Schmidbauer earns SBK Hockey/West honors

WENATCHEE - Wenatchee Wild forward Evan Schmidbauer (Surrey, BC) was named the SBK Hockey/West Player of the Week on Monday. Schmidbauer received the honor after he scored three goals and an assist in the Wild's 2-game sweep over the Fresno Monsters last week.

Schmidbauer was making his return to the lineup against Fresno after he was forced to miss six games with an injury. His return could not have been scripted better.

During the first game of the series, Schmidbauer scored a goal on Geoff Ferguson's shot from the blue line late in the first period. In the second game, he figured in on three of the Wild's five first-period goals. He assisted on the first goal of the game and then went on to record two goals himself on backhand shots. Schmidbauer was also plus-4 on the weekend.

"He's a big, strong body and he plays a big-man's game," Wenatchee Wild head coach John Becanic said of Schmidbauer. "He really uses [his size] effectively, and he has a lot of enthusiasm and wants to play up to his potential."

Schmidbauer centered a line with Matt Cope and John Mejia against Fresno, the first time that the trio has been grouped together. The line combined for four goals and four assists in the series. In addition to Schmidbauer's four points, Cope scored a goal and an assist and was plus-3 while Mejia recorded two assists and was also plus-3.

"They were by far our best line over the weekend," Becanic said of the Cope-Schmidbauer-Mejia grouping. "They were really good Friday night, and they were very good Saturday night."

The Wild (20-11-2) will travel to Dawson Creek, British Columbia, for a 2-game series against the Rage this weekend (Jan. 7-8). Both games will begin at 6 p.m. (PST).

NOTES: The Wild rang in 2011 by defeating the Fresno Monsters Friday night at the Town Toyota Center, 4-3. The win was the Wild's fourth consecutive and fifth straight over the Monsters.

After killing off a lengthy 2-man disadvantage early in the first period, Wenatchee made the most of its first power play of the game to take a 1-0 lead near the midpoint of the frame. From the slot, D.J. Vandercook took a shot that Luis Puig saved with his left pad, but Carl-Johan Sjogren who was crashing the net, was in position to slam home the rebound. On the play, Vandercook and Sjogren both extended point streaks to seven and nine games, respectively.

After Sjogren's goal, forwards Derek Sutliffe and Steven Obarzanek each scored a breakaway goal to put the Monsters on top, 2-1. The Wild came back with 90 seconds remaining in the first period to tie the score, 2-2, when Evan Schmidbauer redirected Geoff Ferguson's shot from the point into the cage.

The Wild reclaimed the lead, 3-2, 1:50 into the second period on its second power-play marker of the contest. From the top of the near circle, defenseman Chris Rumble made a pin-point pass to the far side of the net to Tyler Hope (McKinney, Texas), who easily directed the puck into the net.

Derek Sutliffe's second goal of the game 3:55 into the final period forced the third tie of the game. The Wild started the New Year's Eve celebration with 48 seconds remaining in regulation when Brennen Parker scored on a loose puck in front of the Fresno goal.

Brandon Jaeger made 16 saves on 19 shots to improve his season record to 13-7-2. Puig stopped 33 of Wenatchee's 37 shots. The Wild went 2-for-6 on the power play while the Monsters went 1-for-5.