Dynamiters Implode

Kamloops Storm Scores 3 in the 3rd to Win 4-1

The Kimberley Dynamiters stayed pretty close to the Kamloops Storm for 2 periods but undisciplined played had Kamloops score 2 goals on the power play in the 3rd period to ice their 5th win of the season.

Kimberley got hammered 6-0 the night before by Sicamous and came in with the intention of making amends. In the opening 2 minutes Anthony Manfredi was forced to make a number of early saves, including 2 tricky shots that came off the back boards. Tory Caldwell played solid between the pipes at the other end and the period ended in a 0-0 tie.

The stalemate lasted until 9:41 of the 2nd period when Justin Fulton, who just stepped out of the penalty box, picked up a loose puck and feed Cody Jules who showed a nice touch and quick hands while he whistled the puck over the shoulder of Caldwell and put the Storm up 1-0.
Kimberley came right back after killing their own penalty and it was Taylor McDowell deflecting a Logan Gutfriend point shot past a screened Anthony Manfredi.

Jason Alessio scored what ended up being the winner on the power-play almost 7 minutes into the 3rd and Bevin Ollek picked up a re-bound during another power play late in the period. Ollek's 6'5" frame is tough to move in front of the net when he takes a notion to set up his office there. Tyler Jackson assisted on both power play goals.

Bevin Ollek notched his second on an empty netter in the last minute. Ollek showed good hustle and deft hands beating a defender to a cleared puck and slipping a deep angle back hand just inside the post.

3rd Star - Cody Jules
2nd Star - Tory Caldwell
1st Star - Anthony Manfredi

You can catch the BoxScore here.

Notes:

- I thought the defense played much better in this game than the last couple that we witnessed. Both Logan Hawgood and BrettDefrias saw a lot more ice time after captain Mike McCance got a game misconduct for a hit from behind early in the first period. Spencer Donaldson, who has been playing forward lately, dropped back on defense this night and played very well. Ryan Skinner is coming along nicely too. The only one that had a so-so game was 20 yr old Dylan Becker who seemed to be a little lethargic.
- Bevin Ollek had 2 goals but I'm sure he could have had more or helped on more if he parked his large frame in the goaltenders face more often. That's how he scored his first goal of the evening. He did show good personal control, drawing a penalty in the 3rd period, turning a cheek to a Liam Jeffries roughing call in the 3rd.
- it's been great having Gary Donaldson doing color in the broadcast booth during the game. We hope that it has added to your entertainment value. Gary should be around all year and we hope he joins us often.

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Okanagan Division Starting to Separate

A Definite Pattern Emerging Early

It's still early in the season but there seems to be a definite pattern emerging in the Okanagan Division of the KIJHL. Early indications show that Kamloops, Sicamous, Revelstoke and Chase will be battling it out for first place with perhaps some challenge from Princeton. The Penticton Lakers and the new team from North Okanagan appear to be struggling for points. Both have been to Kamloops and nicely afforded us with Pizza from Domino's because of the lopsided scores.

Tonight's tilt in Kamloops has the Storm taking on the Kimberly Dynamiters. Kimberly took it on the chin, 6-0 in Sicamous last night. The Storm did not play.

No word at this time regarding any line-up changes.

You can catch us live on the internet at www.kijhl.com
We are on the air at 6:50 - 6:55pm.

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Advertise on this spot. It gets lots of exposure, not only in Kamloops but throughout the league and in other provinces too. With the Keystone Cup coming to Kamloops this season, hockey enthusiast from all over western Canada will tuning in.

Contact the KamloopsStormWriter for more info. There are 3 spots open... get yours today.

Teams Clinch Series to Move On

Okanagan-Shuswap Division have Only Meaningless Games Remaining

Even though every team that will be moving on to the 2nd round of the KIJHL playoffs there are still a few games to be played to finish the Okanagan-Shuswap Division double round robin marathon. With most teams playing 8 games in 11 days or less, this round has been extremely taxing on all teams.

The Revelstoke Grizzlies were eliminated from further contention last night with a 2-0 loss to the Chase Chiefs, which completes the 4 teams moving on. Kamloops will play Princeton (as they did last night) and Sicamous will do battle with the Chase Chiefs..

There were 2 upsets in the playoffs so far. The Kimberley Dynamiters took out the first place Creston Valley Thunder Cats in 6 games while Castlegar upset the Beaver Valley Nitehawks in 6 games.

The Nelson Leafs has moved on by easily eliminating Spokane 4 games to 1. They still remain the favorite to win the league. They will be battling with Castlegar for the Neil Murdoch Division final.

The Fernie Ghostriders are looking solid as usual at this time of year . They will play Kimberley in the Eddie Mountain Division final.

At the time of this writing the complete 2nd round schedule has yet to posted however most series are due to start Friday, Mar 6.

It All Comes Down to This...

The Complete 2009 KIJHL Playoff Scenario
by Barry Dewar


With only one week to go in the regular season and after a combination of over 800 games, of the KIJHL season, it all comes down to the final few games. What a league.

There are only 2 teams eliminated from playoffs at this date. By the time the Storm take to the ice it could be decided but with a week to go only Columbia Valley in the Eddie Mountain Division and Grand Forks in the Neil Murdoch know they are going golfing, and only Nelson, Sicamous and Kamloops know where they will finish. Nelson has been the runaway leader in the Neil Murdoch Division and will capture first overall. Kamloops have long ago clinched first in the Okanagan Shuswap Division and will finish second overall. Sicamous has guaranteed themselves second in the Okanagan but after that it is anyone's guess.

In the Eddie Mountain Division which the Storm were champions of last season, before returning to the Okanagan Shuswap, Creston sits in first place and can control their destiny as they have a five point lead on Fernie. If they are unable to win their last two games this week they could finish as low as third and lose that first round home ice advantage.
Golden who sits in third place cannot finish any higher than second but could easily finish fourth as only 3 points separate second and fourth place all with 3 games to go.
Fernie is to play Kimberley twice and Columbia Valley once. They have probably the easiest schedule statistically as they play all their games against a team lower in the standings. Kimberley plays its other game against Golden, while Golden plays Columbia Valley and Nelson. Creston with a win in either of its last two games will clinch first place.

In the Neil Murdoch, it is no different.
First and last were decided a long time ago. Nelson has been great all year. Grand Forks has struggled. But in between it has been a battle all year. Beaver Valley can catch Castlegar for second place and had they not had points taken away due to an illegal carding of a player they would be in the drivers seat.
Spokane is destined for fourth and a first round meeting with Nelson, while Castlegar and Beaver Valley will meet each other but not sure who will have home ice advantage. The two teams play each other in the last two games which will be a test for the playoffs but right now it looks like Castlegar will have the first tie breaker as they have the most wins in the regular season.

Hold on, the intrigue begins. That might change. Twice this year teams had illegal players play and the league has ruled differently both times and I am sure a protest would be considered, if Beaver Valley beats Castlegar in the last two games. In the first case with Beaver Valley the points and wins were taken away. In the second case the Princeton Posse had the points taken away but not the wins. Interesting developments could make for another league decision to be needed which would have huge impacts on revenue as home ice advantage can sway a series.

The Okanagan Shuswap is very tightly contested and again only Kamloops and Sicamous are secured their position. Chase and Princeton are also into the round robin marathon but Princeton can still catch Chase. Princeton is behind the Chiefs by 5 points with 3 games remaining. Chase plays Princeton and Columbia Valley in their last two games. They need to beat Princeton to ensure third place. Why? ...because of the wins.

Princeton is the spoiler also for Summerland and Revelstoke and could determine the last qualifier for the round robin. If Princeton wins out it will be very interesting as Summerland will need to beat Sicamous in both teams final game of the year. Summerland has 2 games left and are tied with Revelstoke for the final playoff spot with one game in hand. Sicamous has lost its last two games although one was in a shootout.

Sicamous has been playing well but had a line brawl with Princeton in a 4-2 loss Sunday and there could be some suspensions. Coach Duner will likely get one game to increase his league lead in that category but it is questionable whether any other suspensions will be levied. Revelstoke has only one game remaining against Princeton and while Revelstoke has only had 3 wins in its last 10 it is conceivable that the last game of the year on Saturday will be a mean nothing game for Princeton and they may not play their best lineup.

It is very interesting with many twists and turns, so hold onto your hats it could be a wild and crazy finish. The only thing I know for sure is that game one of the roundrobin will start for the Storm on February 24 in Kamloops against the Sicamous Eagles. Game time 7pm. See you at the game

The Storm Report - by Barry Dewar

Game One of the 2007/08 season is in the books.

The Storm had a convincing 7-3 win over the Kimberley Dynamiters. The Storm scored all seven goals on special teams with 6 power play goals and one shorthanded goal.
Jassi Sangha lead the way with 6 points (3 goals and 3 assists) in another Domino Pizza give away for all the fans. Jassi playing on a line with Lundy Trenaman and David Gore on the power play were pretty much unstoppable. Jassi also scored one shorthanded goal and almost had more as he enjoyed the return to the Storm. Trenaman and Gore also had great nights with Gore getting one goal and 3 assists while Trenaman set up 4 goals for 4 assists.

Some other highlites of the night included our first video webcast. While we still have some technical glitches to fix overall it seems to be well received and word is the games will be archived for review should the need arise.

Other goal scorers for the Storm were Payden Wongstedt of Fort St. John who played a stellar game on defense, Jose Reyes from Kamloops and Dominic Alec also from Kamloops got the other goals. Wongstedt took a great pass from Scott Kirkham on a goal mouth pass while Alec and his line of Riley Marsh and Brandon Long were strong all night long. Reyes who came to the Storm after playing last season fit in nicely in his Storm debut but left the game late in the third period after a cheap shot by one of the Dynamiters injured him. Derek Henderson of Langley answered the bell for his teammate by pummeling the offender in his first fight of the season. Henderson also had a strong game on the blue line as did Cody Lockwood who will be one of the leaders on the defense.

Brennon Jones got the win in net making 33 of 36 saves. Jones was tested early and made a couple of big saves and played a strong game in net.

The win is the first for the coaching tandem of Ed Patterson, Gille Leberre and Chad Ferris who ran an excellent bench.

Storm Blasts Dynamiters at 2007 Home Opener

Vets Sangha and Trenaman Light it Up to Start the Season

It's been a long summer for Jassi Sangha and Lundy Trenaman. After falling 4 straight to eventual KIJHL winners, Fernie Ghostbusters last spring, the Kamloops Storm is setting their sites on a championship this season with Sangha and Trenaman expected to lead the way. This opening night they didn't disappoint.

In what seemed like mid-season form, Sangha had 3G - 3A and Treneman had 4 assists in 7-3 shellacking of Kimberly Dynamiters. Newcomer David Gore also had a great night as he was credited a goal and 4 assists.

Special teams played a big part in the win as the Storm scored 6 of the 7 goals on the power play and one spectacular short handed effort intiated by Trenaman and completed by Sangha. 2 of the 4 goals by Kimberly were also on the power play.

With a good mixture of vets, newcomers and rookies, Kamloops looked reasonably organized on the ice compared to Kimberly who couldn't seem to get it together or get a break until the 2nd period when they were already down 4-0. The Storm saw commendable efforts from league veterans Cody Lockwood (D), Jose Reyes(F), Mike Hanes(F), Devon Gannon(F), Scott Kirkam(F) and Brendan Jones(F). Newcomers Payden Wongstedt(D) and Shea Naka (D) showed poised and impressed on the back end, both getting lots of PP and PK time.

For Kimberly, vets Mike Whitequilles and Tommy Latouche-Gauvin were solid up front but couldn't seem to pull the trigger when they needed it most. Kimberly's biggest downfall was their lack of discipline that saw them parade to the penalty box time after time and Kamloops just seem to eat them up on the PP. Goaltender Mike Marino faced a number of quality opportunities and played pretty well despite the 7 goals.

There was one fight in the game. Jose Reyes had a knee taken out on a cheap shot late in the game by Matt Wilkins. Newcomer Derek Henderson would have nothing of that and proceeded to punish Wilkens for his dastardly deed. Both players were ejected from the game with the KIJHL's new one fight rule (more on this on another post).

All in all the 650 fans went home happy with a home team win and a Domino's pizza coupon for a free 10" pizza for the team scoring over 5 goals in a game. Thanks again Domino's!

The Storm's next game is this Sunday, 5pm, when they suit up against the new Chase Chiefs at the Mac Park Sports Centre here in Kamloops. Hope to see you there.