Podcast: Season Finale; Year in Review; Farewell to Skytt & Bamber

A Reflection of the Kimberley Dynamiters 2018/19 Season with HC/GM Derek Stuart

The Kimberley Dynamiters did an admirable job during the 2018-19 season as they defended their 2018 KIJHL title.

At the start of the season, there was a lot of questions. The camp was filled with new faces, as at the time of camp, there was only eight returning players: Derian Bamber, Brandt Bertoia, Lucas Chilton, Chase Gedny, Bryce McDonald, Brock Palmer, and Luke Recchi.

"We had a lot of question marks early in the year," head coach and general manager Derek Stuart said reflecting on the season.

At the start of the season, assistant coach Jeff Keiver, said that fans could expect new faces, and "a younger team that is fast, likely with higher scoring games."

That's just what happened. The Nitros games had an average nine goals in them, this declined to six goals a game on average by the post season.

In September, the Nitros lost two out of eight games, then for the remainder of the regular season they only lost three more games in 41 games.

Stuart praised the team for gelling together quickly.

As the Dynamiters started to have success, they kept adding key players to bolster the lineup.

First was the surprise, but welcome return of Cam Russell.

"It was a huge boost. He's a really great all around player in every aspect of the game." Stuart said. "It gave us the McDowell, Russell, down the middle, one-two punch.

"It was pretty significant, and was definitely the first turning point."

Next the Dynamiters acquired depth down the middle, acquiring the Castlegar Rebels assistant captain, Brady Daniels. Daniels was apart of the Rebels amazing winstreak the previous season, and said when he was acquired that he could feel something special with the Nitros and their ability to string wins together.

Then the Nitros tangoed with their division opponent the Columbia Valley Rockies to acquire the Rockies captain Ryan Skytt. Then they added even more leadership by acquiring the captain of the Castlegar Rebels, defender Kole Halvorson.

"The guys we had were playing so good, we were in first place, top five in the league. The players forced us to make this a championship team.

"That's more than a coach could ever want, is for a team to force his hand like that."

In the mix of those trades the Nitros went on a massive 12-game winning streak, that came to a screeching halt at the hands of the Fernie Ghostriders.

The Nitros also lost one of their 20 year old players to injury. Bryce McDonald broke his leg and he made an incredible effort to score on a fast break.

Despite the heart-ache of losing a teammate, the Nitros found the motivation to string together another winning streak that would last several rounds into the playoffs.

"We really gelled," Stuart said, "after January 10th, and everyone knows they are here for sure, it is a huge relief, and they can just go have fun and play hockey.

"The guys had a lot of fun out there in practice and in a lot of the games.

"When you get guys that like playing with eachother and for eachother than it is really is to have fun if they are working hard and having success."

In the first round, the Dynamiters downed divisional opponent the Golden Rockets in four game. They would then sweep the Fernie Ghostriders to take the Eddie Mountain Division.

After winning the Eddie Mountain Division, Stuart said, "we are just expecting to win every game that we play."

It would take until Game Four of the Kootenay Conference Finals against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks for the Nitros to lose a game, winning an astounding 25 games in a row.

Sadly after that loss, the Nitros would only win two of their next six games.

One win would be good enough to become the Kootenay Conference Champions, and enter the KIJHL Finals for the fourth time in five years.

"To get there was a great testament to the guys and how hard they work.

"They worked extremely hard, and got themselves to the finals."

In the Finals, injuries would start to pile up, and the Nitros would only be able to muster one win as they faced an incredibly hot goalie. A goalie, for the record, that would lead the Revelstoke Grizzlies not just to being the KIJHL Champions, but also the Cyclone Taylor Cup.

Now that the season is done, the players have returned home.

It's too early to tell who is returning for next season, Stuart said, so for now he will be going to junior identification camps in Calgary and Edmonton.

Lastly, Stuart expressed gratitude for Nitro Nation, and the amazing fan support.

"On behalf of the team and fans, I'd like to thank the fans for another phenomenal year of support and loyalty.

"It's amazing everytime they come out. It's very loud in there, the boys love it, and it is one my biggest recruiting tools."

The Dynamiters will be holding their annual general meeting. It is a great opportunity for fans to see how they can be involved with the team.

MATCH STICKS: The Revelstoke Grizzlies won gold at the Cyclone Taylor Cup with a 5-1 win over the the Victoria Cougars (VIJHL).

Story: The Kimberley Dynamiters return home trailing the Revelstoke Grizzlies in the KIJHL Finals 3-1

Heading into Revelstoke the KIJHL Finals series was tied at one game each. Leaving Revelstoke, the Kimberley Dynamiters trail the Revelstoke Grizzlies 3-1 in the best of seven series.

Penalties early in the second stung the Nitros and they were not able to recover. Grizzlies Ethan Schaeffer scored on the power play. Shortly afterward the Grizzlies added two more goals by Ryan Pereverzoff and Ullar Wiatzka.

"We shot ourselves in the foot in the period by not sticking to our defensive zone system." Dynamiters head coach and general manager Derek Stuart said. "Two of their first three goals were scored from spots where we are supposed to have a guy.

"They are an opportunistic team, and made us pay for those mistakes. After that, it was an even game."

Stuart was even more frustrated with the three cross-checking penalties in a row called against his team.

"Two of the three were blatant dives by their players. I was warned before the series started from a coach in their conference that they dive a lot and we need to do a better job adjusting to it because they have the referee's completely fooled."

The second period was scoreless. The Dynamiters were playing without Brock Palmer and Captain Chase Gedny, and it seemed their presence was missed on the power play.

Stuart felt otherwise, "not having Palmer and Gedny in the lineup isn't an excuse." He then pointed out the opposition, "Revelstoke had their best forward and best defenceman out tonight, and their other top players were better than ours. Simple as that."

Then in the third, Nathan Bailer, who played 11 games for Kimberley to start the season before being traded to Revelstoke, scored back-to-back goals.

All of a sudden it was 5-0, and a repeat of Game Three.

The Grizzlies now have a strangle hold on the series, up three games to one, after back-to-back 5-0 victories in Revelstoke.

The series now returns to Kimberley for a decisive Game Five on Thursday at the Kimberley Civic Centre.

Stuart kept his answer simple for what the team needs to do in Game Five, "We need to score a goal."

That being said, the Nitros are looking forward to playing in front of the home crowd.

"We will definitely feed off the great fans that we have and hopefully play Nitros hockey like we have many times before at home."

Puck drop is 7pm.

Story: Kimberley Dynamiters shutout in Game Three of KIJHL Finals

It's fair to say that Game Three of the KIJHL Finals for the Kimberley Dynamiters against the Revelstoke Grizzlies did not go according to plan.

By the end of the first period, the Nitros were trailing the Grizzlies 2-0. Goals were by Grizzlies Brenden Vulcano and Raymond Speerbrecker.

"We had a good start until Palmer got hurt." Nitros head coach and general manager Derek Stuart said. "Then they scored on the power play on a terrible call on Cam Russell and that put us in a hole after 20 minutes."

In the second, the Nitros restricted the Grizzlies to one goal, scored by Matt Cadden. The Nitros, however, did outshoot the Grizz 17-5 in the middle period.

In the third, the Nitros edged out the Grizz in shots, 12-9; But the Grizzlies had two goals scored by Ryan Pereverzoff and former Nitro Nathan Bailer.

The Grizzlies won the game 5-0, and took a 2-1 series lead.

"After the first period we played great," Stuart said reflecting on the game. "Outshot them 29-14, and had way more scoring chances despite them having six power plays and us only having two."

Brett Anderson and Adam Andersen shared crease duties. This is the second game in a row where goalies were swapped. In Game Two the Grizzlies changed their goalies midway through the game.

This is also the first time the Nitros have been shutout all season.

"We had more than enough scoring chances to win." Stuart said confidently. "McGarva played great but we need to bear down on our chances."

Game Four is tonight. A win for the Nitros and the series becomes a best of three. A loss, and the Dynamiters will be facing elimination at home on Thursday.

For Stuart, he knows his team can and must play a 60-minute game, "We can’t have 14 minute lull like we did after Palmer got hurt.

"If we play the entire game like we did the last two periods I think we’ll get the result we want."

Faceoff is at 8PM tonight.

Story: The Kimberley Dynamiters and Revelstoke Grizzlies split Games One and Two

The Kimberley Dynamiters and Revelstoke Grizzlies split the opening weekend of the 2019 KIJHL Finals, a rematch of the 2018 KIJHL Finals.

Game One was played at the Kimberley Civic Centre in front of 1,524 fans.

The Nitros appeared to be in slow motion in the first period. The Grizzlies capitalized on that, and Cody Flann scored on the power play. silencing the large Nitros crowd.

The second period was scoreless.

In the third, the Grizzlies took a 2-0 lead with an early goal by Ryan Bedard. This was the first time in these playoffs that the Nitros trailed by two.

Keegan Mcdowell cut into the lead, giving the Nitros 14 minutes and 44 seconds to tie the game.

The Dynamiters couldn’t solve Liam McGarva, and the Grizzlies continue to remain undefeated on the road, now going 8-0.

"I really liked our second and third period. I didn't like our first period at all." Dynamiters head coach and general manager said. "That's three games in a row. It's probably about time that that's caught up to us and cost us a hockey game."

Grizzlies head coach and general manager Ryan Parent simply said, "We won." Then he added, "I feel [the game tonight] went well, on our end of it.

"It's one small piece. I don't read a lot into it, it is just one hockey game."

History doesn’t always predict the future, but, the last time the Nitros repeated a final appearance, they lost game one, and then eventually lost to the 100 Mile House Wranglers. Do keep in mind, that series was a 2-3-2 due to travel, instead of the typical 2-2-1-1-1.

This is the first time the Nitros have lost game one in a series since losing the 2017 Kootenay Conference Finals to the Beaver Valley Nitehawks.

The last time that the Nitros lost game one and then won a series was in 2015. The Nitros lost the first game of the playoffs, game one round one to the Creston Valley Thunder Cats, and then went on to win the 2015 KIJHL Title.

The last time Revelstoke won a game one and then lost a series, was in 2017 against the Chase Heat.

Moving on to Game Two, 1,204 attended.

The Dynamiters have not lost back to back games all season, and it was not about to start in game two.

Ryan Skytt opened the scoring, in similar fashion to how they were scored against in game one. Early and on the power play.

Braiden Koran made it 2-nothing before the first period was complete.

The Dynamiters kept pressing. Erik Delaire made it 3-nothing on the power play. Then seconds later Neil Kingston made it 4-0.

When a team is having a bad game, you can’t pull the team, you can only pull the goalie. Liam McGarva, arguably the best goalie in the Okanagan Conference was pulled, and Noah Desouza entered the crease.

The Grizzlies did end Brett Andersons bid for a shutout as Raymond Speerbrecker scored on the power play.

The Grizzlies pulled their goalie, and controlled the play, but the Nitros held on and won 4-1.

"The start was the key," Stuart said, "we wanted to focus on. I thought that was our best first period probably since the Fernie series."

"I'm not happy with the result, obviously." Parent said. "We are going to have to take a good look at the game and dissect it."

The series now shifts to Revelstoke for Games Three and Four on Monday and Tuesday.

The series will return to Kimberley for Game Five on Thursday.

MATCH STICKS: You can hear the full interviews from games one and two, including player interviews on the Nitros Night in Kimberley Podcast at nitrosfan.blogspot.ca.

Lead photo by Jonathan Righton.