Captain Clutch

Kruise Reddick has never been a super sniper, never a 30+ goal-scoring type of guy.  He's a set-up guy, he's a defensive forward, he's versatile, he's consistent.  Admittedly, he started off this season slower than years past, he was out with conky for a while (and it's taken him a while to get his game back from that).  All that being said, he's always saved some of his best work for playoffs, including 11 goals last year in the post-season (compared to the 20 goals he got in the regular season).

So it's no surprise that since these tough divisional games, where the intensity is similar to that of the playoffs, with so much at stake, that Captain Clutch comes through.  With a hattrick.  Damn that's sexy.

As Assistant Coach Bruce Bilodeau said on the post-game show last night, other teams have figured out ways to slow down the Shinnimin-Hughesman-Ashton line so there's room for the other lines to step up and create offense.  Last night, it was Reddick-Big Mess doing work and the power play, where Reddick got 2 of his 3, was fairly effective against the strong Winterhawks.

Another interesting side story to the game was the David and Goliath matchup of Sam Grist and Brendan Leipsic.  "Lipstick", as some fan near me called him, was involved in the hit in Portland that sidelined Grist for a couple games with concussion, and Sam's not one to let that go.  Regardless of the size differential, Lipstick had no problem going after Grist, like a chihuahua going after a great dane (says Westie, and he's right).

Did you see Drew MF Owsley?  He was pretty damn good.  As much as I've watched him play, I'm still astounded that he's able to make some of the saves that he makes.  And all those "hoot hoot hoot"s from the fans--awesome.

"I like the big games," said Reddick, who had two goals the last time Tri-City played Portland. "Anytime you play a division game, it's a four-point night. Doing it against a top team, the stakes are even bigger. We played well tonight."

"I thought it was a good game," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "A bounce here, a bounce there -- two even teams going at each other."

"With a game like this, you need your top lines to be better and we weren't," said Portland forward Craig Cunningham. "It was a standard night in Tri-City -- they get that first power-play goal and we didn't push back."

"It's nice to get the first goal," Reddick said. "The fans are great, and they can take a team out it. We just kept rolling the whole game with momentum from our fans."

"Kruise is our emotional leader," Hiller said. "He does a lot of things well; it's nice to see him get rewarded."

"That save was huge for me and the team," Owsley said. "It was 2-0, and it could have made it a different game. I gritted my teeth and said, 'We are going to win this game.' "

"That was his best game in a long time," Hiller said of his goalie. "He was excellent." (Herald--emphases mine)

I thought the crowd was great.  It was supposedly sold out, but there were still some empty seats, but the place was definitely rocking.  Playoff atmosphere indeed.

Even Yahoo's Buzzing the Net gave Reddick some recognition, selecting him 2nd star of the night:

Fittingly, the Ams launched a Kruise missile during their annual Nuclear Night promotion. Reddick, the overage centre, had a hat trick in a 5-2 takedown of the conference-leading Portland Winterhawks. His two goals in the game's first 11 minutes — the latter set up by Jordan Messier, playing his first game since returning from a concussion — helped Tri-City set the tone and get a sold-out crowd behind it for the entire night. Reddick also scored in the final minute of the second period to give Tri-City a 4-0 deathgrip on the game after two periods.  (BTN)

Gahh, I just headed over to the Examiner to find out what Ferran had to say--great article he's got, I should have read it before I started typing what I had to say because it's nearly identical.  Great minds or something...

Things don't get any easier Saturday as they travel to face their Highway 395 rivals in Spokane.

"We've all got to buckle down," Owsley said. "These are all huge games, four-point games with Portland and Spokane. We've got to battle every game."

It's another chance for the Ams to carry their home success onto the road. They're only 3-4 since starting their long home win streak in late November.

"We're certainly not in that road warrior mentality like we were earlier in the season," Hiller said. "Tomorrow is a good place to get that started again." (Examiner)

Spokane is coming off 5-3 win over Kelowna Chilliwack last night, the Chiefs just keep on rolling.  They're without their #1 goalie Reid, but backup Mac Engel has done well enough, and the team in front of him has limited the number of shots he's had to face.  So the challenge tonight will to match Chief's intensity and to get some damn shots through.  It should be a darn good game, I just hope it works out in the Ams' favor, of course.

As mentioned yesterday, there will be no liveblog tonight for the game, you're on your own people.