Live blog: Kitchener vs. Belleville, Memorial Cup, Wed. May 21

2008 Memorial Cup round-robin
Wednesday, May 21: Kitchener vs. Belleville, 7:00 p.m.

 123OTTPPS
Kitchener3 0 0 0 3 1/7 57
Belleville0 2 1 1 4 2/5 29

10:10: To quote Ringo Starr at the end of Helter Skelter by The Beatles, I've got blisters on my fingers from all this live typing. See you Friday for Game 9 between the Bulls and Rangers. After 7 games in the OHL final and tonight's contest between the teams, it all comes down to Friday night's semifinal for a berth in the Memorial Cup final on Sunday afternoon against Spokane.

10:08: Game over. Bulls win it. 8:55 mark of OT. Keaton Turkiewicz does the deed. See 10:05 posting. Amazing. 4-3 Belleville. They are 'home' team for semi on Friday night. Murphy is first star. Like, there was any doubt? But I'd say Rangers have to feel good about themselves, too. They utterly dominated the last period and a bit, but beaten by a goalie tonight. That's hockey.

10:07: Great defensive play by Bulls' Tanaka took a goal away from T.J. Battani, who was scrambling for a wide open rebound with Murphy down and out.

10:05: You get to wondering whether this is one of those games -- Bull Jan Mursak goes down after a collision inside the Rangers line -- where one goalie is just out of sight and then his team gets one good chance and skates off victorious. Mursak is helped off. Looks OK.

10:03: Boedker, Duco, swarming. Murphy there for the shots on net, watches the wild flurries go by. Boedker almost deserves one. OK, another one. He scored earlier.

10:02: Rangers keep peppering Murphy. He's made 52 saves tonight. And now Belleville just misses ending it at the other end.

10:00 p.m. Belleville flip shot. Easy glove save Unice.

9:59: Oopsy. Murphy just about coughed up a goal. Juggled Kadri blast off the wing.

9:58: Credit to these two junior hockey teams. Nothing but the last line change on Friday night to play for, and they give us an OT game. But hey, you play a game, any game. you want to win. What a Memorial Cup.

9:56: Rangers forcing the play. All in the Bulls' end so far, we've played 1:11. Faceoff deep.

9:54: Boedker right in. Murphy save.

9:54: Here we go. Overtime about to begin. Last time Rangers blew a 3-0 lead and went to OT with Belleville, Bulls won the game.

9:39: Buzzer goes. Overtime. 3-3.

9:39: 1.7 seconds left. Belleville ices it. OT coming.

9:37: Kadri tries to dipsy-doodle past Bulls' defenceman Williams, but Williams covers up. 6.9 seconds left.

9:35: Now there's a Weber howitzer. Too bad for Rangers it went over the net and hit the glass. 54.3 seconds left in regulation time. Rangers have been utterly dominant last few minutes. Shots reflect it: 50-26 Kitchener.

9:32: Rangers' Boedker hits the post.

9:31: Azevedo comes close in front. 3:00 exactly left in regulation.

9:29: Azevedo breaks out for Rangers. Looks dangerous. Nothing results, though Spaling winds up on top of Murphy in the Belleville crease.

9:25: Faceoff in Rangers end. 5:44 left in regulation.

9:24: Just a thought, but do these teams really want to play overtime tonight? Don't they need/want as much rest as they can get before one of them gets a crack at Spokane in the final?

9:23: Another one into the screen high behind the Rangers' net. No stick broken this time, though. Deflection.

9:19: Matt Beleskey of the Bulls winds up . . . stick shaft breaks, puck goes harmlessly into the screen behind the Rangers net, in the far corner. Beleskey tosses the stick pieces in anger. Well, use wood, bud. These new-fangled sticks (well, not so new anymore, often cause more problems than they're worth).

9:18: What's with Webber? Now he fans on one from the point.

9:17: Rangers work it around...work it around...Weber slapper from the point. Not one of his 99.5 mph jobs, though. Murphy stops it, covers up. 8:31 left.

9:16: This is what you call a momentum-changing penalty kill. So far. 55 seconds left in Williams' sentence. Rangers still have the extra man.

9:15: Body-bending in the Belleville end. Bulls draw a penalty. Nigel Williams. He gestures at the referee  going off. Not happy. Then Tanaka on a shorthanded breakaway. Deke doesn't fool Unice. Mattias in for the Bulls. Unice, again. Who's got the power play here?

9:14: Rangers seem to have found a second wind. Cycling the puck well in the Bulls' zone. 36-22 edge in shots. 10:31 to go in the third.

9:12: Change on the fly. Scramble in front of Murphy. Belleville goalie covers up.

9:12: Matt Pepe slaps one from the point. Halischuk tries for deflection in front of Murphy. No go.

9:08: Bad break for Bulls: Tyler Randell falls in Rangers zone, loses possession, end result: Rangers buzz in Belleville zone and now a faceoff will come deep in the Belleville end. After the commercial, of course.

9:07: Icing called against Rangers. 14:48 to go in the third. Nigel Williams wrister from the point, chipped to the corner by Unice, using his blocker. Shots 31-22 Rangers at this point.

9:06: Keaton Turkiewicz belted in front of the Rangers net. Gets up, skates slowly to Bulls' bench.

9:05: Rangers in deep. Spaling though he had one.

9:03: Adam Perry just misses on Unice's stick side.

9:01: Tanaka belts the Rangers' Scott Tregunna into the boards at the Bulls' line.

9:00: Wicked slapper by P.K. Subban, the big Belleville defenceman, from between the faceoff circles. No chance for Unice. 3-3. Power play. Time of goal: 20 seconds into the third period. Who said this game was meaningless?

8:59: Puck drops.

8:57: Bulls are back on the ice. So are the refs and Rangers' coach Peter DeBoer has one over at the bench, motioning about watching for cross-checking by the Bulls. Rangers back out now; we're about to get going for the last 20 minutes. Or more.

8:55 p.m. Five minutes left in the second intermission. Rangers will have to kill off 1:18 worth of a Belleville power play to start the period.

8:43: Back to talking about goaltending coaches. Jim Brown, whom we talked to earlier in this blog, is the Rangers goalie coach. Has been for 15 years. Yet both Unice and the injured Steve Mason have their own personal coaches. It's something that has evolved in hockey, Brown says, and he takes no offence. The personal coaches are specialists, usually coming from goalie schools such as those run by former Rangers goalie and 2003 Memorial Cup champion Scott Dickie. Francois Allaire is a well-known NHL example, a personal coach who made his name tutoring Patrick Roy, though Allaire -- now with the Anaheim Ducks -- was employed by the Montreal Canadiens when Roy was a Hab. But at least in junior hockey, such coaches can't be around the team at all times, road trips and so on, due to their prime business. Nor can the teams likely afford to have an extra coach on the payroll. Brown, however, is always around the team. Hence the situation. "It's all so specialized now,'' Brown says. "Players have their agents, of course. Their goalie coaches. Their personal trainers, nutritionists." It's long been a year-long, multi-purpose pursuit, as so much of high-level athletics is these days.

8:42: Period ends. 3-2 Rangers. Outshooting the Bulls 25-19 overall.

8:41: Penalty parade. Two Rangers, one Bull in the box. 41.6 seconds left in second.

8:40: Boedker took a stick in the teeth. Testing his chiclets at the bench.

8:37: S-T-R-E-T-C-H. Mike Duco just couldn't reach a breakaway pass. Scooped up by Belleville's Shawn Lalonde.

8:35: Three minutes to go. 3-2 Rangers. Shots are 25-17 Kitchener.

8:35: We're back. Just took a moment to talk to Jim Brown about goalie coaching. More on that during the intermission.

8:29: Murphy just robbed Nazem Kadri in front. 4:49 left. Coulda been 4-2 Rangers. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Great save. "Murphy, Murphy, Murphy", the Belleville boosters chant.

8:27: Then again, Cory Tanaka just beat him on a breakaway. Power play. Nice shot, wrister, blocker side. Remember how Spokane was going blocker side in their 2-1 win over Kitchener? The Bulls just don't quit, as I just pointed out to Jim Brown, the Rangers goalie coach. He just rolls his eyes, knowingly. Must be annoying for the Rangers but you have to give Belleville credit.

8:26: Point shot gets through but Unice equal to the task. He looks pretty sharp tonight. Good mobility, up and down on his pads in the butterfly.

8:24: Ruckus by the Bulls' goal. Murphy's mask comes off. Some pushing and shoving. T.J. Battani going off for Rangers.

8:23: End to end they go, but Belleville definitely skating better this period. Playing much better in their own end, not to mention staying out of the penalty box. So far.

8:19: Bulls seem rejuvenated by the goal. Skating better. 9:45 left in period. TV timeout. Shot are 6-3 Belleville this period.

8:17: Bulls player breaks stick in own end. But Belleville recovers and breaks out, Stephen Johnston nice rush but broken up.

8:16: Belleville breaks through. 3-1. Shawn Matthias. Shorthanded. I think he's over the mono.

8:13: Boedker flying again, swoops into the Bulls' zone. Nearly scores, turned away by Murphy in front. TV timeout.

8:11: Rangers' fans, however, are as intense as ever. Lots of drum banging and the ubiquitous "Let's Go Rangers" chant.

8:10: Bulls' breakaway, foiled by Unice. Rangers take a penalty as a result, though.

8:09: Least intense game of the Memorial Cup so far. For obvious reasons. Let's see if it picks up.

8:08: Rangers cycling the puck well in the Bulls' end. They've got the forecheck going tonight.

8:06: Boedker nails a Bull into the boards by the Kitchener bench.

8:04: OK, here we go. Underway in the second period.

8:02 p.m. Teams back on the ice, about to start the second period. They're ready to go but the TV time out light is still on.

7:46 and 40 seconds: So you're Belleville coach George Burnett. You're down 3-0 after 20 minutes in a meaningless game. Do you mail it in for the last 40 minutes, rest up for Friday? I doubt it, since the Bulls could have mailed it in after trailing 3-0 and 4-1 to Kitchener in Game 4 of the OHL final only to rally and force Game 7. We'll see. As mentioned beforel, circumstances are much different now. The last 40 minutes could be a bit of a mind game.

7:46: Period ends. 3-0 Kitchener. Shots: 13-7 Kitchener.

7:45: Penalty problems for Belleville, intense approach by Rangers. That's why it's 3-0. Shots on goal: 13-7 Rangers. We're in the last minute of the period.

7:43: Nice rush by Ben Shutron of the Rangers, but called offside at the Bulls' line. Rangers didn't like the call.

7:41: Boedker is flying for the Rangers tonight. So confident with the puck coming out of his own zone. Rangers on another power play.

7:37: Nick Pageau of Belleville just had best Bulls chance, right in front. Rifled it wide. Shots are 10-7 Kitchener at this point, 3:47 left in the first period. TV timeout.

7:35: Rangers penalty. Let's see if the Bulls can get back in this. Wonder if the Rangers are thinking of those 3-0 and 4-1 leads they blew in Game 4 of the OHL final to allow Belleville back in the series? Of course, the stakes were higher then. Tonight, not so much. Come Friday's semi, very much.

7:30: Another Rangers power play. Another Rangers goal. 7:21 left in period. 3-zip. Yannick Weber.

7:29: 2-0 Kitchener. Mikkel Boedker. Didn't see much of it. Caught the replay. Ya think this live blogging is easy? Reminds me of the old baseball story. Phil Rizzuto, the late great Yankees announcer, apparently once marked his scorecard with a "DSI". His broadcast partner asked him what that meant. Rizzuto replied "Didn't see it." At least he was honest. It's actually one of the deep dark secrets of sports journalism. Reporters are often so busy writing they miss things. So in press boxes around the world, you hear stuff like "who scored that?" But they do one heck of a job against tough deadlines. OK, back to the game.

7:25: Belleville penalty. Shawn Lalonde off.

7:24: Rangers continuing to pressure the Bulls. It's quality, not quantity, that counts, of course.

7:21: Rangers score. Worked it around the Bulls' end as if on a power play. Shot hit the boards, bounced out front. Scott Tregunna gets it. 1-0 Kitchener.

7:20: Mike Mascioli slapper at Unice. Butterflies to block it.

7:19: Still haven't dropped the puck. Ah, there we go. Commercials are necessary, but a pain to the live fan.

7:17: 13:57 left in first period. TV timeout. By the way, we're in the auxiliary press box behind one of the nets, action comin' right at ya. Love this angle.

7:17: Wicked shot by Matt Halischuk, Murphy takes it off the blocker/shoulder.

7:16: Icing on the Bulls. Faceoff coming up deep in Belleville zone to the left of goalie Mike Murphy.

7:14: Maybe they heard me. They gave Belleville a shot.

7:13: Whistle. Line change. 16:23 left in first period.

7:12: Rangers have three shots on goal. Bulls zip. I'm kinda wondering how the Bulls don't have a shot given that Matthias chance, but longtime Aud watchers have often maintained the shots total is inflated here for the Rangers. Of course, in recent years under the solid to great Peter DeBoer teams, it's justified.

7:11: Shawn Matthias in on Rangers goalie Josh Unice. Not much of an angle. Turned away.

7:09: We're underway. "Game 8" between Belleville and Kitchener. If you can't figure that out, you haven't been following the playoffs. OK, we'll give it to you latecomers. Kitchener beat Belleville in 7 games in the OHL final. Friday's semifinal, then, will be "Game 9". This one is just for bragging rights.

7:07: Anthem over. Red carpet rolled up. Let's drop the puck.

7:05 p.m: National anthem. Karlo Berkovich your live correspondent tonight.