With Family Day being celebrated throughout the Province it was only fitting that the Vancouver Stealth officially retired their #6 raising it to the rafters in honour of an individual who has done so much for the club, both on and off the floor.
Stealth franchise player Curtis Hodgson along with his Family and Friends saw his jersey raised to the rafters at the Langley Events Center with his being the first Vancouver Stealth player given this honor.
In a special pre-game ceremony the Vancouver Stealth players were introduced one by one and joined by members of their Family on the floor on night when they hosted the league leading Saskatchewan Rush (7-1) taking on Vancouver, who currently sits 1-7 on the season.
The introduction of special master of ceremonies was conducted by recently retired former BC Lion Marco Iannucci taking place in front of a good size crowd.
Curtis Hodgson a 13 year member of the Stealth along with his Wife and Family present enjoyed the moment the tributes began, with those on hand standing showing their respect for their beloved Captain.
Steve Erickson interview’s Denise Watkins
He (Curtis) was presented with numerous gifts from the Stealth players and a portrait presented by one of the fans in addition to the presentation made by Stealth owner Denise Watkins presented him with a trip to “Anywhere in theview World” followed by raising the #6 jersey to the rafters.
Following the ceremonies it was time to “face-off” that saw the Rush open the scoring a short two minutes in that saw Robert Church give then the first marker.
This was followed 37 seconds later by one off the stick of Curtis Knight, with Mark Mathews extending the lead to 3-0 by the 6:23 mark of the first quarter.
The Rush added three more before the opening quarter was completed only to see Matthew Dinsdale make it 4-0 , that saw Stealth “tender” Eric Penney pulled, putting Brodie McDonald between the pipes.
This moved never paid dividend as the Rush managed to add another with Church notching his second of the night before quarter was over.
Vancouver eventually got on the scoreboard with Rahe making it 5-1, only to have the Rush get another with Jeff Shattler score that started an explosion from the visitors.
Ben McIntosh and Church collecting his hat trick (3 goals) extend the the lead to 9-1, only to have Smith get Vancouver’s second of the game making it a 9-2.
Rush player Chris Corbell along with Ben McIntosh extended the lead to 11-2 for the visitors but not until Vancouver managed to close out the half with Stealth forward Malcom getting the third for the Stealth making it 11-3 at the half.
Brandon replied for the Stealth two minutes in quickly followed by one from Saunders that cut the lead to 11-5 for the Rush.
Three straight on goals by Jeremy Thompson and Kyle Rubisch saw the Rush jump out to a 14-5 lead only to have Stealth newcomer Andrew Suitor score making it 14-6 game after three quarters.
Shots after three quarters favored the Rush as they dominated the shots out shooting the Stealth by a 42-30 margin.
Delta’s Logan Schuss pulled Vancouver to within 7 goals (14-7) two minutes in the fourth quarter only to have the Rush forward Curtis Knight score making it 15-7.
Logan Schuss on the PP at 7:10 making it 15-8 only to see Rush forward Curtis Knight score doubling the lead to 16-8.
Vancouver’s Tyson Roe collected his first NLL goal only to have the Rush lead the Stealth 16-9 with three minutes left in regulation time, but in the end the Rush proved to be too strong for the Stealth with Saskatchewan pulling out a 16-8 win.
Shots in the game were 55-46 for the Rush that sees them improve to 8-1 in league play while Vancouver falls to 1-8 on the season.
The next home game for the Vancouver Stealth is February 24th as they play host to New England with the face-off set for 7 pm.
Thanks to Bruce Nolte for covering the game!
