Anthony Collins Grounds the Eagles

Sicamous Now Behind the Eight-Ball

It started to look much the like the night before when the Kamloops Storm had to go into double-overtime to nix the Sicamous Eagles 4-3.

The first period was a quiet, tight checking affair with both teams displaying discipline and tenacity. Aggressive forechecking by both teams, forcing the defensemen to rush their passing created a lot of scrambled play in the neutral zone. Both goaltenders were tested but not to their capacity, with Sicamous starter, Derrick Westlund possibly being tested more than counterpart Anthony Manfredi. It was until the last minute of the period that Joel Leonard broke the ice with the game's first goal. It was the fourth straight goal for Leonard and the Storm.

It was the 2nd period where the game started to take on a familiar flavour and the goals started coming. Sicamous tied it at 1-1 with a goal from Mike Iorio, who again had a strong performance.
Play kind of lulled again, tight checking but near the middle of the period Sicamous started getting into penalty trouble when Kamloops notched 2 power play goals to make the game 3-1.

First it was Jake Young on a nice feed from Anthony Colins and solid work by Lundy Trenaman making it 2-1. Then, less than 3 minutes later, Trenaman put a bulge in the old onion bag for his first playoff marker to make it 3 to 1. Again Collins made the play with the extra helper coming from Jassi Sangha.

In a strange move, I thought, Sicamous made a goaltender change. I don't think that it was the play of Westlund as much as the coach may have felt that the team need a lift so in went Riley Wall. And the coach must have been pleased with what he saw. The team rallied effectively for the rest of the period, scoring 2 goals in a 25 second span to knot the contest once more at 3-3 going into the 3rd. Mike Iorio scored his second of the evening on a power play with 3:21 remaining in the period to close the gap to 3-2. Shortly after, on a CSM (Confused Storm Moment) it was Aaron Buat blasting one in from the high slot, beating Manfredi and tieing the score. Things were still looking awful familiar going into the 3rd period, tied at 3.

The teams played cautiously for the first 7 minutes when Anthony Collins took matters into his own hands. Collins picked up the puck in his own end, did a tight circle, surveyed his options and bolted up the ice. He hit his own blueline in the middle of the ice with speed. Following blocks like a running back in football, he bobbed left, weaved right, eluded a couple of checkers, slid wide around another defender and attacked the net from the left side. With a seemingly effortless flick he flew the puck high over the shoulder of goaltender Wall into the roof of the net, where his momma keeps the cookies. Brilliant. The crowd went nuts. Play of the game.

Five minutes later Collins and Trenaman were at it again setting up David Osborne for a big blast from the blueline that just blew by everyone making the score 5-3. Just over a minute later, Joel Leonard put the game out of reach with his 5th goal in 2 nights to put the Storm up 6-3.

Sicamous was down but not out as they scored their 4th goal immediatly after the centre ice faceoff. Shane Lightfoot, who was kept under closer checking this evening took advantage of another CSM, broke in after getting the puck from Eric Holzschuh and quickly blasted it by a surprised Anthony Manfredi.

In the end, Kamloops showed its superiority on home ice (even though game 2 was played on the NHL rink instead of the Olympic rink). Sicamous mustered up a pretty serious challenge in both games and one wonders if that was the best that they had to offer.

Collins ended up as first star with a 4 point night, 1-3 while Lundy Trenaman was second star with a goal and 2 helpers. Sicamous star Mike Iorio captured 3rd star with a 2 goal performance. Special mention to Joel Leonard who also had 2 goals to complete his 5 goal weekend outburst and Jose Reyes who was relentless in his checking and tenacity for the Eagles.

I guess we will see part of the answer tonight as the series moves to Sicamous for a game 3 and 4 showdown. Kamloops shutout Sicamous 4-0 in the final game of the season last weekend and they hope to continue that habit tonight. The game will be broadcast on the KIJHL website by the Sicamous contingent.

May the Storm be with You!!!

• Box Score