Monday, February 23, 2015

Milton, Mass. –  Tyler Auricchio of Las Vegas and Becker College closed out its season tonight with a 2-0 road loss to Curry.  Becker College, which is in Worcester, Mass., finished 5-20-0 overall. Tyler, a junior, was the team’s leader in scoring with 5 goals, 12 assists. Tyler’s last junior team was the WSHL Idaho Jr Steelheads.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Lake Forest, Ill. – In a stunner, Derek Sutliffe of Las Vegas and St. Scolastica College upset #15-ranked Lake Forest for the second straight game – this time 1-0 – to win a playoff series and advance to the next round of the NCHA Tournament. St. Scholastica will head to take on #1 seed Adrian Bulldogs, 21-3-3, in Michigan next weekend.

Here are the updated plus/minus Las Vegas leaders:

+11 – Brendan Harris, NAHL Wenatchee Wild

+10 – Chris Francis, ECHL Alaska Aces

+9 – Cody Milligan, FHL Dayton Demonz

+7 – Joey Raats, USHL Sioux Falls Stampede

+7 – Joe Sullivan, St Lawrence University

+5 – Gage Quinney, WHL Kelowna Rockets

+5 – Zach Zamora, FHL Danville Dashers

+4 – Ryan Chiasson, NAHL Wenatchee Wild

+2 – Cory Ward, Bemidji State

Saturday, Feb 21, 2015

Odessa, Texas – Brendan Harris scored his 14th, 15th goals – one on a powerplay, the other short-handed – for the NAHL Wenatchee Wild in a 6-4 win over the Odessa Jackalopes before 1803 at the Ector County Coliseum. Brendan, who is committed to St. Cloud University, was picked the #2 Star of the Game. He has 15 goals, 24 assists for 39 points this season. Wenatchee raised its record to 22-20-3.

Canton, NY – Joe Sullivan’s 6th goal of the season helped St. Lawrence beat Dartmouth 6-3 before 1503 at the Appleton Arena.  Joe’s goal was the game-winner, giving St. Lawrence a 4-1 lead with 10:28 left in the game. St. Lawrence is now 18-11-3; Dartmouth is 13-10-4.

Sioux Falls, SD – Joey Raats of Las Vegas dealt the game-winning assist for the USHL Sioux Falls Stampede in a 2-1 win over Team USA before 10,678 at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. Joey has one goal, 11 assists this season. It was 6-degrees outside the arena during the game and a severe wind chill advisory went into effect overnight.

Prince George, BC – Zach Pochiro’s 2 assists helped the WHL Prince George Cougars beat the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-2 before 2983 at the CN Centre. Zach now has 13 goals, 14 assists this season.

Bemidji, Minnesota – Cory Ward and Bemidji State beat Alaska Anchorage 3-1 to run its home unbeaten streak to 7-0-2 before 3183 at the Sanford Center.  Bemidji State has not lost on home ice since November 29. Overall, Bemidji State is 14-14-4 which includes wins over Top 5 rated teams this season.

Marlboro, Mass. – Tyler Auricchio of Las Vegas and Becker College lost 5-2 to Curry in their final home game of the season at the New England Sports Center. Becker is now 5-19-0 overall. Curry is 13-9-1. The teams skate in the ECAC Northeast. The two teams play again in the final game of the season for both teams on Monday in Milton, Mass.

Danville, Illinois – Two Las Vegas players – Cody Milligan of the Dayton Demoz and Zach Zamora of the Danville Dashers – will play in a Sunday night game at the David S Palmer Arena to close out a three-game weekend series. Cody, who has 8 goals, 10 assists and is +9 on the ice this season, and Dayton won 2-1 on Friday. Zach and Danville won 4-3 on Saturday night. Zach has 4 assists this winter.

Lake Forest, Illinois – Derek Sutliffe and St. Scholastica upset #15-nationally ranked Lake Forest 2-1 in the first game of a best of three NCHA playoff series Saturday night before 327 at the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. The teams play again Sunday.  Derek has 11 goals, 8 assists this season.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

By Lee Samuels

Las Vegas – Yes, Beau Ricketts scored again. He got his 8th goal of the weekend and his 30th of the season.

No, the WSHL Las Vegas Storm did not win.

But Beau did get an offer to play NCAA Division 1 college hockey.

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When the 8-5 loss to the Phoenix Knights was over, hockey dad Tommy Ricketts said his son Beau has been recruited by NAU – Northern Arizona University which is about to to move from ACHA D2 to NCAA Division 1.  The offer is available. No one is quite certain if Beau will take it.

“His decision, not mine,” Tommy said.

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This was the final regular-season home game for Las Vegas. Five starters were rested including Vegas Hockey’s Defenseman of the Year Moritz Matzka. Phoenix, which had been getting leads and not holding them all weekend, took a two goal lead early and never trailed.

The game was messy early, then took a physical twist at the start of the third period. That’s when the big hits ignited and there were some monster checks as the game wore on. It was a challenge for referee Adam Stio.

For Las Vegas, it was Kyle Pacheco’s big game with attack runs and two great goals. The best skater was on the ice was #18 Nikita Tsvetov of Las Vegas. He was poised, smart with the puck and skated with confidence.  

When the late-game pushing and shoving was over at last and players left for the lockerrooms, it was Nikita Tsvetov of Las Vegas and Vojtech Zemlicka of Phoenix who hung around, got together on the ice and had pictures taken. It was a touching way to finish the regular-season at home.

From the Blue Line – At the start of the third period a steamed-up Phoenix captain Robert Crisci took a run straight at 6′ 5″ Braxton Davis of Las Vegas. Crisci was penalized for roughing….Jake McKenna, one of Las Vegas’ youngest players, got into high-temperature heat with #5 Davis Dryden of Phoenix. It looked serious at first, but the two were separated…On home ice Las Vegas was 11-10-3 this season…Las Vegas will play its final 3 games away from home, leaving Wednesday night for a three-game series with the Fresno Monsters. Phoenix, which did not make the playoffs, plays the Valencia Flyers in their last 3 games of the season…..Las Vegas and Ontario Avalanche hook up in a Best of 3 playoff series which begins March 6. All games will be at Ontario’s home Center Ice Arena….After the game the Phoenix coaches said Long Beach is better than Ontario but cautioned “Ontario is very deep.”….Referee Adam Stio was cracked Friday night when a blazing puck struck his left hand. “I saw the puck coming towards my face and put up my hand to stop it,” Adam said. He worked the game last night, saying he is working through the hurt. Wally Lacroix was on the officiating crew as well.

PHOENIX KNIGHTS 8, LAS VEGAS STORM 5

Las Vegas scoring:

LVS – Kyle Pacheco 16th (Brandon Bavis, Beau Ricketts)

LVS – Beau Ricketts 30th (Kyle Pacheco, Kody Holmes)

LVS – Jaerdon Trevin 1st (Alkas Kochkorev)

LVS – Kyle Pacheco 17th (Jake McKenna, Nathan Fournier)

LVS – Phil Traxler 1st – great long-distance blast (Kody Holmes, Brandon Williams)

Goalies 

Phoenix – Colton Pankiw

Las Vegas – Brian Coppola 

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Why is your hometown of Murray, Utah so special in the world of hockey

“IT’S SPECIAL BECAUSE WE HAVE A HOMETOWN HERO IN TWO-TIME STANLEY CUP WINNER TREVOR LEWIS WHO EVERYONE LOOKS UP TO TO MAKING IT IN HOCKEY”

— #14 TREVIN MORGAN, WSHL LAS VEGAS STORM

Friday, February 20, 2015

Anchorage – Chris Francis of Las Vegas scored in OT – his 17th goal of the season – for the ECHL Alaska Aces in a 4-3 win over the Utah Grizzlies before 4404 at Sullivan Arena. Chris was picked the #1 Star of the Game. He has 17 goals, 25 assists for 42 points this season.

Canton, NY – Joe Sullivan of Las Vegas scored his 5th goal of the season for 20th ranked St Lawrence in a 5-1 win over Havard before 1885 at the Appleton Arena. It was big win for 17-11-3 St. Lawrence, giving them a first-round bye in the ECHL playoffs.

Victoria BC – Gage Quinney dealt an assist on a first period powerplay for the division leading WHL Kelowna Rockets in a 3-2 win over the Victoria Royals before 6254 at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Arena. Gage has 14 goals, 21 assists for 35 points and today was added to The Vegas Five list – the top scoring Las Vegas players away from home this season.

De Pere, Wisconsin – Chris Rial of Las Vegas scored his 6th goal as #8-ranked St. Norbert beat Lawrence 5-0 in the first game of the NCHA Tournament before 830 at the Cornerstone Community Ice Arena. St. Norbert raised its season record to 18-5-2. Chris has 6 goals, 5 assists this season. The two teams play again here Saturday night.

Friday, February 20, 2015

BEAU RICKETTS 4 GOALS –  LV STORM WINS 7-4 – PHOENIX ELIMINATED

By Lee Samuels

Las Vegas –  When a puck is skittering about in the goalie’s crease, players call it “loose change.”

Beau Ricketts slammed a close-range loose change goal in the first period.

Then, in a dazzling display of power, finessee and goal-scoring red-hotness, Beau got 3 more goals – giving him 7 for the weekend and 29 this season – in Las Vegas Storm’s 7-4 win over the Phoenix Knights before a loud, energized crowd Friday night on the north rink at the Las Vegas Ice Center.

The loss eliminated Phoenix from a spot in the WSHL playoffs.

Beau’s hockey mom Charla couldn’t remember her son ever scoring 4 goals in a game.

Beau said she was right. He never scored 4 times in a junior, midget or bantam ice hockey game.

“Maybe in mini-mites, I have to think about it,” he said, smiling while surrounded by fans and family in the lobby area of the Ice Center.

Las Vegas coach Gabe Gauthier once scored 4 goals in a game for the BCHL Chilliwack Chiefs.

But 7 goals in two games?

“Never did that,” Gabe said.

Ricketts, 20 and in his final season of junior hockey, is the #1 most lethal goal scorer in the WSHL. His game is phenominal – offensively and defensively. He is the greatest hometown force in many seasons in Las Vegas. 

Not that the game was easy. Las Vegas broke to a 2-1 lead, then Phoenix – fighting for its playoff life – dug in and played hard, working to a 4-2 lead.  It was a 4-3 game going into the third period when Ricketts scored the tying goal, then then the go-ahead goal with 10:38 to play. Phoenix seemed to fall to pieces after those Ricketts goals. The Storm scored two more including Moritz Matzka’s long-blast into an empty net followed by Brandon Bavis’ blue-streak of a goal from the left side.

Las Vegas goalie Jaedon McConnell made some late-game excellent saves to win it, his first W for Las Vegas this season. Luke Stripp was in the net for Phoenix.

Las Vegas will play its final regular season home game here Saturday night, 7 pm. On Wednesday, the Storm players head out to Fresno to play the Monsters in a three-game series which will close out the regular season. Then, a best of three playoff series against the Ontario Avalanche will get underway March 6.

From the Blue Line –  Beau’s hockey dad Tommy was there to see history made…the Ice Center was jammed for the second straight night with fans at the game on the north rink and with families in open skating on the south rink….There were two older fans from St. George, Utah. They shook cowbells when the Storm scored.  “It’s easier for us to drive here to Las Vegas then go watch the Utah teams in Ogden or Salt Lake City,” said one who added she is a Storm fan but was sorry to see Phoenix eliminated “because they played so hard.”

LAS VEGAS 7, PHOENIX NIGHTS 4

Las Vegas scoring:

LVS – Beau Ricketts 26th (Nikita Larinov, Jiri Ryyppo)

LVS – Kyle Pacheco 15th (Felix Brunner, Moritiz Matzka)

LVS – Beau Ricketts 27th (Alkas Kochkarev)

LVS – Beau Ricketts 28th (Arrigo Burgener, Nathan Fournier)

LVS – Beau Ricketts 29th (Nikita Larinov, Nikita Tsvetov)

LVS – Moritz Matkzka 8th – empty net

LVS – Brandon Bavis 3rd (Braxton Davis, Philip Traxler)

Friday, February 19, 2015

Las Vegas –  WSHL Las Vegas Storm coach Gabe Gauthier heaped a lot of praise today for one of his youngester skaters, Jake McKenna of Las Vegas.

“It’s been something to watch Jake, who is a very young player, improve his game so much – skating, hockey smarts, his physical game.”

Jake will be skating for the Storm tonight (7:30 pm) against the Phoenix Knights who will are in a must-win situation at the Las Vegas Ice Center.  Phoenix must win its last five regular season games to get past the San Diego Gulls for the last available WSHL playoff spot.

Storm goalie Jaedon McConnell gets the start tonight .

Thursday, February 19, 2019

By Lee Samuels

Las Vegas – Beau Ricketts of Las Vegas has scored the biggest, most meaningful goals all season for the WSHL Las Vegas Storm. Tonight, he scored 3 times, giving him 25 for the season for the Storm who out-battled a determined Phoenix Knights team 6-4 before a large, frenzied crowd on the north rink at the Las Vegas Ice Center.

Beau’s hockey dad Tommy Ricketts “didn’t feel well enough to come to the game” according to mom Charla. Tommy has been in and out of hospitals for a few years.

“Whenever I score, it makes him feel better. It drives me,” said Beau.

He added “This is the greatest season I’ve ever played – even better than my season at Helena. Everything is working well for me on the ice.”

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Beau was a league Rookie of the Year when he had a monster of a season with the Helena BigHorns which went deep into the playoffs three years ago. Then he was signed by the NAHL Minot Minotauras where he was played two seasons, then was released.

In the summer, he was working and out of hockey.

It was the Storm’s owner Kirk Brooks who asked new head coach Gabe Gauthier to give Ricketts a call.

Gabe did, saying “I just asked Beau to come over and check us out. Get on the ice and skate. It was summer and we had signed players including Jake McKenna, Quinn Travis and Kyle Pacheco.”

Beau got onto the ice, worked out, then agreed to play for the Storm in his final junior season.

“Beau gives us 100 percent effort when we need it the most,” Gabe said. “When we’re in a tough situation, Beau is out there.”

Las Vegas jet-streamed to an easy 3-0 lead in the first period, then Phoenix had a goalie change and kicked in its offensive attack. It got very dicey, 4-4 in the second period when Ricketts made a spectacular play.

With 0:37.6 seconds in the second period, Las Vegas went onto a power play. Beau posted himself in front of the Phoenix net. The puck was passed back and forth on top, then the puck was blue-streaked towards Beau.

“It was a wide pass but the puck hit a skate of a Phoenix player and the puck went right onto my stick. I used my backhand to score,” Beau said.

That made it 5-4.  Las Vegas scored one more goal – Ricketts again – and the Storm got the two goal win.

Las Vegas, which has clinched a playoff spot, put Phoenix in a very tough position. Phoenix needs to win its last five games of the season to get past the San Diego Gulls who are in 6th place – the last spot to qualify.

From the Blue Line – Anyone who bought an admission ticket got free pizza….There was a Las Vegas Wants Hockey promotion in the lobby to push season tickets for the new NHL team here in town…So many Storm players had a good, solid game including Richard Prekop who had a great mid-distance goal in the first period….6′ 5″ Braxton Davis of Las Vegas did his physical work to help keep Phoenix skaters off of Storm goalie Patrik Jokela….Nathan Fournier’s hard work was outstanding all three periods…Jiri Ryyppo worked defensively in this game….The Storm announced that goalie Jaedon McConnell will start  on Friday night….Las Vegas plays Phoenix on Friday and Saturday nights, then will take on Ontario Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs which begin March 6.

LAS VEGAS STORM 6, PHOENIX KNIGHTS 4

Las Vegas scoring

LVS – Beau Ricketts 23rd (Nathan Fournier, Kyle Pacheco) 

LVS – Arrigo Burgener 16th (Alkas Kochkarev, Nikita Larinov)

LVS – Richard Prekop 3rd (Cody Holmes)

LVS – Nikita Larinov 20th (Arrigo Burgener, Beau Ricketts

LVS – Beau Ricketts 24th (Moritz Matzka, Natan Fournier)

LVS – Beau Ricketts 25th (Arrigo Burgener, Alkas Kochkarev)

Goalies

Phoenix – Colton Pankiv (3 goals), Luke Stripp (3 goals)

Las Vegas – Patrik Jokela