HockeyEverybody loves Raymond

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Boris Rybalka was in a reflective mood on Sunday.

The long-time coach of the Camrose (Tier II) Kodiaks enjoyed a Saturday evening he'll remember for a long time. First, he watched his six-year-old daughter McKenna win two gold medals at a dance recital and then the Rybalkas raced home to watch Mason Raymond turn in his best playoff outing with the Vancouver Canucks.

The 24-year-old Raymond set up defenceman Christian Ehrhoff and then knocked in a rebound for a turning-point goal with 10.5 seconds in the first period to help the Canucks win the opener of their second-round series 5-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

"McKenna is young, but she knows Mason and is a big fan of his," said Rybalka, who coached Raymond for two seasons in Camrose. "She has a big poster of him on her wall and calls him Mase. We couldn't be happier for him."

Rybalka recruited a 16-year-old Raymond back in 2003. He wasn't sure the youngster would want to leave the family cattle farm to play for the powerhouse Kodiaks, 2 ½ hours to the north of his Cochrane, Alta. home. But the coach is glad Raymond did.

The two have remained close after they won a league championship together in 2004-05. Raymond departed for University of Minnesota-Duluth, spent two years there before joining the Canucks organization. The Kodiaks will retire Raymond's sweater No. 9 at the beginning of next season.

"I respect Mason so much," Rybalka said. "He's about as hard a worker as you're going to find. The one thing you should know about him is that even though he now has stardom and plays in the NHL, he hasn't changed his values and morals."

Character person

Rybalka has plenty of stories to illustrate the character of the son of Carol and Terry Raymond. Like the time when the coach suffered a flat tire after his first visit to the Raymond home and young Mason was quick to get his hands dirty and help fix the problem.

Rybalka's favourite story, however, was a few years ago, when he was invited to Raymond's wedding. He married Megan Murray, the cousin of former NHL coach Andy Murray.

"It was supposed to be an outdoor wedding, but it rained that day," Rybalka recalled. "But here was Mason, about 20 minutes before the ceremony helping his father-in-law lay plywood on the grass for the guests to walk on because the grass was a mess."

Raymond was put in skates at age four and learned how to play the game on the family's outdoor rink. He's likely one of the few NHLers who honed his offensive skill with the family dog, a border collie named Champ, playing goal.

He enjoyed a breakout season with 25 goals this year. A highlight was the hat trick he scored at the Pengrowth Saddledome in late December against the Calgary Flames, the team he grew up cheering for as a kid.

"To do it against a team I grew up following, in front of friends and family, was pretty cool," said Raymond, an avid hunter and outdoorsman.

But after playing most of the season on the team's second line with Ryan Kesler, his ice time was reduced due to a second-half slump and the return of veteran Pavol Demitra from his shoulder problems.

The playoffs also didn't start well for Raymond last month. The speedy forward has been a reliable penalty killer, but the Los Angeles Kings checked in for nine power-play goals in the first four games. Raymond was benched, but responded later in the series when Canucks coach Alain Vigneault reinstated him on a line alongside Kesler.

"You give players individual feedback all the time, that's part of the coach's responsibility," Vigneault said. "When a player has an off day you have to make some moves. He's no different than anyone else.

"We need him to play like he did [Saturday] night. He was aggressive one-on-one. He was using his speed and his battle level in the right areas. The type of performance we got from him we're going to need on a nightly basis going forward."

Raymond is one of the swiftest skaters in the NHL. When he and the Canucks are skating they can make talented teams like the Blackhawks appear slow.

"A lot of it is experience," Raymond said, in explaining his breakout season. "I'm a third-year pro now and I learned a lot in my first two seasons. I hope to learn a lot more to come."

These are interesting times for the Canucks. Blackhawks sniper Patrick Kane admitted after Saturday's game that his team felt the series was going to be an easy one.

But Chicago found out otherwise. When Raymond contributes like he can and goalie Roberto Luongo plays the way he did in the first period when he made 17 saves, including a breakaway stop on Chicago's dynamic Kane, the Canucks are difficult to beat. But can they maintain this high level?

For the 6-foot, 185-pound Raymond, who is due for a hefty pay raise this summer because he is slated to become a restricted free agent, the timing could not be better to step up to a new level.

Niemi to start for Blackhawks in Game 2

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville stated that there is "no doubt" in his mind that Antti Niemi deserves to be back in goal for Chicago in Game 2 of their second-round series against Vancouver.

After all, the Blackhawks goalie bounced back with shutouts after his two losses in the opening-round series against the Nashville Predators.

"He has a laid-back approach and an ability to move forward," said Quenneville, who decided not to hold a practice on Sunday.

This was the fourth time in a row that the Blackhawks dropped a series opener. They battled back to beat the Cancuks last year in the second round and also beat the Predators in first round last month. But Chicago was bounced in the Western Conference final against the Detroit Red Wings after losing the first game.

Quenneville felt the difference was that his team couldn't bury its chances past Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo early on. He made 17 first-period saves. Then Raymond scored with 10.5 seconds remaining in the opening period and Henrik Sedin made it 3-0 in the first minute of the second period.

"Right there, it was probably the hockey game," said Quenneville, whose team was sloppy all game.

"All [the Canucks] goals were self-inflicted wounds [Saturday] night," Quenneville added.

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