Wednesday 26 March 2014

KIJHL Finals Preview: Beaver Valley Nitehawks vs Kamloops Storm

The team I have picked to win it all, has advanced to the final, Beaver Valley Nitenhawks. And my mulligan pick, Kamloops Storm (since Summerland fizzled out early), are in the final as well. I'm stoked for the series showdown starting March 28. I will admit I am a Beaver Valley bandwagon fan right now.

I think it is worth noting that the top defensive teams (ranked 1 and 2 during the regular season) have both reached the final.

          VS          


Offence:
Beaver Valley ranked 4th (4.40 GFA)
Kamloops ranked 3rd (4.75 GFA)
Edge: Kamloops +1

Defence:
Beaver Valley ranked 1st (2.75 GAA)
Kamloops ranked 2nd (2.79 GAA)
Edge: Beaver Valley +1

Goaltending:
Beaver Valley ranked 3rd (.916 SV%)
Kamloops ranked 8th (.907 SV%)
Edge: Beaver Valley +5

Special Teams:
Beaver Valley ranked 2nd (109.94 PP+PK)
Kamloops ranked 3rd (108.38 PP+PK)
Edge: Beaver Valley +1

Series Edge:
Beaver Valley 
with a +7 points after tallying up the edges in each category.

Tuesday 18 March 2014

KIJHL Playoff Preview: Creston Valley Thundercats vs Beaver Valley Nitehawks

                 VS                 


Offence:
Creston Valley ranked 1st (5.42 GFA)
Beaver Valley ranked 4th (4.40 GFA)
Edge: Creston +3

Defence:
Creston Valley ranked 6th (3.10 GAA)
Beaver Valley ranked 1st (2.75 GAA)
Edge: Beaver Valley +5

Goaltending:
Creston Valley ranked 5th (.911 SV%)
Beaver Valley ranked 3rd (.916 SV%)
Edge: Beaver Valley +2

Special Teams:
Creston Valley ranked 1st (109.94 PP+PK)
Beaver Valley ranked 2nd (109.94 PP+PK)
Edge: Creston +1

Series Edge:
Beaver Valley 
with a +3 points after tallying up the edges in each category.

Monday 17 March 2014

KIJHL Playoff Preview: Osoyoos Coyotes vs Kamloops Storm


                     VS                 


Offence:
Osoyoos ranked 6th (3.90 GFA)
Kamloops ranked 3rd (4.75 GFA)
Edge: Kamloops +3

Defence:
Osoyoos ranked 12th (3.46 GAA)
Kamloops ranked 2nd (2.79 GAA)
Edge: Kamloops +10

Goaltending:
Osoyoos ranked 10th (.902 SV%)
Kamloops ranked 8th (.907 SV%)
Edge: Kamloops +2

Special Teams:
Osoyoos ranked 7th (101.74 PP+PK)
Kamloops ranked 3rd (108.38 PP+PK)
Edge: Kamloops +4

Series Edge:
Kamloops 
with a +19 points after tallying up the edges in each category.

However, I did pick Osoyoos as a sleeper team at the beginning of the playoffs, so anything is possible!

Thanks!

I have to say thank you to the fans of the team, the parents of the players, and the team for letting me blog this year for the team. It has been quite the ride.
  • To the players: Thanks for an awesome year and for becoming my kids heroes.
  • To the fans: Whether you are a new fan or a seasoned fan, your commitment to the team is unbelievable, and truly makes covering the games that much more fun. And thanks for your interactions and comments this year, whether here on the blog, or on twitter.
  • To the parents: Thanks for letting your sons come all the way to beautiful BC to play hockey. Thanks for trusting our community with your sons. Thanks for all your interactions, especially during the playoffs, this season. It was nice to connect, but I could also sense some sadness from being separated. You did well, and your sons did well.
  • To the organization: to the volunteer passing out 50/50 tickets, to the trainers and coaching staff, all the way to the board. Thanks for an awesomely committed year.
I look forward to an exciting 2014/15 season! Go Nitro's Go!

Sunday 16 March 2014

Congratulatory/Season End Tweets

It was amazing to watch the tweets rolling in at the end of game on Saturday and continue throughout Sunday.
















The team then shared this on facebook:

It was an awesome year! Great season and great run!

Nitro's suffer heartbreaking loss in Game #7, lose 5-4

I haven't been this heartbroken after a game since Russia came back an beat Canada at the 2010/11 World Junior Championship.

I honestly thought that after the second period, we had this one. And I am sure the team did too! But them Creston Valley Cats just wouldn't go away, they came back!

In the first period, both teams swapped PP goals, Marchi scored. Marchi's goal was a little of knuckle puck goal.


In the second, I received this tweet:
Late in the second, the Cats began to implode. They were being called for penalty after penalty, and the Nitro's added two more PP goals, plus a SH goal scored earlier. Goals by: Gray, Perpelitz, and Klingspohn. The arena was silent as the Nitro's scored three goals within 4:11. The webcast commentator for Creston felt that the two teams were going to skate out the third. I was preparing for the Dynamiters to take on the Beaver Valley Nitehawks.

And then Creston scored five minutes into the third period. That's OK, we are up 4-2. Seven minutes later, Creston scored again! I was a little bit more nervous, but we had a 4-3 lead. Then Creston scored again! NOOOOOO! And then we were called for a penalty in the final two minutes. And that offensive juggernaut squad popped in the game winning goal.

I was heartbroken, and I am just a fan! I can't even imagine how it was for the Dynamiters bench.

BUT! When you look at this series, even though we lost. We pushed the top team in the division, and a top three team in the league, to game seven, plus not to mention, had them on their toes throughout the series. Game #7 was the Cats highest scoring game, 5 goals. This for a team that scored over 5 GPG during the season and over 7 GPG in the first round! We did fantastic.

This was one of the best series I have ever seen. Job well done boys.

Saturday 15 March 2014

Nitro's lose Game #6, 4-2, head to Creston with series tied 3-3

Um. I don't even know where to start with writing about last nights game.... chaotic fans, blood on the ice, wacky bounces, poor reffing, or being sandwiched between loyal Thundercat and Dynamiter fans. This game had it all! It was intense and entertaining.... or was that just because of the crowd in front and behind me?

I'll go period by period (this may be lengthy so I am going to use subheadings and such for those who want to speed read):

First Period

Blood on the Ice
Early in the first period a shot was deflected into Becker's face. He immediately went down, and it was obvious to the fans that Becker was bleeding. But despite the referee LOOKING RIGHT AT HIM down on the ice, he let play continue, until Brouwer left his net to assist him. Becker got guided off the ice, after he left a pool of blood on the ice. The ref and a lines(wo)man then skated around the puddle peering into it. I can only imagine that they were looking for a tooth. Finally they brought out a scrapper and cleaned up the ice.



It's a bird? It's a plane? It's a flying stick!
I missed seeing the details of the Cats first goal, because a stick was not just slashed, but chopped, out of a defending nitro's hand and went floating up as high as the World Champions banner (that's right, we have one of those in the rafters). So while I was watching this stick, the Cats put the puck passed Brouwer, who ironically, stick was stuck in the netting of the net.

Chanting
As I mentioned at the start, I was wedged, along with my daughters friends family, in between Nitro's and Cats faithful. Between the challenging chants of "White!" "Blue!" and air horns and bells. The four kids, under the age of six, spent some time with their hands over their ears because of how loud it was getting. Which only added to the intensity of the atmosphere. I must credit these Cats fans, even though they were intense, they were respectful, and were open to friendly banter (and reminders of the little ears).


That Referee
While I am writing about this in the first period slot, and the referee really did annoy Kimberley fans, he did begin to irritate the Creston fans in front of me later in the game. While the calls, well some of them, were legit, it was one sided. We would get tripped, no call, we trip someone, called. We get roughed, no call, we rough up a Cats player, we are called. And so on. You get the picture. This led to me tweeting this:


Which led to this response:


Second Period

Nitro's Score!
Garcia got the Nitro's on the score sheet with a lucky bounce. It was a power play goal that Garcia shot that deflected off the glass and then ricochet off the goalie and in. Sibbald then beautifully fed Perpelitz the puck from behind the net and Perpelitz got it past a sprawling Michalovsky. Perpelitz also had a chance earlier but rang the puck off the post. This left the Cats with a 3-2 lead going into the third.

Third Period

Zamboni
The Zamboni driver must have felt the pressure of setting up the third period of a tight and intense game. The third period was delayed in starting because of the puddles in the corner of the arena. The officials tried to spread the slush around, but they had to call back the Zamboni to scrap the ice and pickup the slush. In a friendly banter, a Nitro's fan yelled to the Creston faithful "It's your hot air that is thawing the ice!"

Fan Ruckus
At about the 11 minute mark, play was stopped because of something going on in the crowd. Nitro's fans say a Cats fan started throwing beer at them, and then onto the ice; Cats fans report that a Nitro's fan started throwing beer at them, and then onto the ice. So I am not really sure what happened. Just that play was stopped, security was involved, doors were slamming, and RCMP were on the scene.

You remember that Creston faithful in front of me? Well, they have a crush on Buckley or something, cause besides his name they could only say Brouwer. Any way, they got to Buckley, and during a stoppage of play, Buckley flicked the puck up at them (hitting the glass).

Penalties
Garcia was called for a head shot (again), and it didn't even look like a head shot. Buckley received a game misconduct for a hit, which Collins sold. Garcia could potentially be suspended (hasn't appeared on the KIJHL site yet), but Buckley has been. Nice dive Collins, and poor call official.

Cheap Shots
The ref, again missing something that happened to a Nitro's player, didn't see Perpelitz get nailed to the head by Sidwell. He was down on the ice, hurt. No call was ever made. And that was a call that needed to happen. It was ugly, and targeted a key player for the Nitro's.

The ThunderCats even ran Brouwer a couple of times, and there was no goalie interference call! It was ridiculous!

Next Game
The teams play tonight. The Nitro's need to play their game and not be so hard on themselves. They were up 3-1 and now have a third chance (third times a charm) to finish off the Cats.

I do wonder if the Nitro's will change their goalie, and return to Mousseau for this clutch game, even though in my mind, Brouwer has played awesome! I hope WHL scouts were watching him.






Friday 14 March 2014

Nitro's lose Game #5 4-2, keep 3-2 series lead

Well, we couldn't expect the Creston Valley Thundercats to lose 4 games in a row and just roll over and die, and they didn't. Creston took a 1-0 lead into the second. Kimberley took a 2-1 lead into the third. But Creston won the game 4-2.

Surprisingly there weren't as many penalties called, despite this game being very intense and fast paced. Brouwer stopped 29 shots to keep the team in it. Nielsen (what a great pickup he has been for the team) had 1G and 1A. Perpelitz 2A, and Wallace 1G.

The boxscore indicates that Wallace's goal wasn't a powerplay goal, as both teams struggled to score on the PP this game. But I swear the Nitro's were. The goal was scored at 11:09 of the second, and the penalty was called against the Cats at 13:05, so there was still 4 seconds left on the powerplay.

The Nitro's tried pulling Brouwer late in the third to create chances, but the Cats were able to bury it.

The Nitro's Player of the Game was Nielsen, he was in on both goals, but was frequently all over the ice, creating and preventing chances.

The series now shifts to Kimberley, where the Nitro's have yet to lose on home ice this series, they have a second chance to finish off Creston. - The place will be rockin'!

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Highlights of Nitro's 6-3 win in game 4

)

Nitro's dominate Game #4 and take a 3-1 series lead

For the second time this season, the Dynamiters have beaten the Thundercats at home with a three goal lead.

I have learned throughout the season and playoffs, that it doesn't matter who scores first, the Dynamiters have won several games despite not scoring first. Heck, they have won several games when they were even down going into the third. But when Creston scored first, I STILL had anxiety!

As expected the Cats started Lefebvre, because he was undefeated in the playoffs coming into this game. He lasted until six minutes into the second period, letting in three goals on 11 shots. Nielsen, Buckley and Perpelitz were able to get the puck past Lefebvre. Not to mention that Perpelitz's goal was a soft one, a flutter shot that got in short side.

Michalovsky came in as relief for Lefebvre. He too let in three goals. Sibbald, Nielsen and Becker scored on him.

At the other end Brouwer continued to be peppered by the Thundercats offence, facing 38 shots. He impressively played positional goaltending, taking away views to the net. He also made some amazing desperation saves, because to be honest, the Thundercats are a skilled offensive team and made some sweet passes to spread the Nitro's thin, but Brouwer was there!

I get that Buckley has a label on his back, but I don't understand how he can just lightly bump the goalie and get an interference call, while Brouwer can get bowled over and landed on, and not one goalie interference call was made. What was even more puzzling was Buckley was given a 10-minute misconduct for, well, nothing that I could see. Except that this ref seemed to have mercy towards the Cats, he was making calls after their bench made a big deal about something.

Just a note on special teams. Creston has gone 0 for 13 on the PP the past two games, while Kimberley has gone 2 for 8. During the series Creston has scored 3 times on 26 attempts (11.5%), and Kimberley has scored 5 times on 18 attempts (27.7%).

The Nitro's Player of the Game was Brouwer. He made 35 saves that kept his team in the lead, and stood on his head for the last 6 minutes when the Cats pulled their goalie while on the PP. But a shout out to Nielsen who had 2G, Perpelitz 1G 2A, and Buckley (despite being in the box for 12 minutes) 1G 1A.

Tuesday 11 March 2014

Highlights on Nitro's 4-1 win in game 3

)

Nitro's win Game #3 over Creston, 4-1

The ThunderCats were without bite, and seemed to be de-clawed in game three, as their potent offence was held to one goal, losing 4-1. This was also the first time this season that Kimberley beat Creston on home ice.

The Cats were without Formosa who is serving a 5-game suspension, he was the Cats leading scorer heading into the series.

Goaltending has been a story in this series. Mousseau and Lefebvre started game 1, and the Cats won that game. Both Mousseau and Lefebvre were the starters for round one. However, both teams switched goalies in game 2, Brouwer and Michalovksy took to the crease. Michalovksy was the Cats primary goalie this season, he won the division award for best goalie and I named him to my KIJHL all-star team. But he has now lost the past two games, and Lefebvre is undefeated in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see who starts game 4 for the Cats.

But despite who starts for Creston, the division best goalie or their undefeated goalie; our goalie, Brouwer is in NHL 14. Don't believe me? Check out this screen shot, and this one, and this spreadsheet of roster updates.

This game was a better officiated game.... well, until the third. The Nitro's were dished a questionable head contact penalty. Which was the first of three powerplays for Creston. Creston had six attempts during the game, but failed to score, as the Dynamiters were effective on the PK. The Nitro's also capitalized once on the powerplay out of three attempts.

Richter, Marchi and Garcia scored, while Busch potted the empty net goal. This was an overall team effort game. With eight Dynamiters getting one point. For me, the Nitro's Player of the Game was Brouwer, he made 33 saves, and some of them unbelievable, especially as Creston pushed to tie the game.

Check the boxscore for more stats. The two teams play again tonight.

Sunday 9 March 2014

Nitro's win Game #2 4-2 to even series with Thundercats

Despite the flower power, the Creston Valley Thundercats were unable to amount much of an offensive attack, losing game two at home to the Nitro's.

In an interesting move, the Dynamiters started Brouwer instead of Mousseau, even though he stopped 90% of the shots last game. Michalovksy was in net for the Cats.

Creston opened the scoring in the first, but then collapsed during the second. - Now I noted last game the difference in the penalty calls that the Nitro's were receiving compared to the Cats: up for interpretation stick infractions versus illegal hits. I received some feedback from, I assume, Cats fans:


and I responded with:


Well, that theme continued, and speaking of "time [that] coaches got control" just look at this implosion by the Cats: Unsportsmanlike, Checking from Behind, Game Ejection, Roughing, and a 10-minute misconduct. Talk about a team that the coaches lost control of. Again, note that the majority of penalties for the Cats are the "must call" calls, and some of them may lead to a couple game suspensions. This second period implosion led to the Dynamiters scoring three goals, including two power play goals.

In the third, Creston increased their efforts, but Brouwer played his positional game and kept the Cats to one goal, despite numerous chances. Both teams had disallowed goals, and Garcia (who's been quiet this series compared to last) had a breakaway, and couldn't capitalize. Eventually Nielsen, with great awareness while short-handed was able to score on the empty net from the defensive end.

Nielsen's effort in the game earned him the "Who's Hot In The KIJHL" recognition, and was also the Nitro's Player of the Game.



Saturday 8 March 2014

Nitro's lose Game #1 to Creston 4-1

The juggernaut offensive squad Creston Valley Thunder Cats were held to four goals, that's three less than their previous series average and about 1.5 less than their season average. However, the Nitro's were only able to score once and lost the game 4-1.

Creston Valley peppered Mousseau with 40 shots, and a good chunk of those were quality chances, because when you have 10 powerplay's, you get a lot of shots on net.

All 873 fans that attended the game must have slipped the ref at least a dollar, because the officiating was lopsided. Even the Creston webcast play-by-play commentator said that the ref had made some interesting calls. I would have liked to track how many times he said "Nitro player tripped up, no call" or "Nitro player taken down, no call". When you look at the penalties the Cats got, they were the 'must call' calls, such as goaltender interference (which Buckley returned the favor), hitting from behind, and boarding (which was only given 2 minutes, should have been more!). But the Nitro's were constantly called for slashing and tripping, which are calls that are always up for interpretation.

The Nitro's did a lot of shot-blocking while on the penalty kill. I didn't catch who got the puck in the wrist, but I saw Gray take a slap shot in the chest. WAIT! Is this how Creston is going to win the series?!?!?! Get the ref to give you 10 powerplay's so that you can, not just score goals, but slowly take the Nitro's out by smashing the puck into the players. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but I smell a conspiracy (separate from the controversy in the Beaver Valley and Nelson series).

Buckley scored the Nitro's only goal on a rebound into a wide open net. Mousseau made 36 saves, and prevented the score from reaching Columbia Valley levels. But for me, the Nitro's Player of the Game goes to Gray (and the whole defensive group) for the job on the PK killing penalties and blocking shots.

The Nitro's and the Cats play again tonight in Creston. We have won twice in their barn, so it will be another entertaining game! Go Nitro's!

Thursday 6 March 2014

In Depth Series Preview: Kimberley Dynamiters vs Creston Valley Thunder Cats

The Dynamiters faced the Thunder Cats eight times this season. Here are the results:

  • Nov. 1: Kimberley 2 @ Creston Valley 5
  • Nov. 2: Creston Valley 5 @ Kimberley 2
  • Nov. 15: Creston Valley 5 @ Kimberley 2
  • Nov. 29: Kimberley 3 @ Creston Valley 6
  • Dec. 30: Kimberley 4 @ Creston Valley 3
  • Jan. 18: Creston Valley 4 @ Kimberley 2
  • Feb. 5: Creston Valley 4 @ Kimberley 4
  • Feb. 7: Kimberley 3 @ Creston Valley 2

Home Ice Advantage?
Creston won the series winning five of the games, Dynamiters won two, and the other was a tie. What is interesting is that the games played in Creston were divided two a piece. Creston outplayed Kimberley however on the road, with Kimberley only getting a tie on home ice. Needless to say, home-ice advantage in this series will be crucial, whoever wins on home ice might just win the series.

Scoring
Creston outscored Kimberley 34 to 22. When Kimberley held Creston to four goals or less they tied or won the games. That will be a difficult challenge for the Dynamiters since Creston is such an offensive juggernaut. Just ask Columbia Valley who had an average of 7.25 goals scored against them by Creston.

Nitro's Playoff Point Leaders
Jason Richter 4G-5A
Tyler Garcia 5G-2A
Tyler Klingspohn 2G-3A
Bryce Perpelitz 2G-3A
Dylan Sibbald 0G-5A

Thunder Cats Playoff Point Leaders
Brandon Formosa 4G-5A
Jesse Collins 3G-6A
Connor Kidd 1G-6A
Matti Jmaeff 2G-4A
Marcel Fuchs 3G-2A

Round 2 Playoff Predictions & Musings

Final Four
In March Madness terms I'd say that my bracket was busted, because the Summerland Steam lost in seven games to the North Okanagan Knights. I even picked that series as a David vs Goliath, thinking that Summerland had the advantage in the series. And to be honest, I had, using my power rankings, Summerland as the team facing off against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks in the final.

If I can have a mulligan, I'd now pick the Kamloops Storm to face-off against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks.

Series Previews
I have done series previews for round two using the regular season statistics and the February 23 Power Rankings. I realize that they do not include the first round stats, but for the most part teams had the same statistical theme's except for Creston Valley and Beaver Valley. Both were explosive offensively during the first round with Creston scoring an average 7.25 goals a game, and Beaver Valley scoring 6.

Primed to Upset
The Beaver Valley Nitehawks, even though I have picked them to get to the final, are the lower seed in their series against Nelson. I believe they can upset.

David vs Goliath
The Kamloops Storm are sitting nice statistically compared to 100 Mile House.

Okanagan/Shuswap Conference
This conference has been anything but predictable, with only one top seed winning their series. Even though I indicated that Osoyoos was primed to upset, which they did. Osoyoos now has a statistical edge in their series, so that series will be very entertaining to watch.

KIJHL Playoff Preview: (3) Osoyoos Coyotes vs (4) North Okanagan Knights


                VS               


Offence:
Osoyoos ranked 6th (3.90 GFA)
North Okanagan ranked 14th (3.23 GFA)
Edge: Osoyoos +8

Defence:
Osoyoos ranked 12th (3.46 GAA)
North Okanagan ranked 14th (3.75 GAA)
Edge: Osoyoos +2

Goaltending:
Osoyoos ranked 10th (.902 SV%)
North Okanagan ranked 9th (.903 SV%)
Edge: North Okanagan +1

Special Teams:
Osoyoos ranked 7th (101.74 PP+PK)
North Okanagan ranked 18th (94.79 PP+PK)
Edge: Osoyoos +11

Series Edge:
Osoyoos 
with a +20 points after tallying up the edges in each category.

KIJHL Playoff Preview: (1) Kamloops Storm vs (3) 100 Mile House Wranglers

                  VS                    


Offence:
Kamloops ranked 3rd (4.75 GFA)
100 Mile House ranked 17th (3.06 GFA)
Edge: Kamloops +14

Defence:
Kamloops ranked 2nd (2.79 GAA)
100 Mile House ranked 10th (3.38 GAA)
Edge: Kamloops +8

Goaltending:
Kamloops ranked 8th (.907 SV%)
100 Mile House ranked 15th (.893 SV%)
Edge: Kamloops +7

Special Teams:
Kamloops ranked 3rd (108.38 PP+PK)
100 Mile House ranked 13th (97.98 PP+PK)
Edge: Kamloops +10

Series Edge:
Kamloops 
with a +39 points after tallying up the edges in each category.

KIJHL Playoff Preview: (1) Nelson Leafs vs (2) Beaver Valley Nitehawks


                      VS                    


Offence:
Nelson ranked 2nd (4.75 GFA)
Beaver Valley ranked 4th (4.40 GFA)
Edge: Nelson +2

Defence:
Nelson ranked 5th (3.10 GAA)
Beaver Valley ranked 1st (2.75 GAA)
Edge: Beaver Valley +4

Goaltending:
Nelson ranked 13th (.898 SV%)
Beaver Valley ranked 3rd (.916 SV%)
Edge: Beaver Valley +10

Special Teams:
Nelson ranked 6th (103.1 PP+PK)
Beaver Valley ranked 2nd (109.94 PP+PK)
Edge: Beaver Valley +4

Series Edge:
Beaver Valley 
with a +16 points after tallying up the edges in each category.

KIJHL Playoff Preview: (1) Creston Valley Thunder Cats vs (2) Kimberley Dynamiters

                 VS                     



Offence:
Kimberley ranked 12th (3.38 GFA)
Creston Valley ranked 1st (5.42 GFA)
Edge: Creston +11

Defence:
Kimberley ranked 4th (3.02 GAA)
Creston Valley ranked 6th (3.10 GAA)
Edge: Kimberley +2

Goaltending:
Kimberley ranked 14th (.898 SV%)
Creston Valley ranked 5th (.911 SV%)
Edge: Creston +9

Special Teams:
Kimberley ranked 5th (103.93 PP+PK)
Creston Valley ranked 1st (109.94 PP+PK)
Edge: Creston +4

Series Edge:
Creston Valley 
with a +22 points after tallying up the edges in all categories.

Series Schedule vs Creston Valley Thunder Cats

Here is the schedule for the upcoming round 2 series with the Creston Valley Thunder Cats (home games bolded):


  • Friday March 7th 7:30 pm at Creston 
  • Saturday March 8th 7:30 pm at Creston 
  • Monday March 10th 7:00 pm at Kimberley 
  • Tuesday March 11th7:00 pm at Kimberley 
  • Thursday March 13th 7:30 pm at Creston 
  • Friday March 14th 7:00 pm at Kimberley 
  • Saturday March 15th 7:30 pm at Creston

Note that on Sunday March 9th, the clocks go ahead an hour (except in Creston), so Creston will be on PST instead of MST (i.e. a 7:30 pm start in Creston is 8:30 pm in Kimberley)

Wednesday 5 March 2014

KIJHL All-Star Team comparison with KIJHL Division Awards

The KIJHL recently posted the Divisional Award Winners (listed below). I thought it may be fun to compare the divisional award winners with the All-Star Team I named.

Below is the list of the award winners (without the Coach of the year), those in bold were named to the all-star team.

DIVISIONAL AWARDS FOR 2013-2014      
EDDIE MOUNTAIN DIVISION

Top Defenseman – BRYCE PERPELITZ –Kimberley Dynamiters
Most Sportsmanlike – JESSE COLLINS – Creston Valley Thundercats
Most Valuable – TREVOR HANNA – Creston Valley Thundercats
Rookie Of The Year – LOGAN STYLER – Creston Valley Thundercats
Top Goaltender – KYLE MICHALOVSKY – Creston Valley Thundercats
Top Scorer – JESSE COLLINS – Creston Valley Thundercats

NEIL MURDOCH DIVISION
Top Defenseman – ARCHIE McKINNON – Beaver Valley Nitehawks
Most Sportsmanlike – RYAN EDWARDS – Beaver Valley Nitehawks
Most Valuable – JAMIE VLANICH – Nelson Leafs
Rookie Of The Year – ALEC WILKINSON – Nelson Leafs
Top Goaltender – JON MANLOW  – Spokane Braves
Top Scorer – JAMIE VLANICH – Nelson Leafs

DOUG BIRKS DIVISION
Top Defenseman – DANIEL BUCHANAN – Kamloops Storm
Most Sportsmanlike – LANE Van De WETERING – 100 Mile House Wranglers
Most Valuable – DANIEL BUCHANAN – Kamloops Storm
Rookie Of The Year – LUKE SANTERNO – 100 Mile House Wranglers
Top Goaltender – KRIS JOYCE – Sicamous Eagles
Top Scorer – KALEB BOYLE – Chase Heat

OKANAGAN DIVISION
Top Defenseman – NICK HEADRICK – Kelowna Chiefs
Most Sportsmanlike – BRADY MENDE – Kelowna Chiefs
Most Valuable – KIENAN SCOTT – Summerland Steam
Rookie Of The Year – KIENAN SCOTT – Summerland Steam
Top Goaltender – TYLER O’DONNELL – Kelowna  Chiefs
Top Scorer – JAGGER BOWLES – Kelowna Chiefs

And the following are players named to the team, that are not listed above:

  • Brandon Formosa - Creston Valley
  • Seth Schmidet - Creston Valley
  • Travis Wellman - Nelson
  • Daniel St. Pierre - Nelson
  • Dallas Calvin - Beaver Valley
  • Jackson Purvis - Grand Forks
  • Spencer Spoech - Kamloops
  • Josh Rasmussen - Kamloops
  • Brock Balson - Kamloops
  • Tyson Levesque - 100 Mile House
  • Nick Josephs - Kelowna
So out of 24 players named to the all-star team, 11 didn't get divisional awards (54% of the All-Star team received awards). And out of the 24 awards listed, only 7 were not bolded (a 70% accuracy). Not bad I'd say.

It's also noticable that I had more omissions in the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference than the Kootenay Conference, and this is probably because I cover the Dynamiters games and I see Kootenay Conference teams more often that Okanagan/Shuswap Conference teams.

Two Dynamiters are moving on next season


Darren Martin, the team captain, has signed his intent to play with the University of Central Oklahoma.


Tanner Gray, another defenceman, has committed to the Eastern Washington State University.

Both join their new teams at the start of the 2014/15 season. Good luck!

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Dynamiters win series with a dominating 7-1 win

After being behind or tied for almost half the game, the Nitro's exploded during the second half of the game scoring seven goals for a 7-1 win over the Ghostriders. Taking the series in 5 games. And as noted by fellow Ghostrider blogger, this was the first time in eight years that the Dynamiters have beaten the Ghostriders in a playoff series.

To start the game, the Ghostriders had a peculiar start in net. Nothing against Austin Wells, but the Riders had started Logan-Hill in every game, so it seemed weird after an overtime loss to start Wells. But it all made sense when this tweet was sent out the morning after the loss:

For me, I like to see the teams best players play in the series (yeah, KIJHL), that way it is a truly even series. So part of me doesn't feel complete closure that the Riders were unable to ice their starting goalie for the last and determining game of the series.

The Dynamiters looked like how they did at the start of the season, that you can't skate with them for all three periods. The Nitro's proved that again as they scored four goals in the third period. When you look at all four games that the Nitro's won, they were either down or tied going into the second period, and only once (this 7-1 win) took a lead into the third period.

So many things went right for the Dynamiters that it is hard to choose just one player as the the player of the game. Miller had 1G and 2A, Garcia scored the game winner, Marchi and Klingspohn had 1G and 1A, Sibbald and Perpelitz 2A. So that leaves Richter, who had two quick goals in the third, as the Nitro's Player of the Game.

The series ended with nice sportsmanship tweets between the teams and players:







But what was more fun, were the celebration tweets:















And then of course, the victory tweet:



The Nitro's will take on Creston Valley for the division finals starting March 7.

Sunday 2 March 2014

Nitro's score four unanswered goals to win Game #4 in OT

In an electrifying comeback game, the Nitro's came back from a three goal deficit to eventually win the game in OT.

There has been an ongoing theme of the Ghostrider's net coming off of the pegs, and I am not the only one noticing now:








The Nitro's were down 2-0 after one period, despite outshooting the Ghostrider's. I was afraid that Logan-Hill was going to be in another one of his zone's.

After two periods, heck, after two and a half periods the Ghostrider's had a 3-1 lead, and I was getting nervous. Garcia scored his second goal of the game, just after the half-way point. And with time ticking down in the third the Nitro's pulled their goalie. And just when I was about to abandon hope and close the broadcast and prepare for a best of three series, Perpelitz popped in a loose puck, tying the game with ten seconds left! I was ecstatic!

The game lasted an additional three minutes and 31 seconds as Pagura scored the game winner! It earned him the "Who's Hot in the KIJHL" recognition on the KIJHL website:

Owly Images

Even though Pagura scored the winner, and Perpelitz the tying goal, and Mousseau kept the team in the game, the Nitro's Player of the Game was Tyler Garcia. For the second game in a row Garcia was the player of the game, he scored two goals, hit the post, and assisted on the game tying goal. He is really having an impact on the series.

Saturday 1 March 2014

Eddie Mountain Top Defenceman - Perpelitz

Bryce Perpelitz received honors of being the top defenceman in the Eddie Mountain Divsion (photo by Jon Righton):

Ghostriders take game #3

The Dynamiters were unable to solve Logan-Hill and the Ghostriders won for first time in Kimberley this year winning game three of he series 3-1, but the Dynamiters maintain a 2-1 series lead.

I pointed out in the in-depth series preview, that if Logan-Hill faces a lot of pucks in a game, the Ghostriders end up winning.Well, that is what happened. Logan-Hill got into a zone and turned away 43 of 44 shots.

The officiating, as usual, was peculiar. I used to be a basketball official, and I have never seen travelling called in a hockey game, which is what happened to Miller - the puck kept ricocheting off of him as he was taking the puck out of the zone, and the ref blew it dead. The linesmen called offsides when the play was onside, and then when the play was offside they let it go. There were odd icing calls. But the most annoying part was how often the Ghostider's (emphasized intentionally added) net came off the pegs and play would continue until the Nitro's scored. Then off course the goal wouldn't count, and no extra time was added back on the clock because of the nulled play. So FRUSTRATING!

But that wasn't the only difficulty of the night. The Nitro's score board was having problems. From the start of the game during the singing of the national anthem, there were electrical issues. It made for a game that was slow and favoured the Ghostriders. The Ghostriders remind me of the post 2004 lockout Philadelphia Flyers, where they had big, tall, and non-agile defencemen. The slower the game, the more beneficial it is for the Ghostriders slow defence. (I should note though, even though they are slow, I wouldn't want to be body checked by Weber or Odelein, just saying).

Even though the Nitro's remained hot on the powerplay, scoring their only goal of the game on the PP, and pulled their goalie with just over two minutes left, they were unable to beat Logan-Hill at the same pace they have before. The Nitro's took almost as many shots on Logan-Hill in the second period as the Ghostriders had on Mousseau throughout the game.

The Nitro's Player of the Game was Tyler Garcia. He had an assist in the game, and was a physical force on offence. Hitting players while on the attack and charging towards the net.

As the series shifts to game #4 in Fernie, the Dynamiters have a chance to take a 3-1 series lead and finish the series at home on Monday. Go Nitro's!