Ich suche » uit, landed the trick he invented to seal the win —

ST. JOHNS, N.L. -- Michael Hutchinson has been the difference-maker for the St. Johns IceCaps throughout the American Hockey League Eastern Conference final. Tuesdays Game 6 was no different. Hutchinson made 34 saves as St. Johns advanced to the Calder Cup final with a 5-0 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. "Hutchinson is playing really well right now and he played a strong game tonight," IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge said. "He has done nothing but show he is a goaltender who is knocking on the door of the National Hockey League since we got him." The modest netminder credited his team with the shutout performance, saying the players in front of him played a great defensive game. "Fortunately the guys blocked a lot of shots, cleared rebounds and tied up sticks," Hutchinson said. "They really let me see the puck, and when I was able to see the puck I held onto it. It was a great team effort." Hutchinson added that winning the elimination game feels "unbelievable." "This is what you go for all season, to play for a championship," he said. "To get here is an unbelievable feeling, and to win on home ice makes it that much more special." McCambridge said the IceCaps were hoping the team would eliminate the Penguins on the road, but he was happy with the Game 6 win. "Everybody was disappointed that we were unable to close out the series in five (games) but you have to be realistic," he said. "Youre in the conference finals and its hard to close out (in five games), its rare. We said that if we were able to take two out of three in the oppositions building against a very good team, wed be happy with it." Eric ODell, Blair Riley, Adam Lowry, Jason Jaffray and Zach Redmond scored for St. Johns. The IceCaps opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 17:53 of the first period. ODell tipped a shot from Brenden Kichton in over the blocker of Penguins goalie Peter Mannino. Lowry doubled the IceCaps lead 3:24 into the second period, tapping in a Josh Morrissey feed that found the forward in front of the net. Riley tipped a point shot five-hole to extend the IceCaps lead to three at the 2:23 mark of the third period. Redmond scored a fourth for St. Johns with a wrist shot from the point while Jaffray screened Mannino at 5:21. Jaffray added an empty-net goal with 47.5 seconds left. Mannino made 25 saves for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. St. Johns will play the Texas Stars, who beat the Toronto Marlies in Game 7 Tuesday, for the AHL championship. Legendary American snowboarder Shaun White failed to win a medal in mens halfpipe at the Sochi Olympics on Tuesday. White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. The Russian-born athlete posted a score of 94.75 out of a possible 100 to leapfrog into first place on his second of two runs. Podladtchikov, who goes by the moniker "I-Pod" on the snowboarding circuit, landed the trick he invented to seal the win — a 1440-degree whirling jump he nicknamed the "Yolo" jump. White is two-time defending champion in the event and the most decorated snowboarder of all time. He struggled in his first run, landing on the edge of the halfpipe lip coming out of a double McTwist. He finished the run but scored just 35.00 points. The American fared much better with a score of 90.25 on his second attempt, but it wasnt enough to get on to the podium. "I am disappointed," White said after the finals were over. "I was looking forr four — I was hoping to do slopestyle, too, but it didnt pan out.dddddddddddd Tonight was just not my time." It was 15-year-old Japanese phenom Ayumu Hirano who was seen as the best bet to dethrone him, as the diminutive Japanese phenom has been nipping Whites heels all season. Hiranos run did not disappoint, posting a score of 93.50. But Podladtchikov, who seemed to get better as the day went on, posted an eye-popping jump to close out his second run in the finals and jump into the lead. Japanese snowboarder Taku Hiraoka took the bronze. Podladtchikovs win is vindication for him after finishing in fourth place, just outside the medals, four years ago in Vancouver. The event saw many competitors wipe out over the course of the day, as there have been many complaints that the Sochi course is too vertical. The vertical edge of the pipe is seven metres tall in Sochi, more than twice the height it has been in previous Olympic competitions. Many competitors have been hitting the deck on top of the course instead of landing their jumps cleanly. ' ' '