The Dynamiters and Thunder Cats Series is just getting started

The Kimberley Dynamiters opened the Eddie Mountain Division Finals against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats with game one on Tuesday and game two on Wednesday in Creston at the Johnny Bucyk Arena.

Dynamiters head coach and general manager Derek Stuart wanted his team to continue from where they left off against Fernie, and they did just that.

The Dynamiters were able to steal home ice advantage by winning game one in Creston, 3-2. KIJHL Round One Star James Farmer continued to shine as he earned a goal and an assist to help the Nitro’s keep pace with the Cats in periods one and two. It wasn’t until the third period when George Bertoia scored the game winning goal.

Looking back at game one, head coach and general manager of the Cats, Jeff Dubois, felt that his team was a little sleepy, because of their overconfidence in their series sweep against the Columbia Valley Rockies.

“I think we came out of the first round series being a little too impressed with ourselves, getting the sweep. Realistically our guys should've realized that in a Kimberley series things were not going to come easy. We took for granted that we have had a lot of success this past month, and we haven't faced a lot of adversity.

“Any way you want to measure playoff hockey: compete level, intensity, winning battles - Kimberley made us look bad in all those areas [during game one].”

In game two, the story line flipped as Austin Anselmo and Ronnie Wilkie each scored two goals and two assists to carry the Cats 4-1 over the Nitro’s.

“You have 24 hours to regroup” Dubois said, “and the guys did a great job of getting back to where they needed to [in game two].”

The Dynamiters wanted to win both games, and not just be content with splitting the games in Creston, but they looked flat throughout game two.

“Any team wants to win a series in four; we weren't looking for a split. We wanted to win [game two], of course.

“We didn't get anything going on our power play, five on five, or penalty killing.” Stuart said, “We were flat all night.

“Creston played well and we didn’t; now it becomes a best of five. The series is just getting going now.”

The Nitro’s want to “ctrl+alt+delete” game two from their memory,

“We need to forget about game two completely, delete it from our minds” Stuart said, “We just need to get back to playing our game.”

The series now shifts to the larger iced Kimberley Civic Centre for games three and four on Friday and Saturday. The bigger ice surface, rink history and crowd is something Cats bench boss Dubois is aware and cautious of:

“That’s a rink over the past couple of years that we haven't had fun in. But we did pick up a couple of wins in Kimberley in January. We won two very close and tight games in that building.

“Kimberley plays to the size of their ice really well, they use the whole ice.

“I'm sure Friday and Saturday the stands are going to be packed, we need to tune that out. If we play how we did in game two, we will be competitive.”

And the Dynamiters are thrilled to return home after three road games and partake in the energy that the Civic Centre crowd brings.

“The only home ice advantage any team has is their crowds. I believe we have the best fans in the conference. We are looking forward to feed of the energy that the crowd is going to bring.

“The series is just getting started now. The hate-on that is naturally there for a team like Fernie is starting to creep into our dressing room as well.”

The start time for the games on Friday and Saturday is 7p.m.