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.