By Gary Lawless
MIKE BROWN turned a sliver of opportunity into a sapling and before he's done, plans on making it a full forest.
The determined Brown was back in Manitoba Moose colours for the first time since November and looked like a man with designs on making his stay in Winnipeg short.
The fleet but bone-rattling Brown skated with purpose on an effective line with Rick Rypien and rookie Pierre-Cedric Lebrie. The trio was Manitoba's most effective as the club fell 4-2 to the Peoria Rivermen before 6,191 customers at MTS Centre.
The loss was Manitoba's fifth in a row, the first time that has happened since 2004. The team record for consecutive losses is eight.
The return of Brown and Rypien was not enough to spark the Moose to a win. Both men were returned from the Vancouver Canucks over the weekend.
Brown was his usual banging self but the Moose were undone by unfortunate lapses in goaltending and a sputtering offence.
"I thought we played a real good defensive game and limited an offensive team to just a few chances," said Moose coach Scott Arniel. "I can't fault our effort. They did exactly what I asked of them. We had lots of chances ourselves but their goaltender made some real big saves.
"Right now, those pucks, when we have open nets, just aren't going in. The other way, they get a couple of goals that bounce in off sticks or bodies and their third one was a seeing eye dog. That's what happens when you're in a funk like this."
The teams were tied at 2-2 until late in the second period when Jeff Woywitka beat Moose goalie Drew MacIntyre with a slapshot. The goal proved to be the winner as the Moose chased hard in the third but came up empty.
"We need all 19 guys to step right now," said Arniel. "This is when our veteran guys have to lead and our young guys have to be even better that they've been. When you're as low as we are right now, we need a yeomen's effort from everyone."
A Chicago native, Brown arrived in Winnipeg three seasons ago with 'project' stickers on every part of his game but his skating.
If a player is going to have a foundation, the ability to move is the best place to start and Brown has steadily built his game a stride at a time.
After two seasons of flying around but not always going to the right location, Brown began this season with the Moose showing an increased hockey sense and a burgeoning confidence.
Rave reviews
The result was a call-up to the Canucks and a 17-game stretch with the big club to rave reviews from the coaching staff and front office.
Brown was re-assigned to the Moose on the weekend and his exit interview with Canucks coach Alain Vigneault took any sting out of the demotion.
"They told me what they'd been telling me all along, that I had come in and exceeded expectations," offered Brown. "The next few games, they don't play physical clubs and they wanted to go with a more offensive lineup. There's not a lot of that in my game, so I'm here."
Brown says he won't let a little thing like a lack of offence in his game keep him from spending a long career in the NHL.
"They had a decision to make and they wanted to go with a more skilled lineup for the next little while. Obviously I wanted to stay there but I'm coming here to play the same way and hopefully get back up there," said Brown. "I was supposed to be there for one game and I proved I belonged there. I'm not one to sulk. I need to get going and be positive and do the good things that got me noticed."
gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca
Peoria 4 Manitoba 2
Highlight reel
FIRST PERIOD
Peoria looks more like the home team than the Moose do, dominating for the first 10 minutes and getting something for it when Nikolay Lemtyugov scored his third goal in the past two games on a deflection past Drew MacIntyre. The Moose fight back gamely and Mike Brown almost evens it.
Rivermen 1 Moose 0
SECOND PERIOD
Max Fortunus (point shot that Hannu Toivonen misjudged) and Jason Jaffray, converting Rick Rypien's pass on the power play, gave the Moose the lead and momentum but the Rivermen negated that when Julian Talbot (power-play rebound) and Jeff Woywitka (high point shot with two minutes left) beat MacIntyre.
Rivermen 3 Moose 2
THIRD PERIOD
The Moose look horrid at times, disorganized and out of synch, but Toivonen stops Rypien with a big glove save with 24 seconds left, with MacIntyre on the bench in favour of an extra attacker. Yan Stastny scores into the empty net with six seconds remaining for Peoria's eighth consecutive victory and Manitoba's fifth straight loss.
Rivermen 4 Moose 2
Fortunus feels
fortunate
Today marks the 50th anniversary of Willie O'Ree's call-up to the Boston Bruins and the breaking of the colour barrier for black players in the NHL. Fortunus, a black defenceman who had a goal and assist Thursday, said he knows all about O'Ree.
"I'm one of the lucky ones that grew up playing hockey but didn't really have any trouble about race or anything. Just knowing what he's been through, all the racial comments, all the things he had to fight for just to make it... he paved the way for the (George) Laracques, (Mike) Griers, (Anson) Carters in the NHL."
Two refs better
than one?
For the third time in their last four games, the Moose had two referees on the ice for Thursday's test vs. Peoria. Brian Pochmara and Francois St. Laurent shared control with linesmen Ray Damphousse and Garth Loeppky assisting. It's part of the NHL's attempt to train up-and-coming refs at the AHL level.
Melanson released
With the return from Vancouver of forwards Brown and Rypien, the Moose have released right-winger Mathieu Melanson from his Professional Tryout Contract. The 6-foot, 200-pound native of Shediac, N.B., scored one goal in eight games.
Rugged line
The Moose line of Rypien, Brown and 6-foot-4 Pierre-Cedric Labrie -- probably the three feistiest front-liners on the club -- started the game and the unit was impressive for the most part.
-- Chris Cariou
