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Follow the Oil Barons in Russia

Fans can follow the Fort McMurray Oil Barons’ trek through Russia live online!

Audio: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mob-hockey

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/tyler_king

The Fort McMurray Oil Barons will represent the CJHL at the inaugural World Junior Club Cup from August 30th to September 4th, 2011 in Omsk, Russia. Canada will open the tournament on August 30th against Belarus, face Sweden on August 31st, followed by the Czech Republic on September 2nd. The final will be held on Saturday, September 3rd at the Arena Omsk, a 10,000 seat facility.

The Fort McMurray Oil Barons’ trip to Russia came to an end on Friday with a hard-fought 4-1 loss to the Group B winners from the Czech Republic, HC Energie Karlovy Vary.

The loss drops the Barons’ record to 0-3 in the group stage of the tournament, and their overall record on the two-week trip to 1-4.

 

Video:

1. The National Anthems from the Red Army game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTButsogmFc&hd=1

2. Fort McMurray’s first opponent, Team Belarus, practicing: http://youtu.be/FDHSvGe4skg?hd=1

3. The Oil Barons hitting the ice in Omsk for the first time: http://youtu.be/5A2_NYjLVrI?hd=1

Dinamo-Shinnik (Belarus) 3 — Oil Barons 0

OMSK, Russia — The Fort McMurray Oil Barons’ goal drought continued for a second straight game, as they dropped their opening match at the World Junior Club Cup to Belarus’ Dinamo-Shinnik 3-0.
The Barons missed on three penalty shots – one in the second period from Justin Rose, and two in the third from Mitchell Board and Dylan Seymour.
The Barons were without the services of injured forward Carson Cooper, as well as the high-scoring Markus Gerbrandt, both of whom were scratched for the game.
“It was killer not to be in there, especially when you’re representing your country,” said Cooper.
“It is what it is, and hopefully I can be in tomorrow.”
Belorussian goaltender Yan Shelepnyov recorded the shutout in net for Dinamo, despite a plethora of chances in the latter half of the game from the Barons., including the three penalty shots.
“It was a tough loss,” said Cooper. “We had all the chances in the world, so it could’ve gone either way.”
Despite the tournament regulations clearly stating that the World Junior Club Cup is an “under-21” tournament, the Belorussians were permitted to ice several 22-year old players.
The decision is expected to draw protest from Hockey Canada.
After two scoreless periods, Belorussian captain Maksim Parfayevitz beat goaltender Brody Hoffman on an early third-frame wraparound attempt.
After Mitchell Board drew a penalty shot while killing a 5-on-3, the momentum appeared to shift in the Barons’ favour.
But Board missed the net on the unobstructed chance, and Dinamo responded by converting on the two-man advantage as well as the remaining powerplay, with goals from Boris Novikov and Sergey Stas.
The Barons fall to 0-1 in tournament play and will need to win their two remaining games against Sweden and the Czech Republic in order to have a chance at the cup final.

MalmචRedhawks 3 — Oil Barons 2

OMSK, Russia — The Fort McMurray Oil Barons have been eliminated from finals contention at the World Junior Club Cup after a 3-2 loss to Team Sweden, the MalmචRedhawks.
The Barons outshot their opponents 56-21 in the game but were unable to capitalize on their superior number of chances, as Joel Kellman’s late third-period marker stood up as the winner.
“I feel like we let a lot of people down,” said Barons forward Justin Rose. “It’s tough to swallow.”
The Barons dominated the early minutes of the game, but only the Swedes found the back of the net in the first, as Jonathan Svensson converted on a scramble in front of the Fort McMurray net 4:18 in.
But just over four minutes into the second, it was Rose who finally converted for the MOB after more than 140 minutes without a goal. A centering pass from Colton Parayko found a wide-open Rose at the top of the crease, and his perfectly-placed shot over the glove of goaltender Christoffer Jansson tied the game.
“It was real nice at the time,” a visibly disappointed Rose recalled, “but considering the outcome it’s just another goal really.”
The Swedes retook their lead six minutes after Rose’s goal, when Marcus Idoff streaked out of the penalty box, and took a breakaway feed that he deposited past Brody Hoffman to make it 2-1 after two periods.
The Barons got back into it 11:37 into the third when Mitchell Board took another perfect centering pass from Parayko and converted for his first goal of the tournament.
But bad luck reared its ugly head with three minutes remaining, as Mike Marianchuk blocked a Swedish shot in the high slot, but the puck deflected straight to the stick of Kellman at the bottom of the right faceoff circle.
With Hoffman unable to get in position quickly enough, Kellman roofed a shot from a tough angle for the eventual winning goal.
A scramble in front of the Swedish net with five seconds left in the game looked certain to produce another tie, but Jansson kept his pad on the goal line to deny a last-second Barons shot and preserve Sweden’s first win at the tournament.
“It’s still a tough one to swallow,” said Rose. “We feel bad for a lot of the people who helped us get here.”
The Barons can no longer make the final of the tournament, as the Czech Republic cannot mathematically lose the group. The Czechs provide Fort McMurray’s final opposition on Friday morning at 6 AM Mountain time (audio broadcast available at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/MOB-Hockey).
That team, represented by HC Energie Karlovy Vary, has not allowed a goal, beating Sweden 4-0 and Belarus 1-0 in group play.
“We’re still representing Canada, we’re not just gonna mail it off,” Rose insisted.
“We’ll be the first one to score a goal against them,” he concluded.

Energie Karlovy Vary 4 — Fort McMurray Oil Barons 1

The Fort McMurray Oil Barons’ trip to Russia came to an end on Friday with a hard-fought 4-1 loss to the Group B winners from the Czech Republic, HC Energie Karlovy Vary.

The loss drops the Barons’ record to 0-3 in the group stage of the tournament, and their overall record on the two-week trip to 1-4.

The game may have featured the best start of the tournament for Fort McMurray, as they became the first team to score on the Czechs when Harrison Hendrix found a loose puck in front of the net and jammed it between the pads of goaltender Denis Rauscher for a 1-0 lead, only 3:35 in.

But the inability to convert on scoring chances that dogged the Barons throughout their international trek returned through the final 40 minutes.

Matt Szpak tripping penalty put the Czechs on the powerplay in the second, and Jaromir Kverka converted on a screen shot 7:32 in, to tie the game.

later four-on-three powerplay allowed Tomas Harkabus to tip a point shot past goaltender Tanner Jaillet 15:14 into the second to give the Czechs a lead they would not relinquish.

Jaillet was replaced with local minor hockey product Logan Stebner for the third period, as overage starter Brody Hoffman did not dress for the final group stage game. The Barons were also without the services of injured forwards Carson Cooper and Kevin Lacroix.

Fort McMurray kept the game close until the 16:40 mark of the third, when a four-on-two Czech rush ended with Vojtech Tomecek beating Stebner off a cross-ice one-timer to extend the lead to two.

Energie later sealed the deal with an empty net goal thrown the length of the ice by Otto Novak.

With seconds remaining in the game, Fort McMurray rookie forward Wyat Haustein dropped the gloves with older Czech defenceman David Troska. The spirited tilt ended with a cut to Haustein’s forehead.

The Czechs will move on to the tournament final against the Russian Red Army team.

The Barons now prepare for their home opener on September 16th at the Casman Centre against the Okotoks Oilers.