Kimberley Dynamiters win sixth straight

The Kimberley Dynamiters took on the KIJHL leading Creston Valley Thunder Cats in their only game this past weekend. It was a clash of winning streaks: Kimberley entered on a five game winning streak, and Creston was on a six game winning streak.

The Thunder Cats had control of the game for the first 30 minutes. Leading the prowl was Aiden Wong.

Wong attended the Dynamiters Main Camp, but then joined the Thunder Cats after a tryout with the Kindersley Klipper (SJHL). He scored the Cats three goals, capping the hat trick with a short-handed effort.

Head Coach and General Manager of the Cats, Jeff Dubois praised Wong’s efforts. “Aiden was excellent, just as he's been since he joined us. He has a great skill set, but he also plays a very smart game defensively.

“If there was any doubt that he could be an impact guy in our league, then he erased it last night, he was clearly our top guy.”

Dubois was also happy with the first part of the game, “We played a good first period, then took our foot off the gas after the 3-0 goal and let it become a game.”

Derek Stuart, Head Coach and General Manager for the Nitro’s, felt that his team were bystanders to start, “for some reason we had a slow start. I don’t know if we were a little bit in awe of them, puck watching. Our feet weren’t moving in the first period”

The next 30 minutes of the game belonged to the Kimberley Dynamiters.

“They have been dealing with pressure since day one,” Stuart said of the Nitro’s squad. “They don’t panic under pressure. The character is good, the leadership has been outstanding. They are comfortable in the situation: if you are down, you don’t give up.”

Rookie forward Brandt Bertoia from Unity, SK, ignited the Nitro’s comeback as he scored the first goal, his first KIJHL career goal. The Nitro’s were still trailing the Cats 3-1 by the end of the second.

Coach Stuart said, “I think for us to shut down their team shot wise in the second period, gave us that confidence coming into the third. It was a really big thing regardless of the score after forty.”

Newcomer, Matt Davies, playing in his third game scored his first KIJHL goal, getting the Dynamiters to within one.

“It was good to finally get the first one behind me,” Davies shared. “After joining the team a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to get the first one in there. It felt really good, I got a little bit of stress off my back.”

Brandt Bertoia deflected in his second of the game off a shot by not-at-all-related George Bertoia, levelling the game with just under four minutes’ left in the game.

The 590 in the Civic Centre celebrated the tying goal as if it was a playoff game. And they were treated to an additional two overtime periods.

Four-on-four, while exciting, yielded no conclusion. It was during three-on-three that there was a lot of ice to work with.

Chase Miller was the benefactor of a turn over for a break but was unable to beat Creston Valley’s keeper, Brock Lefebvre.

“I thought [Miller] was going to tuck it in,” Davies recalled. “He kept battling and threw the puck at the front of the net, I was just lucky enough to put it home.”

Davies was the overtime hero with his second goal of the game!

Mitch Traichevich turned aside 37 shots to earn his second win of the season. At the other end, Lefebvre stopped 33 of the 37 shots fired at him.

“It was a great game for the boys.” Davies recalled after the game. “The room has a lot of heart in there, we kept to our systems and to what coaches were telling us.”

From Dubois vantage point, “You don't win in Kimberley with a C+ effort and it was good to see the reaction from our guys after the game; they knew we played nowhere near our level.

“You also have to give Kimberley credit for sticking around and capitalizing on the opportunities we gave them.”

But Stuart saw things from a different perspective “It was a good first game out of the eight that we are going to see them. It was definitely entertaining.

“It’s always a good feeling to beat Creston, whether they are in first or last, it is always good to beat Creston”

Photo by Jonathan Righton

Check it out in the Kimberley Bulletin/Cranbrook Townsman