Brown and Kings dominant in West final
With the NHL’s conference finals underway, five Storm alumni along with former Head Coach / General Manager Dave Barr are trying to capture the Stanley Cup just one year after Daniel Paille, who played his entire junior career in Guelph and Geoff Ward, who coached the Storm to their last division title, were part of the Boston Bruins’ championship run.
A pair of players that played in Guelph throughout their OHL careers, are captaining their NHL clubs in the NHL semi-finals, with Ryan Callahan and Dustin Brown wearing the ‘C’ for the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings respectively. Callahan spent four seasons in Guelph and was a two-time captain. He graduated from the team as their all-time leading goal scorer with 130. Brown meanwhile, played three seasons in the Royal City including one with Callahan in 2002-03. His 98 goals in 174 regular season contests ranks 11th all-time in team history and he played in the 2002 Memorial Cup in Guelph.
Joining Callahan on the Rangers is NHL All-Star defenceman Daniel Girardi, who played 179 games with Guelph including the regular season, OHL playoffs and the 2004 Memorial Cup after helping the club to the 2003-04 OHL Championship. Much like Callahan, captain Brown is joined by a Storm Alum that went on to become an NHL All-Star on the blueline. Former Storm first round pick Drew Doughty played 218 games on the Guelph blueline before being selected second overall by the Kings.
Also vying for the Stanley Cup is Cam Janssen, a trade deadline pick up by the Storm during their run to the 2003-04 OHL title. Janssen was a teammate of Callahan and Girardi on the team and was acquired by Dave Barr, the General Manager in Guelph that season. Barr is now one of three Assistant Coaches with the Devils.
By Tim Wharnsby, CBCSports.ca
GLENDALE, Ariz – After Phoenix Coyotes defenceman Derek Morris blew a 100-foot shot past Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick in the first period of the West final series opener on Sunday, the unexpected goal sent memory banks scurrying back a decade.
The exact date was Apr. 21, 2002. Detroit Red Wings’ brilliant defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom beat Vancouver Canucks netminder Dan Cloutier with a similar shot near the end of the second period to break a tie in Game 3. It was the shot that turned around the second-round series. Down 2-0 with back-to-back losses at home, that Lidstrom goal rallied Detroit to a 4-2 series win and eventually another Stanley Cup championship.
So what sort of impact would this faux-pas have on Quick and the Kings? Not much it turned out as the Kings battled back after Morris’ goal knotted the opener at 1-1 to score an important 4-2 victory. It was the third time in this playoffs they opened with a win on the road.
“I couldn’t have played it any differently,” Quick said. “Just a lucky bounce. It happens.”
The Kings dominated West final opener. They deserved to win and this would have been a crime if the Coyotes pulled this one out, although they now have been outshot in 10 of their 12 playoffs games and won seven times in games they have been outshot.
One of the heroes for the Kings was their captain Dustin Brown, who scored the game-winner two minutes and 11 seconds into the final period when he snared a pass in full stride from Kings 22-year-old defenceman Slava Voynov in the neutral zone. He beat Phoenix goalie Mike Smith with a pinpoint shot on his blocker side.
Brown set up linemate Anze Kopitar for the game’s first goal and now has seven goals (three game-winners) and 13 points in 10 playoff games.
The same postseason that Lidstrom worked his magic with the Red Wings a decade ago, Brown turned heads in junior with the Guelph Storm. He scored 41 goals in the regular season and continued his fine play in playoffs that spring when the Storm played host to the Memorial Cup tournament.
“He’s the same player,” said his Kings teammate Brad Richardson, who lined up against Brown many times in junior with the Owen Sound Attack. “He was annoying to play against. I couldn’t stand him.
“But now I love the guy that he’s my teammate. He’s the kind of leader you want to play with. He doesn’t say much in the dressing room, he just goes out and leads by the way he plays.”
