By Stephanie Stevens

It took grit, guts and hard work. And a cheering crowd from home in the away stands didn’t hurt either.

The first round of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Eddie Mountain Division playoff series ended Feb. 29 with the Columbia Valley Rockies defeating the Kimberley Dynamiters in game five in their own barn.

“The guys came out in this series and just out-competed Kimberley,” said head coach Tayler Sincennes.

“We played with desperation and that’s a good thing to have in a playoff series against a higher seeded team.”

Game four was played in the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena Feb. 27 and ended 3-1 for the Rockies.

Opening up the scoring in the first was Kobe Mason (assists from Kyran Gromnisky and Bryan Kim) with a power play goal, followed in the second period by Luke Hamilton (assists from Kaelan Shelton and Wyatt Wurtz).

The third period saw Jamieson Franz beat the Nitros’ goaltender with an assist from Kade Cochlan. Rockies netminder Nate Glenn once again stepped up and stopped 33 of 34 shots on goal.

“We really adopted the underdog mentality and wanted to show everyone what we were capable of doing,” said Sincennes . “I think there was fuel added to the fire in that 9-3 game they beat us in a couple of weeks ago.”

For what ended up being the final game in the Kimberley Civic Centre, the Rockies skated onto the ice towards a roaring crowd of Columbia Valley supporters, something Sincennes said gave the team an added boost.

“Having the fans travel from Invermere to Kimberley was truly incredible… the guys fed off their energy and it was awesome to see the support we are getting from the community right now.”

With Glenn once again between the pipes, first period scoring was courtesy of a power play goal by Kim (assist from Shelton), with Franz stepping up again in the second (assists from Gage Sather and Oleg Bitus) and Carter Velker adding another (assists from Teo Fath and Gromnisky).

The third period and final goal of the first round went to Bitus (assist from Velker and Sather) in a power play.

“I think we showed ourselves it doesn’t matter where we play with achieving three of four wins on the road,” said assistant coach Tanner Wit. “We played physical and set the tone early, not to mention we had great goaltending which isn’t that surprising.”

Wit echoed Sincennes’ sentiments about the energy and support the team gleaned from the fans that followed them on the road.

“(We are) excited to play Fernie as it will be a really energetic series and I’m excited to play in front of our very passionate crowd.”

Associate coach Tucker Braund said he watched the team get better as the first round went on and is looking forward to the second round against the Fernie Ghostriders. The Riders knocked off Creston Valley Thunder Cats in five games.

“We’ve made some adjustments and the guys have bought into how we want them to play which is really why we are getting success,” he said. “They are motivated right now. It’s good.
We can play spoiler again with this match-up… I think our guys like the match-up with Fernie.”

Games one and two will be played in Fernie this Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9, with back-to-back home games on Monday the 11^th and Tuesday the 12^th.

Short of one team taking all four first match-ups, the fifth game will be in Fernie Thursday, the 14, the sixth (if needed) will be home in the Eddie again and (if needed) the tie breaker in Fernie on Monday, March 18.

This is the first time Kimberley has lost in the first round of a KIJHL playoff series since 2013.

KIJHL schedule.

KIJHL playoff scoring leaders.

Lead image: Rockies forward Wyatt Wurtz battles Nitros’ Jake Watson for the puck during game five action.  Stephanie Stevens photos

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