A sense of normalcy returned to the ECHL’s West Division as the Idaho Steelheads defeated the Victoria Salmon Kings 4-0 on Friday night at Qwest Arena.

The result was a stark contrast to Wednesday night, when the first-place Steelheads lost 5-3 to the last-place Salmon Kings (4-11-0).

But Friday night, the Steelheads (12-3-1) looked like the team with the most points in the ECHL (25).

“That was Idaho Steelheads hockey,” coach Derek Laxdal said. “If we can bottle that up and get them to drink it, that’s exactly what we want to do.”

The win was the first professional shutout for goalie Richard Bachman (7-2-1), who stopped 21 shots and continues to be impressive in his rookie campaign.

Bachman may be a 22-year-old playing his first year of pro hockey, but he’s wise enough to know that a goalie’s best friend is a solid defense in front of him.

Before the season, Idaho looked like it was going to have some offensive firepower, but the defense has been more than holding its own. The Steelheads have allowed 37 goals so far, and only Kalamazoo (36) has allowed fewer this season.

“From Day One we’ve been solid,” Bachman said. “They’ve been doing an excellent job of clearing pucks for me and battling in the corners and doing the little things that really help me out and help the team out.”

Mike Stuart and Weston Tardy have been two of Idaho’s defensive mainstays to this point. Both bring experience to a team that has 11 rookies on its roster.

Tardy, 26, played a year in the ECHL and two seasons in Sweden before coming to Idaho and he said he’s been impressed with the Steelheads’ overall effort.

“We’ve been keeping teams to about 20 shots a game, and that gives us a pretty good chance with the goaltending we have,” Tardy said. “The forwards have also been helping out. It’s really easy to play defense when you have forwards like ours bugging the team on the other end because when they come down on us they’re tired.”

For his part, Stuart showed that a little offense isn’t a bad way to help out a defense. The 29-year-old who has played five seasons in the AHL and appeared in three games with the St. Louis Blues scored a goal and added an assist in Friday’s win.

“Sometimes when we’re doing a good job of doing the little things … you kind of earn those,” Stuart said. “(The defense’s) main concern is keeping the puck out of our zone, but if we get a little offense, then it’s a bonus.”

From the Winnipeg Free Press …

A columnist laments the lack of a proven cetner for the Manitoba Moose.  Want to know where the scoring is?

It’s in Rockford, where Mark Cullen has seven goals and nine assists (14G, 25A in Manitoba last season).

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Richard Bachman won both of his starts against Stockton, improving his record to 6-2-1 on the season. Bachman’s 2.28 GAA is second in the league, and his six wins are tied for first.

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STOCKTON, Calif. - Rookie goaltender Richard Bachman claimed his third win of the year against the Stockton Thunder (4-7-3, 11 points) with 20 saves in net, helping the Idaho Steelheads edge the Thunder, 3-1 before 5,359 fans at Stockton Arena on Sunday night.

Idaho, who swept the three-game weekend series and extended their record to 5-0 over the Thunder this year, got a game-winning goal from Evan Barlow (1g-1a) in the second period to improve to 11-2-1 overall (23 points) and surpass the Elmira Jackals’ 22 points for the league’s top record. Garet Hunt scored the only Thunder goal in the third period, whose winless skid reached an 0-3-3 mark.

Through three games, Bachman extended his record to 3-0-0 against Stockton.

Steelheads forward Kevin DeVirgilio broke the scoreless tie with his fifth goal of the year at the 3:50 mark of the first period, cleaning up a rebound at the doorstep and slipping the puck over Bryan Pitton’s stick with the goaltender down amidst a loose puck scrum.

Barlow extended the Steelheads lead to 2-0 with his eighth goal of the year on the power-play with 9:25 left in the second period, cleaning up a rebound at the left circle following Mike Stuart’s point shot.

Bachman made 11 saves in the second period to keep the Thunder off the board, following a first period where he and the Idaho stunted a 5-on-3 power-play for Stockton that lasted 1:35.

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NHL

At Uniondale, N.Y., Sean Bergenheim, Blake Comeau and Jack Hillen each scored their first goals of the season to help the New York Islanders break out of a two-game offensive drought and beat Atlanta 6-3.

AHL

HOUSTON - Former President George H.W. Bush was on hand Saturday where the Houston Aeros (8-7-0-0) defeated the San Antonio Rampage (6-6-2-1) 5-2 in front of 8,433 on Military Appreciation Night at Toyota Center. Forwards Peter Zingoni, Chad Rau, Robbie Earl, Jon DiSalvatore and Petr Kalus each scored for the Aeros and G Anton Khudobin saved 24 of 26 to record his third straight victory and sixth on the season. The Rampage netted two second period goals off the sticks of D Jeff May and LW Brett MacLean while G Josh Tordjman tallid 23 saves to get saddled with the loss.

IHL

Port Huron scored with 16:51 left in its 6-1 loss Saturday on a goal by Mike Kinnie with assists to Derek Patrosso and Kris Vernarsky.

ECHL

Goaltender Richard Bachman has a 4-1-1 record and a 2.78 GAA in six games with the Idaho Steelheads, the Stars ECHL affiliate. Bachman has helped lead Idaho to first place in the ECHL standings at 7-1-1 (15 points).

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The Idaho Steelheads (7-1-1) lost in regulation for the first time this season as the Utah Grizzlies skated to a 5-2 win Wednesday at the E-Center in West Valley City, Utah.

Dylan Hunter netted a hat trick for the Grizzlies (4-2-0), who scored three of their five goals on power plays.

Marty Flichel and Evan Barlow scored goals for Idaho and Weston Tardy, Brendan Milnamow and Mike Stuart added assists.

Goalie Richard Bachman suffered the first loss of his professional career (4-1-1). He stopped 21-of-26 shots.

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Idaho Steelheads netminder Richard Bachman has been named the Reebok Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week for October 26 to November 1.

Bachman, a rookie out of Colorado College, was 2-0-1 between the pipes with a goals-against average of 2.25 as Idaho took five of a possible six points in a weekend series against the Alaska Aces.

The 22-year-old is 4-0-1 on the season with a .909 save percentage. The four wins is tied for tops in the ECHL.

While this is the first league-wide honor for Bachman, it already marks the second time this year an Idaho goaltender has been honored for his play. Rejean Beauchemin was the ECHL’s Goaltender of the Week for his play on October 16 and 17.

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Before leaving the Boise International Airport Thursday morning for Alaska, Idaho Steelheads head coach Derek Laxdal announced some changes between the pipes for his ECHL hockey club.

Goaltender Rejean Beauchemin has been loaned to Manitoba of the American Hockey League. To fill his spot on the roster, the Steelheads have signed ECHL veteran Kevin Nastiuk.

Nastiuk, 24, has played for the ECHL’s Alaska Aces, Las Vegas Wranglers, Gwinnett Gladiators, and Florida Everblades. He also has 23 games of experience in the AHL since turning pro in 2005.

“Beauch earned this opportunity by playing well in Manitoba’s training campand then playing well here for us to start the season,” Laxdal said of the promotion. “And Nastiuk is a solid player who knows the situation and knows how to handle himself professionally.”

Laxdal said he’s unsure how long Beauchemin will be gone, which is why the organization chose to sign an established goaltender to team with Richard Bachman in net for Idaho. Beauchemin is 3-0-0 with the Steelheads with a .940 save percentage and 1.67 goals-against average. He’s among the ECHL’s league leaders in all three categories.

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Joey Crabb was sent from Atlanta’s training camp to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves earlier this week.

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The Stars continue to get better at the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., and that’s a great sign for all involved.

“That’s why you’re here,” said Glen Gulutzan, the new coach of the Texas Stars, who is coaching the prospects, as well. “You want to see progress, you want to see players learn, and we’re seeing that.”

Dallas took a hard-fought 4-3 win over Columbus Wednesday to move to 1-1-1 in pool play. The Stars finished third in the Western Division of the eight-team tournament .

Richard Bachman was great in goal as he had 35 saves and allowed only two 5-on-3 goals and a puck that deflected in off of his own defenseman. That was a big improvement on Bachman’s performance in a 9-6 loss to St. Louis in the tournament opener.

“You just want to get out there and play again after a game like that, so this was fun,” Bachman said. “It’s good to just get in there and forget about everything else and just play.”

Bachman was under siege early as he had to stop a Columbus power play just 1:19 into the game and also had to face a penalty shot in the first period. He came through untarnished by either and the Stars came out with a 1-0 first period lead on a deflected goal by Sergei Korostin.

“It’s good sometimes to get tested, especially if you get through it,” Bachman said. “You get a lot of confidence.”

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Walsky follows up goaltender Richard Bachman as CC’s second weekly award winner of the season. Bachman earned defensive player of the week honors last week.

From the WCHA:

WCHA Offensive Player of the Week • Eric Walsky, Sr., F, Colorado College
Colorado College right winger Eric Walsky, who scored four goals to lead his No. 2-ranked Tigers to a 7-4 conference victory over visiting league rival North Dakota last Saturday night, is the Red Baron® WCHA Offensive Player of the Week for November 11-17.
A 5-11, 195-pound senior from Anchorage, Alaska, Walsky twice brought Colorado College back from deficits in the game on Nov. 7, scoring a tying power-play goal in the first period and another tying goal in the second period. He then completed his hat trick by scoring the eventual game-winning goal at 14:04 of the second and then added an insurance goal at 8:51 of the third as the Tigers earned a 7-4 win over the Fighting Sioux.
In addition to his four-goal outburst, Walsky also fired 10 shots on goal in the series and earned a +2 plus/minus rating. On the 2008-09 season, he ranks second among his CC teammates in scoring with seven goals, five assists and 12 points in the first 10 games.

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