 30 wins. In fact, the pace they are on would put them at a 30-47-7 record with 303 goals for and 356 goals against. Significant because their record in WHL8 was 31-47-6 with 303 goals for a 357 goals against... that team finished in 9th place, a fate that this squad hopes to improve upon.
No matter what happens though, there has been one fantastically bright spot this season. When the season opened, the team spent some valuable assets on solidifying the goaltending position for the foreseeable future when the brought in Tuukka Rask. However has appeared in just 13 contests and the always surprisingly reliable Brian Elliott has been playing very well. So well in fact that he just might be having the best goaltending season in team history.
Today Elliott recorded a 3-0 shutout against the Snowdogs. The perfect game was Elliott's third of the season, a franchise record. The shutout also marked the fourth time that the netminder has blanked an opponent in a Stampede uniform, tying Tommy Salo for a franchise record. In game 3 of this season, Elliott came away with a 5-0 shutout over the Orcas, he stopped an astonishing 44 shots in that effort, a franchise record. He was also named to the conference All-Star team for the second time, still the only goalie to be named an all-star in franchise history.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 7, 2014 12:30:51 GMT -6
The Stampede have officially traded Marc Staal. The defenseman was rumored to be on the block for a while now and this morning the league announced that he had been traded along with a 4th round pick to Saskatchewan for forwards Dainius Zubrus and Nick Spaling.
Staal had appeared in 226 games and scored 99 points since joining the club to start the WHL17 season. The Stampede have built up an impressive wealth of young, two-way defensemen and Staal has seen his minutes steadily drop as a result. In fact being benched most of this season as he has officially been battling a big slump most of the year.
Zubrus isn't expected to be around for a long time, but in the immediate future he should be a tremendous help. The team is looking good to fulfill their promise of making the playoffs and Zubrus makes it possible that they could even get in and surprise a lot of people once they are there.
Spaling is a grinder with a bunch of skill and while he won't be lighting up the scoresheet this season, he is expected to have plenty of good years ahead of him on the 3rd and 4th lines with potential to play some 2nd line minutes if needed. Definitely a Stampede type of forward.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 7, 2014 19:20:51 GMT -6
On Day 67, Zubrus scores one in his debut, linemate Stafford posts two points as does Ryan McDonagh... Stampede jump out to a four goal lead and hang on to beat the Lunatics 4-3.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 7, 2014 19:22:14 GMT -6
Stampede jump the Bulls and now sit in the 7th spot with 57 points.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 10, 2014 17:36:58 GMT -6
An expected but crushing 8-2 loss to the Demons on Day 68 was followed up by a big revenge win against the Polar Bears on Day 69. Just last week the Polar Bears stomped all over the Stampede in a 6-1 blowout. But today it was the Stampede with the turnaround in a 7-3 victory.
Six players had a multi-point game. Valterri Filppula became the 12th Stampede skater to record 200 points with the franchise by scoring a third period goal.
Another test comes tomorrow when the Stampede and Polar Bears meet once last time, the third meeting in five games.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 14, 2014 18:58:28 GMT -6
The Stampede took down the Grizzlies again 5-3 in game 70 which also marked the trade deadline. The players on this team must have been very excited when the deadline passed and they realized that the roster was intact because they put together a huge 11-4 win over the Grizzlies today in game 71.
Steve Sullivan scored his second hat trick of the season (67th in franchise history) and also added an assist for a four point night. Ryan Mcdonagh and Val Filppula each scored two goals and two assists, while Jochen Hecht had a goal and three assists to join Sully in the four point club.
Slava Voynov tallied three assists and five other players had a multi-point game as the team proves to the league that they are no longer in the mode of simply fighting for a playoff spot, but are now preparing for the battles that they will face in the playoffs.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 15, 2014 13:18:48 GMT -6
The Stampede ran their win streak to four games today with a 4-2 win over the Icedogs. The win moves them to 8-2-0 in the last 10 games, a record beaten only by the Sparrows at 8-1-1.
Steve Sullivan had a hand in three of the goals today. He scored two himself and set up a third, giving him seven points in the two games this week.
The victory is the 30th of the season which marks the 10th time in franchise history that they have hit that mark. Only three of the previous nine times has the club failed to qualify for the playoffs, a feat that they inch closer to clinching each day.
With an assist, Travis Hamonic moved into the Stampede's top 100 scorers of all time. Sullivan and Drew Stafford should join him their in the next game or two.
Brian Elliott is within one victory of pushing his season record to .500, he has just topped that mark for his all-time performance with the club which now sits at 112-111-19 in 242 appearances.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 16, 2014 17:25:21 GMT -6
Another game, another victory for the Stampede. Today 5-2 against the Citadels.
Steve Sullivan added another goal and assist to his impressive week, Brian Elliott got back to .500 on the season and the team keeps rolling on to the playoffs!
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 17, 2014 17:24:10 GMT -6
What a game. The Stampede win yet again on Day 74, their sixth straight victory. This was against the Icedogs again by a score of 10-4 and of course some more milestones were met today.
Milan Hejduk has tied Jason Smith for the most appearances in franchise history with 789. With two goals today he moves his point total to 599. The next game and point will be huge for Hejduk as he heads toward retirement.
Patrick Eaves became the 103rd player to appear in 100 games with the franchise.
Steve Sullivan with another multi-point game this week enters the top 100 scorers for the Stampede franchise.
Dainius Zubrus scores the second hat trick of the week for the team, the 68th in franchise history. He now has 14 points in 8 games with the team.
Next up is a tough matchup with the Fighting Irish, although the Stampede were fortunate enough to win the last meeting, the Irish still lead the season series 3-1. This could easily be the end of this awesome winning streak.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 21, 2014 19:29:44 GMT -6
A moment like this doesn't come along often in the world of professional sports. But today the Stampede winger Milan Hejduk took hold of the record book and will finish his career as the greatest ever in franchise history.
The 9-6 loss to the Fighting Irish was unpleasant but not unexpected, however there was one glaring bright spot and that was the history making match that Milan Hejduk had for the team today.
Just 10 games ago Milan surpassed Pavol Demitra as the all-time Stampede assist leader when he notched his 284th assist in a 3-2 win over the Roustabouts on Day 65.He has long held the goal scoring title, entering today's game with 313 goals scored for the franchise. No other player has even reached 200.
All together, Milan entered today's contest with 599 points scored for the Nashville Stampede and Mississauga Vipers. It was late in the first period that he took a setup pass from Clayton Stoner and one-timed it past Jaroslav Halak for his 26th goal of the season, number 314 for his career.
The score set another milestone for Hejduk as he became the first player to reach 600 points in his career with this franchise. A remarkable accomplishment for a player on one of the worst all-time teams. Pavol Demitra still sits in second with 480 and four other players have eclipsed 300. The next highest active total is Val Filppula's 210, ensuring that it will be a long time before anyone on this offensively starved team has a chance at matching this record.Hejduk later added an assist to reach 601.
Though he has already held the mark in both goals and assists, and 600 is a fantastic milestone of scoring to achieve, he has added one more impressive notch to his belt today.
This game was the 790th time that Milan Hejduk has pulled on the Stampede or Vipers uniform. The team drafted his 5th overall in WHL5 and he made it into the WHL12 season before being traded away. An act of nostalgia brought him back to the Stampede in the WHL18 season, hoping for nothing more than the chance to retire with the team that drafted him. This great player however has proven to be much more valuable than that however, compiling 43 goals and 37 assists, for 80 points in 126 games since his return.
The 790th game means that he passes Jason Smith for the most appearances ever by a player in franchise history. A single appearance in the playoffs this season will put him at 800 for his career, a great feat that will not soon be matched.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 21, 2014 19:30:58 GMT -6
The Stampede also clinched a playoff spot today by way of a Dugouts loss. The team is currently in the 7th spot and still has a good chance of battling the Voodoo for the 6th spot with plenty of winnable games remaining on the schedule and only four points back.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on Apr 24, 2014 18:44:09 GMT -6
Another huge day for the Stampede re-writes the record books on day 76. The team demolished the Dugouts by a score of 14-3 as the guys bounced back big time from the loss to the Irish.
You may recall the 12-0 beating that the Stampede put on the Dugouts on day 46, that historic contest in which Drew Stafford scored a franchise record five goals. Nobody in the previous 18 years of this club's existence had accomplished that feat, that is a total of 1,574 games before any player was able to find the net five times in one game.
A mere 30 games later, Danius Zubrus pushes Stafford to the side and tallied an incredible six times in today's game. Along with the 69th hat trick in franchise history, he added two assists giving him a total of eight points on the day. That is a mark that tied Keith Primeau for the franchise record which Primeau set nearly 13 years ago to the day, way back in WHL6.
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh couldn't be shown up however and put in the single best offensive output ever by a defenseman in franchise history.
McDonagh came up with a seven point effort, the third best game ever by any skater in team history. He got to seven by way of two goals and five assists, only the third time that a player has racked up as many helpers, just one short of Primeau's WHL6 effort. McDonagh is having quite a season, the seven points give him 60 for the year.
Only 19 times before today had a player ever gotten at least four assists in a single game, and sure enough McDonagh wasn't alone. After all, how could Zubrus score six times without a partner to set him up? Drew Stafford had another remarkable game with four helpers himself, an accomplishment that would have otherwise been a huge day if not overshadowed by the effort of Zubrus and McDonagh.
Tomorrow the Stampede will take on the Grizzlies, a team that they recently beat by a count of 11-4. A few more big goal totals could push this season's roster toward the mark of being the highest scoring in franchise history.
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Post by Ryan - Guardians on May 8, 2014 18:16:34 GMT -6
The end of the regular season arrived and the Stampede have finished in 6th place. They didn't even make it to the 8th spot until January 13th, so it was such a remarkable second half of the season. Here is the regular season by the numbers...
The 38-41-5 record for 81 points is the 5th best mark in the team's 19 seasons in the WHL. (115 - WHL17, 86 - WHL1, 85 - WHL9, 84 - WHL6)
348 goals scored is the 2nd best total in team history. (389 - WHL17)
Ryan McDonagh's 70 points is the single best scoring season ever for a defenseman.
Brian Elliott's 3 shutouts is the single best mark in team history.
Brian Elliott's 44 saves on Day 28 against the Cats was the single most in a shutout.
The individual record for goals in a game was recorded TWICE this season. First by Drew Stafford with 5 and then by Dainius Zubrus with 6.
The individual record for points in a game was tied by Dainius Zubrus with 8. (Keith Primeau)
Milan Hejduk became the first player to reach 600 career points with the team, He also became the first player to reach 300 career goals with the team, He ALSO became the all-time leader in games played with the team.
Valterri Filppula moved into the top 10 in all-time scoring with the franchise.
More great things are still to come as the Stampede are set to faceoff against the Rocky Mountain Express in the first round of the playoffs.
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