The Kamloops Storm just can't seem to gain any momentum and as long as they keep handing out gifts like Santa at Christmas they are getting what they deserve.
It was a long night at the Mac Island Sports Centre where the 2nd place Sicamous Eagles made the first visit to Kamloops in the new year. And the Storm were perfect hosts.
After taking a 5-2 pounding in Chase on Friday, the Storm came out with some zing at home on Saturday night at home. The first and 2nd periods were close with Sicamous goaltender Tyler Steel and Storm tender, Anthony Manfredi both displaying their talents. The Eagles held a 1-0 first period lead on a power play goal by Quinn Rempel, his first of 2 for the evening.
In the 2nd period, Kamloops came out flying but could not bury the biscuit until they found themselves down 2-0, courtesy of a give-away beside the Kamloops net where Andrew Nunn jumped on a loose puck and stuffed it under Manfredi on the short side. Jason Alessio cut the lead to 2-1 when he buried the puck close in on Steel but it was Bob Turnbull of the Eagles who picked up his own rebound in the Kamloops zone and chipped it past a sprawling Manfredi to make it 3-1.
The last 3.5 minutes of the period were a little frantic. Bevin Ollek buried a rebound on the power-play to make the score 3-2. Then, Jordan Wilkens, who probably played the worst game of his life, took a holding penalty and Quinn Rempel scored his 2nd power play goal of the evening. Finally, with 1:10 left in the period, Alessio popped his 2nd goal of the game and 3rd point of the period to make the score 4-3 going into the 2nd intermission. The Storm ended up out shooting the Eagles in the period 19-13.
It was the 3rd period that proved to be the demise of the Storm. The Eagles came out flying while Storm goaltender Anthony stood on his ear trying to keep the team in the game. Enter the "Big Giveaway". While Kamloops were on the power play, Wilken's was the last man, carrying the puck in his own zone when he got stripped of the puck by Cain Franson who promptly put a move on Manfredi to notch the short-handed goal. Less than 3 minutes later, Wilkens, who didn't learn the first time, committed the same sin again and Daryl Devries of the Eagles slipped another puck by Manfredi to complete the scoring. In both cases, Manfredi was caught sitting in deep in his net trusting his d-man. With both giveaways occurring in the middle slot, Fredi had little time to react and got beaten on a couple of real skilled dekes.
Sitting solidly in 5th spot, if the playoffs were to start today, Kamloops would be playing Chase in the first round.
MacDonald's 3 Stars:
#1 - Cain Franson-Eagles (1G 3A)
#2 - Jason Alessio - Storm (2G 1A)
#3 - Quinn Rempl - Eagles ( 2G)
scoreboard
The Storm started the new year out pretty well. They lost an overtime thriller 4-3 in Princeton on Jan 2 to salvage 1 point and then on Jan 3 they laid a lick'n on the first place Grizzlies, in Revelstoke.
This past Friday night they took a 5-2 pounding at the hands of the Chase Chiefs (who now have Kamloops native Colten Defrias back in the lineup after a long injury recovery).
The All-Star Game is being held in Beaver Valley this coming Tues. Kamloops had 3 players selected to play in the game however only Bevin Ollek and Mike McCance will make the trip to represent the Storm. Centreman Tyler Jackson also had an invite but cannot make the trip for undisclosed reasons. Good luck guys, enjoy the experience.
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