Sicamous Eagles Grounded

:Kamloops Storm Blows through to 2nd Round

For 3 straight games on Kamloops ice, the Sicamous Eagles almost pulled one out. For the 2nd time in the series the Storm and the Eagles needed double overtime to settle things and the result was the same.

Austin Goode, coming into the game 0-0-0 in the playoffs snuck off the bench, picked up a big rebound from the the back boards on a shot by Jassi Sangha and popped the series winning goal at 10:44 of the 2nd OT. The final score was 3-2. It's been a tough series for Goode but he came up big when the team needed him most, not unlike many times during the season.

It was a tight checking affair all evening with both Anthony Manfredi and particularly Riley Wall making their share of spectacular saves. Wall stood on his ear time after time to stop point blank Kamloops gunners. Kamloops outshot Sicamous 71 -36.

Sicamous got the upper hand early when Brock Backus showed some hustle by stealing the puck from the 3 Storm players behind the Storm net and set up an opportunistic Jay Stuart for a howitzer over the glove of Manfredi to make the score 1-0.

Anthony Collins popped his second goal of the season on a nice set up by Lundy Trenaman and gritty Tod Kennedy.

There was a melee near the end of the 1st period after Jassi Sangha retaliated on a Sicamous defenseman and took an 2 min. penalty for a hit to the head and an automatic 10 min misconduct. Only 14 seconds into the second period Cody Lockwood blasted a rocket from the blueline on the powerplay and Sicamous took a 2-1 lead.

Again with Wall standing tall in the net and the Sicamous penalty killers showing outstanding discipline the scored stayed 2-1 until late in the 3rd period when Ryan Bullock buried the game tieing goal with 3:13 remaining in the 3rd. Manfredi was called upon late in the game to come up with a few big saves to keep Kamloops in the mix. Wall got involved in a collision in his crease and looked like he hurt his knee. He finished the period in pain and one wondered if he was going to make to the overtime period.

Wall didn't disappoint. The first 10 min overtime solved nothing with Wall and Manfredi looking pretty sharp.

The second overtime seemed to be going Sicamous's way early but Kamloops started coming on when finally Goode got his opportunity to bang home the winner. Sicamous goes home early in the playoffs knowing that they were only a hair away from making an upset in the series twice on Kamloops ice.

A couple of players for Kamloops that had particularly sparkling efforts were Mike Hanes (#2) and Tod Kennedy (#16). Kennedy stepped up to play with 2nd line Collins and Trenaman and Hanes moved up to play forward on the third line. Kennedy got an assist on the first Kamloops goal while Hanes was a wrecking ball, taking on anything he could catch. And he caught alot. Not knowing the official count on hits but I would bet that he had 8 solid hits himself. The kid was like a pitbull on a pant leg. Coach Bryant Perrier and team owner Barry Dewar where both impressed with the play of the two players.

Kamloops will now take on the winner of the Revelstoke - Summerland war. Game 5 goes tonight in Summerland with the series tied at 2. The series opener is not likely to start until Monday or Tuesday of next week.

See you then

KIJHL - Playoff Preview

Playoffs Start this Week

The start of the second season starts and within less than 2 weeks, 6 teams will be moving on and 6 teams will be packing their bags. It's been a competitive year with the strength of the league emerging from the Neil Murdock division with the likes of Nelson, Beaver Valley, Spokane and Castlegar beating up on the rest of the league. Now they have to play amongst themselves and look to the winner here to take it all if they don't bang the heck out of each other trying to emerge from their division.

Fernie was a clear-cut winner in the Eddie Mountain Division and is not likely to receive a big challenge there unless they self-destruct.

The Kamloops Storm emerged as the strength in the Okanagan - Shuswap division but this was the closest division from top to bottom and very few games were blowouts. Princeton was eliminated in the last week of play.

So, lets take a look at the first round match-ups and see what our predictions are.


Eddy Mountain Division:

A. Fernie vs. Columbia Valley

Columbia Valley has some big kids but they won't be able to handle the speed of Martin Croteau and the rest of the Ghostriders. Fernie's defensive game is superior with almost a full goal against/game better than Columbia Valley. Fernie won the season series convincingly, 6-2.
Look for Fernie to be one of the contenders for the KIJHL title.

Fernie in 4.

B. Kimberley vs. Creston

This one is too close to call. The teams split the season series 4-4. I'm going to go with the team that has the big guns. The scoring power of Kimberley's Jeremy Moccasin-Weasel and Mike Whitequills will be the difference.

Kimberley in 7.

Neil Murdock Division

The rest of the league has got to hope that these guys beat the living ka-ka out of each other over the course of the first couple rounds so that they can be had later on. Keep wishing.

A. Nelson vs. Spokane

Despite Spokane's ability to play sound, technical hockey, Nelson has too much speed and power to let them get in their way. Spokane will be better in the playoff series than they were in the regular season against Nelson but they will probably will be golfing early.

Nelson in 6.

B. Castlegar vs Beaver Valley

Another close one if you look at the standings but Castlegar had their way with Beaver Valley this year winning the season 6-2. Beaver Valley looked like a finely tuned machine when they visited Kamloops in Dec. and look like they could put up a better fight than their record against Castlegar shows.

Beaver Valley in an upset - 7 games

Okanagan-Shuswap Division:

This was the tightest division in the league so upsets are possible, especially in series B.

A. Kamloops vs Sicamous

The teams split their season series where Sicamous dominated in the first half of the season and Kamloops was stronger in the second half. I don't think Sicamous has the guns that Kamloops has with 2 strong scoring lines and the strong goaltending of Manfredi and Brennan.
Look for Kamloops to be a contender for the big prize.

Kamloops in 5.

B. Summerland vs Revelstoke

This could be the best match-up in the entire 1st round of the playoffs. The teams split their regular season meetings. Both teams have tough guys, strong leaders and good goaltending. My feeling is that Revelstoke has the better top-end and with all else being equal, they should be able to steal a game from Summerland and emerge victorious.

Revelstoke in 7.

We are looking forward to the playoffs and hope to update you on the Kamloops-Sicamous series as it unfolds. Let's see how we do in our predictions and we will revisit them at the end of all the first-round series.

Go Storm.