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Rockies holding firm in third as playoffs near
By Stephanie Stevens
A lot can happen in a couple of games.
As the end of the regular season of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) nears its close the Columbia Valley Rockies are sitting third in the Eddie Mountain Division with 51 points and ninth in the KIJHL overall.
The Fernie Ghostriders sit first in the division with 60 points, the Kimberley Dynamiters are second with 58.
Last weekend the Rockies picked up a couple of points in a 6-3 win in Golden against the Rockets but missed out on two more against the Nitros in Kimberley the following night.
Friday, Feb 9 saw Oleg Bitus open up the scoring in the first (assists from Gage Sather and Kade Cochlan) and second period action saw goals from Ellis Mcgeough (assists from Bitus and Sather), Kobe Mason (assists from Carter Velker and Bryan Kim). Teo Fath (assists from Danny Schmirler and Nathan Kaye) potted the game winner with less than a minute left in the second.
Third period scoring was the icing on the cake with Kim getting a power play goal (assists from Kaye and Jamieson Franz) and Sather adding an unassisted empty netter for good measure.
In goal, Nate Glenn stopped 31 of 34 shots on goal.
“In Golden we executed really well from a systems standpoint,” said head coach Taylor Sincennes.
While he said they started both the Golden tilt and the game in Kimberley slow, the team picked up the pace both nights as the games went on.
“In Kimberley Saturday night (Feb. 10) it was a good hockey game where we lost the specialty teams battle,” Sincennes said. “That cost two points. They went one-for-three on the power place and we went zero and three and it was the difference in winning and losing the game.”
The lone goal in the 2-1 game was from Johnny Lozeman (assists from Fath and Franz). Rookie Jaiden Jakubowski stopped 21 of 23 shots on goal.
There are two final games for the Rockies in the regular season, at home tomorrow (Feb 16) in the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena versus the Rockets and then in the Golden Arena Saturday, potentially four more points to add before the playoffs.
Game time is 7 p.m. Friday.
Lead image: Jaiden Jakubowski was first star in the loss to Kimberley. Stephanie Stevens photos
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