ICE CHIPS: The KOOTENAY ICE enter tonight's action with a 1-2 record (0-1 at home, 1-1 on the road, 0-2 in overtime) after two games of the EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL against the CALGARY HITMEN...KOOTENAY clinched a playoff berth for the 17th consecutive season, the longest active streak in the WHL...The ICE completed the regular season with a .500 or better record for a WHL record 16th straight year.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: KOOTENAY is currently carrying 24 players (two goaltenders, nine defensemen and 13 forwards)...The ICE roster is made up of three 1994-born players, 11 1995-born players, three 1996-born players, five 1997-born players, and two 1998-born players...KOOTENAY has seven first-year players on its roster.
PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE: KOOTENAY holds a career playoff record of 94-75 (50-32 at home, 44-43 on the road, 24-14 in overtime)...The ICE have played in 31 playoff series in franchise history and hold an 18-13 career record...SAM REINHART (32), JAEDON DESCHENEAU (25) and LUKE PHILP (24) lead KOOTENAY in career playoff games played...REINHART leads the ICE in career playoff scoring with 30 points (10-20-30)...DESCHENEAU is second with 25 points (12-13-25)...KOOTENAY is facing CALGARY in the post-season for the fifth time in franchise history (2-2 career playoff series record)...The last playoff meeting between the ICE and HITMEN was the 2014 EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL won by KOOTENAY in six games.
EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL: Game Five of the EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL will take place at CALGARY on Friday, April 3.
DID YOU KNOW: KOOTENAY posted a 3-4-0-0 record versus CALGARY during the 2014-15 regular season (2-2-0-0 at home, 1-2-0-0 on the road, 1-0 in overtime)...LUKE PHILP led the ICE in scoring versus the HITMEN during the regular season with 11 points (6-5-11)...LEVI CABLE (6-2-8) and TIM BOZON (2-6-8) were second with eight points...WYATT HOFLIN was named the VAUGHN HOCKEY WHL GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH for March on March 23...HOFLIN, who set a franchise record for games played by a goaltender in one season with 67, led all WHL netminders in minutes played during the regular season with 3,848, finishing second in the League in wins (36) and saves (1,837)...RINAT VALIEV and SAM REINHART were both named to the WHL EASTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ALL-STAR TEAM March 25...LUKE PHILP finished 15th in WHL regular season scoring with a career-high 82 points (30-52-82)...ZAK ZBOROSKY and TANNER LISHCHYNSKY both recorded their first career playoff points (both assists) March 27 at CALGARY…JAEDON DESCHENEAU scored his fifth career playoff game-winning goal March 27 versus the HITMEN…Four of the five career playoff game-winning goals scored by DESCHENEAU have come against CALGARY...TIM BOZON matched a franchise record by recording six points in one playoff game March 31 versus the HITMEN (2-4-6)...BOZON shares the record with DESCHENEAU, who put up six points March 24, 2014 against CALGARY (1-5-6)...KOOTENAY set a new franchise record for most goals in a playoff game between both teams (15) March 31 versus the HITMEN...The previous record of 13 was first set March 29, 2003 at KAMLOOPS (ICE 6 at BLAZERS 7) before being matched March 24, 2014 against CALGARY (ICE 6 vs. HITMEN 7 OT).
ONE YEAR AGO: After Game Three of the 2014 EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL the ICE were 1-2, after Game Four were 2-2, and after Game Five were 3-2 against the CALGARY HITMEN.
DRAFTED PLAYERS: SAM REINHART - Buffalo Sabres (1st Round, 2014 NHL Draft), TIM BOZON - Montreal Canadiens (3rd Round, 2012 NHL Draft), RINAT VALIEV - Toronto Maple Leafs (3rd Round, 2014 NHL Draft), JAEDON DESCHENEAU - St. Louis Blues (5th Round, 2014 NHL Draft), TANNER FAITH – Minnesota Wild (5th Round, 2014 NHL Draft).
TONIGHT’S OFFICIALS: The Referees for tonight’s game are NATHAN WIELER and MIKE CAMPBELL...The Linesmen are JEREMI DEL CAMPO and TREVOR SHIVELY.