The morning after

This is a good morning-after.  Not the "no, I'm not making you breakfast, just leave" kind of morning after.

Words can't express how proud I am of this team.  They worked their collective asses off to be crowned Western Conference Champs.

"This is pretty awesome," said Tri-City forward Kruise Reddick, who had a goal and two assists. "We are going to the finals -- it's a dream come true. I can't wait."
 
"We have a strong group of veteran players and some young players and they ran with the opportunity," said first-year Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "Those two things came together and helped us realize we are a good team. Coaching is so fickle. When you get an opportunity to get around players who want to win and who have had success, it's nice. We are all in this together."

"I feel unreal right now," said Owsley, sporting his championship T-shirt. "I was in a zone for this series. There is always pressure, but it helps when the guys are scoring goals and taking some the pressure off me."

"This is a brand new feeling," Toll said. "It's such a good feeling. That (Spokane series) was such a devastating feeling. I never want to go back to that."

"In the first and second periods we were a step behind and sitting back," Reddick said. "It was different with all their power plays. It was a different pace."

"Drew has been our best player this series," Reddick said. "We lean on him a lot. When a series goes this long, you know what (the Giants) are doing and it makes for an easy transition."

"He made a save on the PK in the third that would have tied it and completely changed the game," Toll said. "I was in the crease and I was shocked. He is a big reason we won this."  (Herald)

Hard to argue with the choice of Owsley as MVP.  I believed in him from day one, when everyone had such huge boners for Pechurskiy.  So many people thought he wouldn't be able to be a #1 goalie, he proved them wrong like I knew he would.  When FRWG didn't show up till Christmas break, Drew had carried the team up to that point.  Having the competition from Pechurskiy was important and good for Owsley, and FRWG was needed when Drew got the concussion late in the season.  But I had no doubts that this kid could play like he has been.  A .931 save percentage.  12-5 in the playoffs.  2.14 goals against.  Amazing.

See?

At the start of the season, Drew Owsley was deemed too small and too inexperienced to be the starting goaltender for the Tri-City Americans.

Deemed by whom?  Oh yeah, all the non-believers.

"I like being the underdog," Owsley said, minutes after he posted 30 saves and led the Tri-City Americans to a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants.

"It's a little bit of a surprise," Owsley said of the award. "(Kelowna's) Tyler Myers won it last year and look what he's doing (The Buffalo defenseman is up for NHL rookie of the year). It's nice to be in the same group with guys like him. It's a credit to the whole team."

"We played outstanding all year," Owsley said. "I'm impressed by guys like (Jarrett) Toll -- he's blocked as many shots this series as I have, and our penalty kill has been really good."

"For seven months, Drew has taken the opportunity in front of him and run with it," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "We all have faith in h im. There were a lot of good players in the series, but when it comes right down to it, you have to look at the goalies. It extends to the defense and forwards -- they all covered the net well." (Herald)

“We came up against a real good hockey club,” said Giants coach Don Hay, whose team finished fifth in the West in league play. “Give them credit and wish them luck that they represent the Western Conference well. “We asked guys to bring their best and we pushed hard but they responded every time we had a push and that says a lot about their hockey club. They're a good hockey club.”  (VP)

From the Vancouver Sun:

“A lot of people thought we’d lost too much [in the way of players] to do well this year, but we had a solid core of guys coming back,” said Tri-City general manager Bob Tory. “We don’t get a lot of recognition down in our area. We just go about our business quietly and try to do our best.”
“I knew we had potential,” said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, who didn’t get the job behind the Americans’ bench until mid-August after being fired by the Chilliwack Bruins. “It’s a young team, but these players have faced adversity this year and always come through.”  (VS)

MVP Runners-up could go to Tyler Schmidt and Kruise Reddick, in my opinion.  Or Jarrett Toll.  Or the whole team.

And I keep forgetting to mention that Drew was featured on WHL This Week radio, here's the link to have a listen.

Until the championship series starts, let these images from CJ Relke warm your little hearts*:

 Patrick Holland celebrates eventual game-winner

 

 Richard Doerksen awards Championship trophy to Jarrett Toll

Toll celebrates with Championship trophy

 

Americans lift Western Conference Championship trophy

Drew Owsley Series MVP Award  

*I didn't mean to make that into a terrible rhyme.