Chiefs Calm the Storm

Rematch Tonight at Mac Park Sports Centre by Barry Dewar

The Storm came out flat last night against the Chiefs, who get full marks for the win. While we came back hard in the second period it was not enough. The final score was 5-3 for the Chiefs. That was the seventh meeting between the two teams and tonight is the final regular season match up. Chase holds the season series lead 4-3. Tonight the Storm want to even that record so that they can go into playoffs with a positive finish.

The Storm were without several key players due to a line brawl last weekend. Forwards Ryan Hanes, Scott Kirkham and Austin Goode and defenseman Daniel Medland Marchen all watched the game from the stands and will be in the lineup tonight. The Storm brought up affiliate players Duncan Shultz and Daniel Buchanan for the game and both played well.

In the previous 7 games both teams have won one game in the other teams building. The total scoring has Kamloops with 25 goals while Chase has 20. Kamloops has had 2 lopsided wins 5-1 Jan 23 in Kamloops, a Dominos Pizza night and and 8-1 win in Chase on October 24. the rest of the games have been 2 goals or less. Riley Wall, a Kamloops minor hockey product has won all the games in net for Chase and has started every game against the Storm but Jordan Bytelaar did play 43 minutes in the October 24 game and 20 minutes in the Jan 23 game although Wall got the loss in both of those games. Manfredi started the first 6 games against Chase and Kyle Graham started last night. One of the Chase wins included an empty net goal, so other than 2 games they have all been close.

The Storm take on the Kimberley Dynamiters a 2pm Sunday start tomorrow. It is the return to Kamloops of Tory Caldwell who was traded away at the start of the season. Tory has not played the last couple of games for the Dynamiters but I am sure he will be looking to show his old team that they made a mistake. The game also will have Dominic Alec in the lineup. Dominic came to camp in September but thought he would have a bigger role with another team. He is playing well for the Dynos.

Tonight’s match up with Chase is also a Diabetes fundraiser . All of the jerseys being worn will be auctioned off. Minimum bid is $50 and some have some gas certificates included courtesy of Husky/Mohawk Gas stations in Kamloops. A great cause a very unique prize and maybe some gas sounds too good to be true.

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Playoff home dates will be February 24, February 28 March 2 and March 3 all games at 7pm. Get your tickets for one or all of the games. On sale now.

Spokane Steals One From Kamloops

... Storm Power Play Nearly Impotent

It just seemed like one of those games where not much was going your way.

The game started off well with the Storm's Sean Menton and Scott Kirkham teaming up with the Storm's 2nd short-handed goal in 2 home games. Kamloops took and early 1-0 lead over the Spokane Braves when Menton neatly tucked the puck past goaltender Mike Smith early in the first period. Kamloops dominated every facet of the game for about 16 minutes in the first period but just couldn't bury another. Although Smith was solid, it was more bad luck around the net that led to the Storm's demise. Hard shots and delicate tips seemed to elude the twine, usually high and wide or blocked. The Braves forwards did a very good job in blocking shots, something they did a lot of throughout the game.

Late in the 1st period Kamloops got itself into penalty trouble and the Braves turned up the heat. With David Gore in the box for hooking, Braves captain, Connor Olstad was allowed to free wheel out of the corner and he put a nice shot passed a screened Anthony Manfredi. Just a couple minutes late, Austin Goode got the gate and again, Spokane took advantage of the situation and walked out of the 1st period with a 2-1 lead. Dylan Tappe was credited with that goal.

The teams played fairly evenly through the 2nd period, with the teams exchanging goals. David Gore scored on a deflection to make it 2-2 before Ryan Maul scored close-in on the PP to make it 3-2 at the end of the 2nd for the Braves. But it was their PP that was killing the Storm. With 3 power-play advantages in the 2nd, including a 2 man advantage for 1:32, the Kamloops power play just couldn't get pucks to the net.

Dylan Tappe scored in the middle of the 3rd to make it 4-2 and desparation set in for the Storm.
They finally scored on the power play late in the 3rd to make it close but again, they just couldn't close it out in the final minutes.

Anthony Manfredi, returning from a knee injury took the loss for the Storm. Without any practice the last week and limited action for the last 3 weeks, Manfredi looked rusty, particularly in the first 2 periods. He was buried deep in his crease, not challenging, losing site of the puck and flopping around like a fish out of water. That changed dramatically in the 3rd when his glove hand got hot and a challenged like the Manfredi we know. In the end, it still wasn't enough.

I thought Scott Kirkham was the best player on the ice and together with Menton, they were truly dangerous, especially on the PK. They had opportunity to score a few times but like everyone else on the Storm, they were a little short on finish.

Two things that caught my attention about the way the Storm was playing was the lack of /or poor passing when men were open (the Storm has numerous failed 2-1's) and the failure of the stretch pass. It is such a low percentage play and few guys in this league have the ability to make the pass tape-to-tape. If hockey is a possesion game, why do teams in this league keep throwing possession away? More often than not it ends up with an icing call (boring!) or a turnover.

The Braves were good for their win on a tough road trip. These 2 teams meet again soon, just after the New Year, next time in Spokane.

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The other 2 games on the weekend saw Kamloops take a strangle-hold on the Okanagan Division. Friday night the Storm took a 4-1 victory from the Summerland Sting and on Saturday, they dominated a flat Princeton Posse club. Kyle Graham was between the pipes for both of those games and played exceptionally well when called upon.
Again, in both games, Kamloops failed to tally on the power-play.

Sidebar...OUCH... the Princeton Posse may face a similar fate from the league as Grand Forks. They are suspected to have been using an ineligible player since about Oct 25. It could set them back 17-21 points when the hammer comes down. After working themselves back into 2nd place in the division this penalty will really put a damper on Princeton's playoff aspirations.

Sidebar2... Look for Anthony Collins to practice with the Storm after a season and a half absence. Anthony has been playing in the BCHL this season for Burnaby and was recently traded to Drumheller in the Alberta League. Anthony went and took a look but didn't see anything he liked enough to stay. He is now waiting for another trade back to the BCHL but may have to take a time out and hold up in Kamloops until his deal is done. Jan 10 is the trading deadline for Junior A.
For those who don't remember, Anthony played for the Storm 2 seasons ago. He is 19 years old and looking to get a US college scholarship.

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The Kamloops Storm Crazy Captions contest is now up and running. Just click the link to see what's going on and join in on the fun.

Crazy Captions Contest

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The last survey regarding "if the Storm played the Thompson Valley Blazers, who would win?"
13 responses with 11 voting for the Storm and 2 for the Blazers... makes you wonder if an exhibition game is in order.

The answer for this weeks question will be given next week (see left column).

next home games... Dec 13 and 14 with divisional rivals Revelstoke and Summerland visiting the Mac Island Sport Centre.

2 Wins Last Weekend

Keep Kamloops Storm Atop the Division

Two key wins last weekend, against division rivals Revelstoke Grizzlies (4-1) and cross-divisional rivals the Castlegar Rebels (4-0) has put more distance between the Storm and the rest of the Okanagan-Shuswap division as Kamloops is starting to run away with the division.

Taylor Stuart had 2 goals in Friday's win against the Grizz and picked up 1 assist in Saturday's tilt for a 3 point weekend. Stuart has been playing well at both ends of the ice and has added another skating gear as his speed has significantly improved thru the month of November. The coaching staff have also taken note and have used him in both penalty kill and power play situations. Keep up the good work Taylor.

Jamie Galbraith has made his presence known since he returned from his groin injury. He scored in Revelstoke and was a real physical force in the game against Castlegar. His tilt with Taylor Anderson was the fight of the day of which Jamie was the clear winner. James Friedel also had a fight, duking it out with Jerris Gregory. James did ok but found himself on the bottom of the pile at the end of the skirmish.

Goaltender, Kyle Graham (I believe that he is now signed instead of an AP) won on Friday in Revelstoke. Anthony Manfredi posted the shutout win against Castlegar, however Graham finished the last 5 minutes of the game as Manfredi appeared to re-injure his knee. Graham's signing was necessitated by the extended injury to Christian Pederson who is on the mend at home in Calgary.

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Earlier this week we saw the departure of defenseman, Sheldon McDonald. He has been traded to Campbell River for future considerations. Kamloops as well as other KIJHL teams are considering trimming their rosters to make room for any Junior A cuts that may become available before the roster deadline. We wish Sheldon good luck on the Island.

Ryan Hanes was to have his ankle operation this week. I don't have that confirmed but I do believe he was booked in for Thursday. Expect him to be back in February. His electric presence will be missed.

I also expect that Ty Jackson should be ready to be back in the lineup this weekend but that is also not confirmed.

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This Weekend:

The Storm have a full weekend with 3 games. Divisional rivals Summerland Sting and Princeton Posse are on tap with the Summerland game being on the road Friday. Princeton visits on Saturday night and Spokane pays a visit to Mac Park for a Sunday afternoon contest. Spokane are currently 3rd in the Eddie Mountain Division, just 3 points behind 2nd place Castlegar.

I would expect that the game in Summerland could get physical and I suspect that the game with Princeton on Saturday will be another "swing party" as the Posse are always in the mood to dance.