Aces win first game of Kelly Cup finals with 5-0 shutout 5-0: Coleman blanks the K-Wings as rookies score four of five goals for Aces.

Brian Swanson's left skate, a black Bauer T-1 Classic, died Saturday night. Cause of death: A run-in with A.J. Thelen's cannonading slap shot.
Swanson's skates, which he started wearing at the start of the playoffs, are useless now -- he finished the game in an old pair -- but losing them was worth the reward: Victory.
"We'll make that trade,'' he said.
Swanson's blocked shot while killing a penalty in the third period, one of seemingly countless sacrifices the Alaska Aces made in support of goaltender Gerald Coleman's third playoff shutout, helped deliver a 5-0 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings to open the ECHL's Kelly Cup Finals at Sullivan Arena.
Thelen's blast dented the hard cap of Swanson's skate, which is what obstensibly protects a players' toes -- "It just blew it up, for sure,'' Swanson said.
The Aces treated a standing-room-only, white-towel-waving crowd of 6,599 to the club's most lopsided victory of a postseason in which they have won all nine of their games.
The score proved deceiving to a degree. The Aces led 1-0 until the final minute of the second period, when Chris Langkow pushed the lead to 2-0, and they reeled off three goals in a span of 3:34 midway through the third period.
Still, the Aces have surrendered 10 goals in nine playoff games, and that stinginess has come from Coleman's excellence -- his 25 saves lifted him to 8-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .960 save percentage in the playoffs -- and his teammates' willingness to endure the ravages that come from blocking shots.
"Total commitment from our team to do everything possible to eliminate second chances,'' said Aces defenseman Russ Sinkewich.
Coleman, whose mother, Sarah Wright, was in attendance and saw him play live for the first time since his pro debut six years ago, said seeing his teammates willingly step into the path of blistering shots deepens his desire to succeed.
"I don't want to be the weak link,'' he said. "Usually, I make the first save and they're there to make sure I don't have to make a second one.''
Indeed, the explosive K-Wings, who dropped a series opener for the third time in four playoff rounds this spring, didn't enjoy an abundance of high-quality scoring chances. They were getting used to the Olympic-sized ice at Sullivan -- the rink is 15 feet wider than a standard sheet -- and will no doubt be crisper in Game 2 tonight at Sullivan.
"We weren't ready for the big ice, but (tonight) will be different,'' said K-Wings winger Darryl Lloyd. "We came here to win one game. That wasn't us tonight.
"It's not so much about X's and O's. We've got to work on our intensity.''
While the veteran Coleman moved into a third-place tie for most shutouts in a single playoff season -- Maxime Gingras racked five for Richmond in 1999 and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux bagged four for the Aces in 2009 -- rookies made an enormous impact for the Aces.
First-year players accounted for four goals. That included two from center Chris Langkow, who notched his second two-goal game in the last three matches, and third-period strikes from Tyler Ruegsegger and Ethan Cox.
"For this team to be successful, everyone has to pull their weight,'' Langkow said. "Such a good team effort.''
Aces veteran winger Wes Goldie snapped his season-worst, seven-game goal drought with a first-period, power-play strike. Yet K-Wings goalie Ryan Nie (26 saves) kept the Aces at bay until nearly the second intermission.
The Aces, who weren't overly crisp after a 12-day layoff between games, kept plugging away and finally broke through when Langkow scored with 57 seconds left in the second period for a 2-0 lead.
Then came that three-goal barrage in the third period that included Ruegsegger's goal on a short breakaway that finished the shift from hell for Kalamazoo defenseman Jon Landry. Kind folks would not wish that shift on anyone -- Landry was twice rocked to the ice by Sinkewich in the Aces' zone before the play transitioned into Kalamazoo's zone. Landry fell down and his tumble put Ruegsegger in alone on Nie, who he beat high to the glove side.
Ruegsegger said the club's older players have taught rookies like him that they can also lead.
"We all just try to compete for each other,'' Ruegsegger said. "I've never been on a team where the veterans care so much about the rookies and the rookies care so much about the veterans. Usually, it's a big seniority thing.''
The Aces expect a big response tonight from the K-Wings, who had not been shut out in 14 previous playoff games and can still steal home-ice advantage with a win tonight before the series moves to Michigan.
"They're going to come out firing, and we have to be ready to match them,'' Langkow said.

Shuffling the deck
• Scott Howes' assist on Goldie's goal gives him at least one point in all nine playoff games. Goldie extended his point streak to six games, Swanson stretched his to five and Dan Kissel furnished an assist to drive his streak to four games.
• Aces captain Scott Burt played his 100th Kelly Cup playoff game, leaving him two games shy of tying Chris Valicevic's league record.
• The Aces killed all four Kalamazoo power plays, no small feat against a team that came in with 30.0 power-play efficiency on the road in these playoffs. The Aces have killed 28 of 29 opposing power plays in the playoffs and have killed 48 of 51 opposing power plays in their last 16 games dating back to the regular season.
• One thing we learned about the K-Wings: Veteran center Kory Karlander is a beast on face-offs.
• Coleman has won nine straight starts dating back to the regular-season finale.

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Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

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Kalamazoo 0 0 0 -- 0
Aces 1 1 3 -- 5
First Period -- 1, Aces, Goldie 2 (Swanson, Howes), 14:55 (pp). Penalties -- Karlander, Kalamazoo (hooking), 6:05; Thelen, Kalamazoo (holding), 13:10; Lloyd, Kalamazoo (kneeing), 18:38.
Second Period -- 2, Aces, Langkow 4 (Kissel, Ward), 19:03. Penalties -- Swanson, Aces (goaltender interference), 4:45; Taylor, Kalamazoo (high-sticking), 15:19; Burt, Aces, minor-misconduct (roughing), 20:00; Lloyd, Kalamazoo, minor-misconduct (roughing), 20:00; Isherwood, Aces (roughing), 20:00; Versteeg, Kalamazoo (roughing), 20:00; Anderson, Aces (roughing), 20:00.
Third Period -- 3, Aces, Ruegsegger 2 (Fraser), 9:20; 4, Aces, Langkow 5, 11:41; 5, Aces, Cox 2 (Ruegsegger, Falite), 12:54. Penalties -- Swanson, Aces (holding), 14:30; Goldie, Aces (high-sticking), 17:10; O'Neill, Kalamazoo (high-sticking), 19:22.
Shots on goal -- Kalamazoo 7-8-10--25. Aces 17-10-5--32.
Power-play Opportunities -- Kalamazoo 0 of 4; Aces 1 of 5.
Goalies -- Kalamazoo, Nie, 11-3-1 (31 shots-26 saves). Aces, Coleman, 8-0-0 (25-25).
A -- 6,599 (6,399). T -- 2:26. Referee -- Graham Skilliter. Linesmen -- Steve Glines, Travis Jackson.