Podcast: Nitros down Fernie in 2OT; Sorting through the Cranbrook rumor mill

Kimberley Dynamiters win their lone weekend game in double overtime

The Kimberley Dynamiters had a lone game this past weekend against their arch-nemesis, the Fernie Ghostriders.

The Ferne Memorial Arena was filled to capacity to see the 'Riders and Nitros go head to head for the sixth and final time this regular season.

"It's crazy loud in there," Neil Kingston said. "The fans same really great, and it's a great place to play. But as a team coming in, you have to feed off that and make your own energy."

The first period was and furious. There were only five stoppages in play. No penalties. No goals. Very entertaining.

"We dominated the pace," Kingston said reviewing the game, "kind of drowned out the noise of that rink that the fans bring and just played our game."

Despite leading in shots, the Nitros surrendered the games first goal early in the second period.

In the third, Keegan McDowell found a way to swat a bouncing puck into the net to tie the game at one.

Tied at one, the Nitros had 41 shots to the 'Riders 23 heading into over time.

The first extra period was four-on-four, and produced no result.

The second overtime period was three-on-three. With just under two minutes left, Spencer Kennedy playing the 'Riders for the first time since being suspended in a game against them, drove to the net and backhanded the puck in for the overtime winning goal.

"It was pretty sweet," Kennedy said. "There was some conflict therea, and some of those guys don't like me very much over there. Me being the guy to score the goal was kind of cool."

Kennedy was named the Away Star of the Game, while Adam Andersen made 27 saves.

"We really took it to them," Kingston said. "It was good to show ourselves that we can win in that rink and play with that kind of energy."

With the win, the Nitros won the regular season series 4-1-1. It was also their last game of the month, and the Nitros went 7-0-1-1 in January.

"I really liked how we played. We played better in January than we did in December; that's a good sign. Hopefully we can play better in February than we did in January."

The Nitros play on the road Friday in Invermere against the Columbia Valley Rockies, to then return home on Saturday to host the Creston Valley ThunderCats.

Highlights: Nitros win 2-1 in OT against Fernie

Podcast: Belated weekend review: Skytt & Daniels play former teams; Plus Andersen & Anderson

The Kimberley Dynamiters shutout the Columbia Valley Rockies 3-0 for 5th win in a row

The Kimberley Dynamiters are on a roll after winning the fifth game in a row on Tuesday against the Columbia Valley Rockies.

It was a busy Tuesday night game. The Kimberley Dynamiters recognized emergency services prior to puck drop, the Gary Pearson Memorial Award was presented, and it was unused ticket night.

All this drew a crowd of 832, again, on a Tuesday night.

Similar to the game against the Columbia Valley Rockies on Friday, the Nitros opened the scoring early, with Brandt Bertoia scoring the first goal of the game.

Thirty-five seconds into the second period, Brock Palmer made it a 2-0 game. Moments later Keegan McDowell scored on the power play.

The remaining 36 minutes of gameplay was scoreless.

"In terms of offense, we looked a little bit tired, and just couldn't find that extra gear that we have." head coach and general manager Derek Stuart said. "That was our eighth game in 18 days."

Adam Andersen made 17 saves to earn his third shutout of the season.

"It's great. We got a great team here. It's easy when you get nights like these. It's nice when you can keep them all out, and put up saves like that, and play a complete game."

"Whenever you keep a team to below 20 shots, you know your playing great defence."

After the game, Stuart praised the teams penalty kill, as he noted that the team hasn't had a power play goal scored against in five games.

Upcoming, the Dynamiters have a lone game this weekend against the Fernie Ghostriders (22-12-3-3) in Fernie.

Stuart wants the team to continue to play Nitros hockey to keep the momentum alive.

"We just need to continue to play our game. For us it is more about us doing our good things."

Puck drop is 7:30pm at the Fernie Memorial Arena.

Lead photo by Jonathan Righton

The Kimberley Dynamiters win both weekend games as Skytt, Halvorson and Daniels play their former teams

The Kimberley Dynamiters had a very successful weekend on the road.

On Friday the Nitros traveled north to Invermere to play against the Columbia Valley Rockies. For Ryan Skytt, it was his first game back in Invermere since being traded to the Nitros at the end of November.

"It's a very strange feeling." Skytt said about returning to Invermere. "I usually don't get too nervous for games, after playing in the league for three years now. But this one, I definitely did feel some nerves; after my first shift, it slowly went away."

Skytt opened the scoring for the Nitros early, and then they just poured it on. Brady Daniels, Brock Palmer, and Ryan Bennett all scored before the end of the first, chasing the Rockies starting goaltender from the crease.

Skytt then scored his second of the game early in the second. Moments later when Keegan McDowell scored on the power play, the Nitros made the game unreachable.

The Rockies did score their lone goal of the game in the second.

However, Brandt Bertoia and McDowell each added another goal to finish the scoring, and win the game 8-1.

In the two games that Skytt has played against his former team, he has scored four goals and one assist; and to add to that, since he was traded the Rockies have gone 5-9-1. Keep in mind, he was their captain when they traded him.

"I want to bring the same compete and drive to every single game I play," Skytt said. "You want to make sure that you know that you are the best player you can be in those games, to make sure that they wish that you were still over there."

The next day, two other Nitros, Daniels and Kole Halvorson, got to faceoff against their previous team, the Castlegar Rebels.

Similar to Skytt, both Daniels and Halvorson were in leadership roles on the team. Halvorson was the captain, and Daniels an assistant captain.

"It was weird for me," Daniels said. "I played a full season there last year. We got a warm welcome coming back.

"But it was definitely weird being on the other side of things: in the other change room, on the other bench."

The Nitros had scored 20 goals in their past three games heading into this game, but their high octane offence was tamed against the Rebels.

"With the team we have now, we know we can score." Skytt said "It's not the only way to win these games. We know we have a steady group of defensemen and two really good goalies."

They were able to muster up two goals, by Spencer Kennedy and Cam Russell. While Brett Anderson built a wall of his own, stopping all 34 shots for his second shut out the season.

"It means a lot." Anderson said. "Even though we are a really good team, if we don't play our best, I can step up and give them a chance to win the game, and I think I did that."

Anderson has quietly, but steadily, posted a 14-1 record, the second best record in the KIJHL.

"My record means a lot to me, just the fact that I only have one loss on the year to arguably one of the best teams in the KI, Kelowna. When other teams play us, regardless of whether it is me or Adam in the net, they know that they are in for a tough night."

For Stuart he is extremely pleased with how the team has played, as they have held their opponent to two goals or less nine times in the last 10 games.

"I was extremely happy with our commitment to team defense in our three road wins this week," Stuart said. "Our penalty kill was outstanding, and at even strength we limited our opponents to very few scoring chances."

After embarrassing the Rockies in their own barn Friday, the Rockies will seek revenge when they come to town on Tuesday.

"They are going to be pretty pissed off, of course," Daniels said. "We kind of smacked them around in their own arena. They will be coming out probably a lot harder and more physical.

"We are going to stick to our game plan, because it obviously worked."

Puck drop is 7pm at the Kimberley Civic Centre.

KIJHL Power Rankings: January 2019

We are due for a Power Rankings!

I have decided to go back to the "difference" meaning the difference between the standings and the power rankings.

Just a word on understanding it, a positive number means that a team is performing better than their record suggests. Whereas a negative number in the difference column means that a team is finding a way to win games that they shouldn't be winning.

As an example, the 100 Mile House Wranglers and Osoyoos Coyotes are doing better than their record suggests. However, the Spokane Braves are finding ways to win.

Keep in mind that I was harsh about Kimberley winning games they shouldn't be winning earlier this season, the Power Rankings have since caught up to their record. So a course correction can happen in the standings, or in the power rankings.

But now, lets get to the first KIJHL Power Rankings of 2019!
(remember, click on it to make it bigger)

Kimberley Dynamiters win the fourth meeting against the Golden Rockets

The Kimberley Dynamiters played the Golden Rockets for the fourth time this season.

And in this, the fourth instalment, ended up being consistent to past storylines, which is fortunate for the Nitros, but unfortunate for the Rockets.

Captain Chase Gedny opened the scoring in the first period.

To start the second, Cam Russell would neatly tuck the puck into the net, a mere 46 seconds into the period.

The Rockets did have a response to the second goal, to make it a 2-1 game. But that was as close as this game would get.

Ryan Skytt would score on the power play to finish of the second period scoring.

Thirty-one seconds into the third, Erik Delaire increased the Nitros lead to three.

Over the weekend, the Nitros powerplay was left wanting. This game, the Nitros scored their second power play goal, as Captain Gedny netted his second of the game.

Head coach and general manager Derek Stuart said that the teams power play improved "because they identified their options before getting the puck, which allowed them to make plays."

This game would finish 5-1 for the Nitros. Brock Palmer with three assists was named the Away Star of the Game, and Brett Anderson made 23 saves for his 13th win of the year.

Away from the scoresheet, Stuart was pleased with several players, "Halvorson was solid all game. Brandt Bertoia created a lot of scoring chances.

"Both Bennett and Spring were great on the penalty kill, and physically they were hard for Golden to handle."

The Dynamiters have won all four meetings, outscoring the Rockets 23-5. If the KIJHL playoffs started today, the Rockets would be the Nitros first round match-up.

While Stuart wouldn't necessarily say the Nitros were sending a message with their fourth convincing win, he did say "our team loves playing in that arena."

The Nitros play both games on the road this weekend. Friday they will be in Invermere to play the Columbia Valley Rockies. Then Saturday they head to Castlegar to play the Rebels.

To keep the momentum going Stuart says that they need to "have a good practice Thursday, and hopefully on Friday we play like we did in the last half of tonights game [against Golden]."

Podcast: Weekend Review: Another Three Point Weekend

Story: The Kimberley Dynamiters have another three point weekend

The Kimberley Dynamiters have now had back to back weekends where they earned three of a possible four points. This time, the outcomes were different.

On Friday, they traveled over the Salmo-Creston Pass to play the Nelson Leafs.

The Leafs are the top team in their division, so this game lined up to be a potential Kootenay Conference Final show down.

It took until the midway point of the first for the opening goal to be scored. It was Brock Palmer scoring his 19th of the season.

In the second, the Dynamiters held on to their 1-0 lead, while peppering Nelson's goalie, Caiden Kreitz.

For head coach and general manager Derek Stuart, the Nitros could have had more shots on net,"Kreitz is such a good goaltender that guys were trying to be a little too precise in picking small holes instead of putting pucks on net and forcing him to save them.

"If we would have hit the net, it could have been a blowout after the second period."

As the third period continued to be a defensively contested game, and as the period entered it's later half, it felt like Adam Andersen was making a bid for his third shutout of the season. But then the Leafs scored on the power play with 7:06 left.

Knotted at one, this game headed to overtime. The first overtime period began with four-on-four hockey.

As they often say, it only takes one shot. And the one and only shot during overtime was scored by Nelson.

Nelson handed the Nitros their first overtime loss of the year.

Kole Halvorson was named the Away Star of the Game, while Andersen made 16 saves in the loss.

"The game went great apart from two areas. The power play was horrible and we missed the net on 60% of our shot attempts." Stuart said, "other than that we were fantastic.

"Defensively, it might have been our best defensive game of the year. We held them to 18 shots, and 10 of those were on the power play.

The Nitros returned home to the Civic Centre to host the Spokane Braves on Saturday.

The last time Spokane was in town, they got shelled 13-1.

Similar to Friday nights game, the objective against Spokane: shots.

In the first period, the Nitros had 19 shots on net, scoring on two of them. Palmer opened the scoring, and then Ryan Skytt scored with 25 seconds left in the period.

The Braves wouldn't go away, and the scored 26 seconds into the second period.

Leading by example, Captain Gedny slapped the puck on net and beat the Braves goaltender.

After two periods, the Nitros led 3-1.

In the third, the Nitros kept pressing. Palmer and Gedny both scored their second goal of the game. Braiden Koran scored on the power play, while Kole Halvorson snuck in back door to bang home a rebound.

When the scoring was done, the Nitros were up 7-1.

However, the game was not done. The last three minutes produced more penalties than the previous 57 minutes of gameplay. Yet, the calls were inconsistent, for example. The last penalty of the game where a players gloves and elbow pads were scattered along the ice after a scrum: charging.

When the game finally concluded, the Nitros walked away with a win.

"It was nice to get a lot of goals," Gedny said after the game. "Everybody was going.

"We proved to them that it was going to be a hard night coming into our rink. We did our job of sending a message, not only to them, but to the league."

Andersen made 17 saves, while Braiden Koran (one goal three assists), was named the Home Star of the Game.

"It's awesome!" Koran said about getting four points in a night. "I love getting points. It's the reason why you play, to get points and win as a team.

"It was a good bounce back game from yesterday," Koran added. "I was glad that I could put a couple points on the board."

The Nitros next game is Tuesday night in Golden against the Rockets.

For Gedny, the team needs to do what has been working for them, "we need to go into Golden and keep the winning ways that have been working for us."

Lead photo by Jonathan Righton

The Kimberley Dynamiters move MciLwain ahead of the KIJHL roster deadline

Thursday was the KIJHL's version of the NHL trade deadline, with several teams making 'deadline' moves. The Kimberley Dynamiters, however, made their lone roster move two days prior when they sent Chad MciLwain to division rival Golden Rockets.

In December the Dynamiters added Castlegar Rebels captain, Kole Halvorson, to the lineup. That transaction put the Dynamiters one player over the maximum player limit that would need to be corrected by the roster deadline on January 10.

Head coach and general manager Derek Stuart said that even with that date looming, that there was no impact on the demeanor of the players.

"We didn't want to move anybody, but of course we had to. We like to keep eight defencemen with the playoff grind. It left us with having to chose a forward. Chad was the odd man out, he definitely could have stayed, played and contributed."

The towering 6'3" forward, MciLwain, who even scored a hat-trick with the team, was moved to the Golden Rockets for a player development fee to get the Dynamiters roster in compliance with the roster limit.

"Chad has been here since day one." Stuart recalled. "He is an outstanding young man, he is very respectful and polite, and a great teammate; a very coachable kid.

"We presented him with a list, there was a lot of interest in him in the province. We let him choose where he wanted to go because he has earned that right from the coaching staff, and we felt that was only fair to let him go where he wanted to."

MciLwain was 14th in Nitros scoring with eight goals and nine assists, and now sits seventh with the Golden Rockets.

"Chad is a very good player and he is going to help Golden"

To further complicate things the Rockets will most likely be the Nitros first round opponent in the playoffs.

For Stuart though, he says that he doesn't believe one player can be a team in a playoff series.

Now that the roster moves are done, Stuart is very happy and confident with the 23 players that he has. But he added, "we've gotta crank up our game. We need to start playing with more urgency with the playoffs coming up.

"A little bit of complacency crept into our team last weekend against Fernie. We need to hammer home the fact that nothing is going to be easy."

MATCH STICKS: The Creston Valley Thunder Cats sent their captain, Tyler Witzke, to the Fernie Ghostriders in exchange for Kory Zinck, a player development fee, and future considerations.

Lead photo by Jonathan Righton

Webcast Interview with Spencer Kennedy

Podcast: Year End & Holiday Classic Review

Story: Brock Palmber named KIJHL Kootenay Conference December Player of the Month

Brock Palmer was named the Kootenay Conference December Player of the Month.

"It's cool." Palmer said. "Happy with how I was playing, and that stuff was going my way.

Palmer credits his success to the teams power play, and his linemates Keegan McDowell and Erik Delaire.

"I get to watch him every night, I know how good he is." Head coach and general manager Derek Stuart said. "I'm not just talking offensively, or with the puck. I know how hard he hounds the puck. He is probably the best back pressure forward in the league."

In December, Palmer scored six goals and 14 assists in eight games. His linemate, McDowell was an honourable mention for the month, and also was named the teams Player of the Month.

"If they are going strictly off stats, it's a no brainer. He had 20 points in eight games. The way he plays for guys that get to watch him every night, he should be a candidate every month. His stats blew everyone away in December."

Palmer currently sits third in league scoring with 60 points in 34 games.

Kimberley Dynamiters December Player of the Month: Keegan McDowell

Prior to Saturday's game against the Fernie Ghostriders, the Kimberley Dynamiters named Keegan McDowell as their December Player of the Month.

"Keegan had a great month." Head coach and general manager Derek Stuart said. "He was a driving force for his line. He was outstanding in December.

"Whenever a line has success, the centreman is a big reason why. That's the case with Keegan in December."

In December, McDowell scored five goals and seven assists in eight games. His efforts also earned him an honorable mention for the December Kootenay Conference Player of the Month.

McDowell just smiled when he was asked what the recognition means, "it means that I need to keep it going, keep it consistent, and go harder for the second half of the year, and in the playoffs."

He was also quick to appreciate that the whole team has been successful and is winning games, which for him, is the most important part.

Lead photo by Jonathan Righton

Story: Kimberley Dynamiters earn three of four points during the Holiday Classic

The before called Christmas Classic with the Fernie Ghostriders, has been rebranded as the Holiday Classic, due to the KIJHL College Showcase bumping the games to the first weekend in January instead of just after Christmas.

This year, the home-and-home series started in Fernie in front of 1,140 fans, a capacity crowd in the Fernie Memorial Arena.

The first period, while entertaining, was scoreless.

In the second, the Ghostriders opened the scoring. Two minutes later, Brandt Bertoia, playing his first game since the holiday break, tied the game at one.

The 'Riders however, fuelled by the chants of their crowd, would finish out the second period with a one goal lead over the Nitros, despite being outshot 16-9 in the period.

The Dynamiters continued to pummel the 'Riders goalie with pucks, even on the power play, but went 0 for seven on the night.

It wasn't until Keegan McDowell got a helping hand from Bertoia, that the game was tied at two, and headed to overtime.

Surprisingly, the four-on-four yielded no results. So a three-on-three, or three's as EA Sports NHL 19 likes to call it, was needed.

Open ice, lots of chances, but no goals. In a rare occurrence, the game ended in a tie.

Adam Andersen made 32 saves in the tie, while Bertoia was named the Away Star of the game with his goal and assist.

Game two of the Holiday Classic took place the following night at the Civic Centre in front of 1,052 fans.

"It was good to get back on our own ice." Brock Palmer said. "Fernie is hard to play in. It's a hard rink to play in. Lots of noise, lots of bouncing pucks. It's good to be back on home ice, where we feel comfortable."

The fans were set back when the 'Riders, for the second game in a row, opened the scoring.

Little did everyone know what was in store for the second period.

Cam Russell tied the game up on the power play. Palmer gave the Nitros a one goal lead.

Moments later on the power play, McDowell made it a two goal game.

Then as the period wound down in the final minute, Russell scored his second of the game for a three goal separation.

By the 10 minute mark in the third, the Nitros still maintained a three goal lead, and it seemed as if they had won.

Within the span of 38 seconds, the Ghostriders made a game of it, scoring two goals. With 7:10 left, the game was once again tightly contested.

The Nitros missed a couple of empty net chances, before Brady Daniels sealed the deal with 10 seconds left, giving the Nitros a 5-3 victory.

Brett Anderson made 15 saves for the win, while Cam Russell, with his two goals, was the star of the game.

"For the majority of the game, it went well." Stuart said after the game. "When we were doing the things we were capable of doing, it really really well. Overall, it was a good night."

What made this game such a success for the Nitros against the 'Riders compared to the night prior, was shot quality, according to Stuart.

"Their goalie stole the game last night (Friday), but we made things tougher for him tonight."

For Stuart, even though they were not rewarded on the scoresheet, the Carter Spring, Ryan Bennett, and Neil Kingston, was the best forward line. They were doing exactly what is expected in Nitros hockey.

On the backend, it was Lucas Chilton, whose efforts were heralded by Stuart.

As for the experience, despite the change in dates, it was a fantastic experience, and may be at the same time next year.

Lead photo by Jonathan Righton.

Grading and Ranking KIJHL Fan Bases 2019

Four years ago I embarked on a statistical journey of grading and ranking the KIJHL fan bases, it was an idea I got from a The Hockey News article.

I have had many requests to redo this, so here we are, a 2019 version of Grading and Ranking the KIJHL Fan Bases.

First, let's go over the columns:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Average Attendance
• 23 Home Games
• FB Rank
• Twitter Rank
• Insta Rank
• Attendance Rank
• Value Rank
• TOTAL
• Conversion

For Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I counted followers on the 2nd and 3rd of January. The number listed in each column is the total number of followers on those dates. Fernie Ghostriders and Princeton Posse are the only three teams without the holy trifecta of social media platforms, with no Instagram profiles.

Average Attendance. I selected four home games, three weekends and a weekday game, and then averaged out the attendance, that's the number reflected here. Kamloops Storm, Sicamous Eagles, and Beaver Valley Nitehawks did not track attendance. Last timed I mercy'ed and used the league average, not this year.

I then took the average attendance and multiplied it by the walk up ticket price, and then multiplied it again by 23 Home Games (yes some teams play 24 home games, went with the lowest common number). This then gives us a Fan Value over 23 Home Games. It's amazing the potential income differences between teams! (See Fernie vs Princeton)

For the ranking and grading. I once had a professor who graded on a scale of, whatever the highest mark on the test was, is now what the test is out of. Example, test was out of 50, highest mark was 45, the test was now out of 45. I applied the same logic here, the highest count in Facebook became what the test was out of.

For example, the 100 Mile House Wranglers have the largest Facebook following with 2,168 likes, that is what the test is out of. Kimberley has 1,975 Facebook likes, so 1,975/2,168 = 91.1%.

That is how FB Rank, Twitter Rank, Insta Rank, Att Rank, and Value Rank are all calculated (if you are just glancing over for the bold and italicized lettering, read the previous two paragraphs to understand how those columns are calculated).

TOTAL is the adding if all five ranking categories together. The ridiculously best fan base would have 100 in all categories for a total of 500.

A late added column for this year only is Conversion. I learned during my campaign that having the highest (or one of the highest) social media followings doesn't translate onto the ballot. It's still helpful and a great marketing tool, but does it translate to real world. Conversion averages out all three (two for Fernie and Princeton) social media platforms, and uses that as the dividend and the attendance as the divisor. Average Attendance/((FB+Twitter+Insta)/3). As an example, Kimberley has a 39% conversion rate, meaning that, in a sense, 39% of their social media following turns up to games. Of course people attend that don't have social media, but just for this argument, let's roll with it.

Now lastly, before we get to the chart. LIMITATIONS. Comparisons are only as good as the numbers being tracked. As we can see with attendance we are missing out on three teams, and therefore it impacts their score. Also, as I mentioned in conversion, it is one thing to have a strong social media following, completely another to have flags flying on vehicles, in windows, and fans cheering in the arena.

Now...... here are the grading and rankings of the KIJHL fan bases (click to enlarge)

Year in Review: Top Kimberley Dynamiters Stories from 2018

As the calendar year draws to a close, it is time to do a review of the top stories for the Kimberley Dynamiters.

As with any year, there were high points and low points.

Here are the top 10 stories about the Nitros in 2018, with commentary from head coach and general manager Derek Stuart.

10. Baby Nitros. The Nitros fan base grew by two as the Stuart's welcomed their second child, a son, in February; and assistant coach Byron Garrels and his wife Megan welcomed a baby girl.

9. Brock Palmer & Brandt Bertoia reach 100 career KIJHL points. Palmer and Bertoia both hit the 100 career mark within a week of each other. They are now both amongst the teams top 20 point scorers.

8. Local Talent. This years team is full of local talent. Harrison Risdon (Cranbrook), Lucas Chilton (Moyie), and Adam Andersen (Kimberley) were the returning local players. Then during the off-season, Stuart added: Erik Delaire (Cranbrook), Ryan Bennett (Cranbrook), Jackson Bohan (Cranbrook), Carter Spring (Cranbrook), and Braiden Koran (Kimberley). That is eight local players on this years team.

7. Players Advancing to College. Cody Campbell (University of Central Oklahoma), Nicholas Ketola (Bethel University), Devon Langelaar (Arizona University), and Matt Davies (University of Central Oklahoma), all advanced to the college level of hockey. "It means a lot to me, the organization, the players here now, and future players, that they can view Kimberley as a place that can help them get to the next level."

6. Cam Russell returns. Russell had a short stint with the Calgary Mustangs. His impact was immediately felt as he earned the Kootenay Conference Player of the Month honours. He has had eight multi-point games, and has only been held pointless in two of the 16 games.

5. Chase Gedny named Captain. Gedny was voted by his peers, and approved by the coaching staff, to be the next Captain for the Kimberley Dynamiters. He is the third captain in the past three years, and is the first none-20 year old captain since Jason Richter. Gedny leads by example, and was honoured to be named captain.

4. Bryce McDonald's injury. During the November 16th game against the Princeton Posse, McDonald took an awkward spill into the boards, breaking his ankle. "It sucked" was all Stuart could muster together, noting that the team really noticed his absence when they had his first practice without him.

3. Training Camp during Evacuation Alert. August was unfamiliar territory for a lot of people as the City of Kimberley was placed under evacuation alert due to the Meachen Creek fire. While the alert had been in place for a week before camp started, it led to cancellations. But for Stuart, the biggest impact on turnout at camp were all the other camps going on at the same time.

2. Winning Bronze at the Cyclone Taylor Cup. Spoiler, after finishing the #1 story, the Nitros had to quickly go on the road to play in the Cyclone Taylor Cup in Richmond. While not their most consistent hockey. "We weren't ready to go in our first game. Our second game we were great. Our third game we were awful. Then our fourth game we were really good again. When you go up and down in the tournament like that, you will be playing for third place."

1. Winning the 2018 KIJHL Championship. "That would be our pick for the top story." Stuart agreed. Noting that the team was very successful since the start of 2018, and then went 16-6 in the playoffs, finishing with a championship win on the road in Revelstoke.

Plus one heart warming story. During November, the Nitros wore green jerseys in support of Kidney Cancer, raising over $15,000 for Kidney Cancer Canada. The event was organized by Cliff Boychuck, in memory of Norma Ennis.

Story: Another Five Goal Victory for Kimberley Dynamiters as they down Osoyoos Coyotes

The Kimberley Dynamiters held the last game slot of the KIJHL College Showcase on Saturday, and were the 'visiting' team against the Osoyoos Coyotes.

The Nitros offence in the first was powered by their defence, with Jackson Bohan scoring on the power play, and Noah Danforth scoring his first career KIJHL goal.

"It was a long time coming," Danforth said after the game. "It's been a while since I scored a goal."

There was a weird sequence of events that led to the puck being lobbed in the air, and then Coyotes goalie reaching out like he was catching a home-run ball. In that moment Coyotes keeper used their blocker for protection and made head contact, which led to them being given a game misconduct, and the back up goalie came in.

"They were being chippy, and trying to get us off our game." Bohan said. "We stuck to it. Don't retaliate. Stand there and take it. Let them take all the penalties."

In the second, it continued to be all Nitros, as they scored three goals. Brock Palmer, Kole Halvorson (his first as a Nitro), and Cam Russell, gave the Nitros a commanding 5-0 lead after 40 minutes.

In the third, the team swapped goals with Coyotes. Palmer scored his second of the game, then Osoyoos got their first of the game. Captain Chase Gedny scored the teams seventh goal, and then Osoyoos notched their second on the scoresheet.

By the end of the game, it was 7-2 for the Nitros. Brett Anderson made 18 saves in the win.

For Braiden Koran, the showcase was his first two games back from injury, he was impressed with the teams ability to showcase itself, but also happy to be back playing.

"It feels great. It feels way better than I expected." Koran said. "I thought I was going to be sore when I came back, but it felt great right out of the first shift yesterday."

The Nitros will now get back into a regular routine with practices and prepare for Holiday Classic with the Fernie Ghostriders this weekend. They travel to Fernie on Friday for a 7:30pm start. Then returning to the Civic Centre Saturday, game time is 7pm.