Kaiser Geyser Right onTime as Birds Douse Rockets in Game 1

South Island Thunderbirds, March 06, 2009

In baseball, you think of Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter rather than Alex Rodriguez.  In football, Joe Montana was “the man” when it mattered most while someone like Jim Kelly always came second.  In basketball, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen are legendary but great players like Karl Malone and Allan Iverson fall short.  And in hockey, Patrick Roy, Mike Bossy and Mark Messier are deservedly at the top, towering over mortals like Marty Turco, Joe Thornton and Markus Naslund who are still defined more by what they have not done at the ultimate crunch time.  Fair or not, the fact is that playoffs are different and players who produce their best in the post-season, and who lead their teams to victory in the process, gain a special status in our sports culture.

Chase Kaiser is the captain of the South Island Thunderbirds Major Midget hockey team and a deserving recipient of this year’s “Coaches’ Choice” Award that was handed out last Saturday at the team’s Awards Dinner.  His quiet leadership style, abundant talent, tremendous work ethic, strong self-discipline and superb conditioning all combine to make him extremely well respected by his teammates.

Kaiser had 46 points (13 goals, 33 assists) in 44 games coming in to this weekend, having played all 40 regular season games in the BC Major Midget League in which he finished 12^th in scoring, and another 4 games in the prestigious Mac’s Midget tournament in Calgary in which he earned an all-star selection.  But his goal production had slowed since the first of January.  The chances have always been there in abundance but he seemed to be a bit snake-bit and you had to think that he was due to break out.

Kaiser’s South Island team, which entered the BCMML’s first round of playoffs as the last playoff qualifier to make it, had finished the regular season in sixth place with a narrow one point margin over the 7^th place Valley West Hawks.  The underdog Thunderbirds came to Kelowna this weekend to play its first ever BCMML playoff series, facing the 3^rd place Okanagan Rockets who finished 22 – 10 – 8 and closed out their season with a superb 11 – 3 – 2 record since Christmas. 

Well what a perfect time for a player like Kaiser to get a hat trick!  His three goals on Friday night at the Capital News Centre in Kelowna were exquisitely timed and they provided the ultimate margin of victory as his Thunderbirds rolled to a crucial 5 – 2 opening game victory in this best 2 of 3 series.

Of course, it wasn’t as if Kaiser was the only player to play well.  Great games came from all 17 skaters and the team’s starting goalie, Brandon Glover, as the Rockets were outshot and largely kept in check the whole game.  While it ranks as an upset over the Rockets, the T-Birds were effective at both ends of the rink and showed that with their own 8 – 3 – 3 streak to end the regular season, they were not to be taken lightly.

South Island’s skaters looked a little tight early on as they mishandled the puck several times and took two penalties in the first four minutes.  Both of the penalty kills were uneventful however and the team enjoyed a lengthy two man advantage that started at the six minute mark.  The 5 on 3 power play was clumsy initially but it did produce the game’s first goal.  Forward Josh Bloomenthal blasted a hard slap shot from just above the right face-off circle that caromed off the arm of teammate Mark Walton in front of the net and then bounced over to Joel Gordon just outside the crease.  His quick wrister got past Okanagan goalie Conor Barrie at 7:20 and South Island led 1 – 0.

Okanagan tied the game at 12:54 when big forward Cody Beach skated on to a loose puck just below the end line and banked a wrist shot off Glover’s leg pad that trickled over the goal line.

Kaiser scored his first goal of the game just before the first period ended and gave his team a big lift heading into the first intermission.  With just under two minutes remaining in the period, Taylor Hache intercepted a pass in the Rockets’ zone and passed it to Justin Polischuk who found Kaiser coming down the left side.  Chase took Justin’s pass and then slipped a wrist shot past Barrie to make it 2 – 1 in favour of the Birds.  Shots in the opening period were 10 – 10.

South Island clearly elevated its game collectively in the second period, putting together as good a stretch over the first 13 minutes of the period as the team has all season.  For it to come in a playoff game on the road against a team as good as the Rockets makes it even more special.  Over the first two-thirds of the period, the Thunderbirds outshot their opponent 10 – 0 and did not surrender a single scoring opportunity.  Their puck movement and decision making was almost faultless and it allowed the Birds to take control of the game.

The T-Birds scored twice in that middle frame, the first coming at 4:52 off a terrific passing play that started with a quick pass from Glover to Sam Rice.  Rice moved the puck to Matthews who threw the puck up over center to Kaiser racing to the Rockets’ blue line.  He went wide left around the last Rocket defenceman, got to about 15 feet from Barrie in the left face-off circle and then fired a hard wrist shot up high over Barrie’s blocker.

The Rockets were helped in the last 7 minutes of the period by two South Island penalties and were dangerous on the power plays, hitting two posts over that time period.  They could not beat Glover however and then with just one minute remaining, the T-Birds got a pivotal fourth goal.  Once again, Kaiser started the play with a drive to the net from the right side.  Barrie made the initial save but Kaiser retrieved the puck behind the red line and threw it back to Brandon Nicholson in the slot.  Nicholson fired a wrist shot that deflected, apparently off Kaiser, and bounced into the net to make it 4 – 1 for South Island after two periods.

The third period also started well for the Thunderbirds, as they had the first six shots on goal in the period on replacement goalie Josh Randhawa, the last of which came at 4:57 and gave the Birds a 5 – 1 lead.  Sam Rice took a pass from Justin Polischuk, moved right into the slot, faked and then moved further right to avoid an Okanagan defender.  His wrist shot was stopped by Randhawa but it trickled toward the goal line and was helped over by Wesley Myron.

Okanagan made it 5 – 2 at 12:04 on a shorthanded goal by Brett Mulcahy, who was left all alone in front after Brett Naka did some fine work along the boards and drew two South Island defenders toward him.  Naka worked the puck out to Mulcahy, who moved across the front of the net and threw the puck up high over a sprawling Glover.  The Rockets applied more pressure in the final minutes of the game but Glover displayed his customary confidence and kept the score from getting any closer.

Head Coach Rob Milliken congratulated his team on a solid performance but reminded his players that their task is far from complete.  “Today’s success won’t mean anything unless we get another win and you know that the Rockets will come back hard tomorrow.”

The win gets South Island halfway to the two games needed to win the series and leaves the Rockets with their backs against the wall as Okanagan must now win games two and three to advance to the next round.

Game 2 goes on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM, once again at the Capital News Centre and it will provide another opportunity for Kaiser, Glover and their teammates to augment their playoff credentials.  Today’s performance certainly was a step in the right direction.

Bird Droppings:  Final shots on goal were 10-14-11=35 for South Island and 10-6-14=30 for Okanagan… The scoring summary for South Island includes:  Gordon (1G), Walton (1A), Bloomenthal (1A), Kaiser (3G), Polischuk (2A), Hache (1A), Matthews (1A), Rice (2A), Nicholson (1A), Myron (1G) and Bryan (1A).  For Okanagan, the scorers included:  Beach (1G), Trevor Fitzgerald (1A), Mulcahy (1G) and Naka (1A)… South Island received 22 minutes in penalties compared to 12 for Okanagan… South Island was 1 for 6 on the power play and 6 for 6 on the penalty kill.