storm headed for the league final

Thursday night in Sicamous the Kamloops Storm defeated the Sicamous Eagles by a score of 4-2 to tie the series at 2 games each.Scoring for Kamloops were Devon Gannon assisted by Justin Palazzo and Scott Kirkham.After 1 period the score was tied 1-1.In the second period Kamloops got goals from David Gore assisted by Jose Reyes abd Justin Palazzo and Scott Kirkham assisted by Ryan Hanes and Doug Orr.After 2 periods the score was Kamloops 3 and Sicamous 2.Ryan Hanes assisted by Scott Kirkham and Justin Palazzo.

eagles up 2 games to 1

Wednesday night March 18th the Kamloops Storm traveled to Sicamous for game 3 of their best of 5 division series.Up 2-1 after 2 periods the Storm could not hold the lead and last 3-2.Game 4 goes Thursday night March 19th from the Sicamous and District arena.Hopefully the Storm can find a way to win and bring the series back to Kamloops tied 2 games apiece for the 5th and deciding game.

Eagles Tie Series

Kamloops Creating Their Own Storm

I don't know where the Sicamous Eagles have found their energy but they just keep going on and on like the Energizer Bunny. Blessed with 2 capable goaltenders and more depth than I personally gave them credit for, Sicamous has been full value for their effort and particularly their win over the Storm in Game 2.

On the other hand... What's going on with the Storm? Granted, they hit a few crossbars and the Sicamous goaltending has been exceptional. However the lack of finish in the offensive zone and the absence of intensity in the defensive zone (which was observed and commented on late in the season as team went on cruise control), has come back to kick them in the butt. The perception that the team could come and play the last period and walk out with a win is delusional and can ultimately be their demise. It's an attitude of complacency that has been visible since the Christmas break but until now it has been of little consequence.

This is the playoffs. Time to kick it up a notch.

We will see how the Storm handles their personal adversity as Game 3 and 4 proceed tonight and tomorrow night in Sicamous. Let's hope that they bring their "A" game for the whole game. I selfishly hope that Monday night's OT loss to the Eagles wasn't our last broadcast of the season... I too am unprepared for an earlier exit than expected.

Your comments are welcome.

Storm Win Game 1 in Conference Final

Sicamous Eagles Running on Fumes
After Grueling 7 Game Series with Chase
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't think that I have ever seen a schedule like this year's KIJHL Okanagan-Shuswap Playoffs.
I can 't believe that the Sicamous Eagles played as well as they did because of the schedule.

It was a closed game last night in the opening game of the conference finals. Sicamous came out strong, as we expected in the first period and started to fade in the 2nd period as predicted. But it was their 3rd period that surprised this cowboy as the Eagles really stuck with the lack-lustre Kamloops Storm only to lose by one goal.

The Storm, lacing the skates up with a 5 day rest, again lacked finish in the offensive zone and can be accused a slack effort in their own zone. Their 2 power play goals helped save the day. Eagles goaltender, Chris Kingdon, again kept them in the game as he faced 44 shots to Anthony Manfredi's 28.

The Storm's big line of Jose Reyes, David Gore and Mick Ludvig were generally ineffective. They really struggled in every zone, especially their lack of production on the scoreboard. Not that they were not trying, they just were not clicking. If Kamloops hopes to win it all this year, that line has to pick it up a notch or two.

The best players on the ice for Kamloops were the tenacious twins, Devin Gannon and Ryan Hanes, and the skilled performances of Scott Kirkam and Sean Menton. The "D" was led by Shae Naka, Daniel Medland-Marchen and Mike McCance. Palazzo, Galbraith, Marr and Orr struggled in their own zone. Palazzo was certainly instrumental on the power play.

Game 2 goes tonight, 7pm at the Mac Island Sports Centre. The Eagles are playing their 5th game in 5 days and 9th game in 11 days and have got to be running on fumes. Luckily, their goaltending has held up and will need to continue to do so if they hope to win this series. The Storm need a 4 line effort. Their depth is their ace in the hole and should overpower the spent Sicamous Eagles. But that's why they play the game. On paper, it should be a no-brainer but extraordinary efforts can give extraordinary results. And super goaltending can make all the difference. Both teams have superb netminders. At the moment I give the Eagles the nod in this department, mostly because the Storm's Manfredi has seen very little action over the past 3 weeks. If he finds his "A" game it will be lights out for the Eagles. If not, the Eagles have a slim chance of pulling the rabbit out of the hat.

In other action, the Nelson Leafs have taken a 2-0 lead over defending champions, the Fernie GhostRiders. The series now moves to Fernie for games 3 and 4.

Catch us on the air about 5 minutes before game time tonight.

Your Comments are welcome.

Storm vs Posse game 4

Last night the Kamloops Storm traveled to Princeton to play the Princeton Posse in game 4 of the best of 7 division semi-final.Alex Christianson got the start for Kamloops as Anthony Manfreddi was called up to the Westside Warriors of the BCHL.Both teams came out ready to play right from the opening faceoff.Kamloops would get on the scoreboard first at the 11:56 mark of the 1st period on a goal by Devon Gannon assisted by Sean Menton.Princeton would respond with a goal of their own at the 7:37 mark before Kamloops Storm David Gore scored on the power play assisted by Mick Ludvig and Jose Reyes with 2:51 to play the first period.Kamloops would carry that lead into the 1st intermission.Princeton would score at the 15:53 mark of the second period to tie the score 2-2 after 2 periods.Kamloops would score the game winner on the power play with 2:49 to play scored by Ryan Hanes assisted by Justin Palazzo.Final score 3-2 in favor of the Kamloops Storm.Kamloops win the best of 7 division semi-final 4 games to 0.Shots on goal in the game 36 for Kamloops and 31 for Princeton.Next action for the Kamloops Storm is Sunday March 15th against the winner of the Sicamous Eagles and the Chase Chiefs series live from McCarther Island Sports Arena.

Storm in Princeton game 3

Last night the kamloops Storm traveled to Princeton to play the Posse in game 3 of the best of 7 division semi-final.Both teams came out hard in the first period with the Storm taking the play to the Posse but Posse goaltender Mickael Gartig played well for his team once again.After 1 period of play it was Kamloops 0 and Princeton 0.The second period saw both teams come out hard with both goaltenders making great save after great save than with 9:32 to go in 2nd period Sean Menton went down the ice on the power play and scored assisted by Taylor Stewart,Austin Goode followed that up scoring on another powerplay 5 and a half minutes later to put the Storm up 2-0 after 2 periods.the third period started out just like the last 2 periods with both teams working hard.Princeton got on the board 6 minutes and 21 seconds into the 3rd period on a goal by Nolan O'Brein assisted Nick Cecconi and Thierry Martine.Kamloops would than score the insurance marker to restore their 2 goal lead 9 minutes 16 seconds into the 3rd period on a goal by Ryan Hanes assisted by Austin Goode.Final score Kamloops 3 and Princeton 1.Shots on goal in the game Kamloops 40 Princeton 20.The Storm take a 3 games to 0 lead in the series in to game 4 in Princeton Tuesday night.

Kamloops Squeeks Out 2 Wins on Weekend

Posse Personality Rears Ugly Head

For the most part the opening 2 games of the Storm-Posse series actually looked like playoff hockey. Tight scores, great goaltending and outstanding efforts. It all came undone at the end of the game on Saturday night when cheap shot artist, Brody Brewster decided to take a two-hand chop with his stick on the face of Daniel Medlan-Marchan after the final buzzer.

I had taken the time to say how well Princeton looked when they stuck to hockey, both on the air and in my blog but Brewster, who was 3rd in penalty minutes in the league this year despite only playing in 45 games, climbed back into the sewer of credible play. We had noticed him yapping and taking cheap shots at Storm players throughout the game but his buzzer special was exactly why the Posse are considered the low-lifes of the league when it come to violence in hockey. For a kid that has zero for future on anything past Junior B hockey, you have got to wonder what's really on the line.

Posse goaltender Mike Garteig has been fabulous. This series would be out the window for Princeton if it weren't for him. Kamloops has scoring strength on every line and they all have tested him. But guys like Brewster are a throw back to everything that's wrong with hockey. Little skill in a league that begs for skill, this guy had no less than 15 games throughout the year where his penalty total exceeded 10 minutes. That's one third of all the games that he played during the regular season. For the life of me, I can't see how a bone-headed attitude like that can do anything but harm a team. Yet the Posse seem to grub around every year to find losers like this in hopes to be a winning team. Yes, they can intimidate some teams but not this time around. Princeton is far more effective trying to play hockey than trying to mirror the Broadstreet Bullies of the seventies... they don't have enough talent to do both.

Let's hope the league can get the tape on the incident at the end of the game and deal with it in a manner that not only sends a message to the player and the team but brings back some pride in actually running a legitimate league. Everyone knows that tempers flair and fisticuffs are going to happen and the league dealt with it in an exceptable manner... game misconduct. However, I don't think that they have addressed the whole issue of major penalties. Violent penalties (major penalties) including fighting, hits to the head, hits from behind, high sticking and so on need to have a limit. They have inserted the coaches suspension for more than 3 fights in a game. Now, it would seem prudent to step up to the plate and place some of the onus on the players, like a league review for anyone who receives more than 3 or 4 0r 5 (let them pick the number) majors in a season and a mandatory 5 game suspension for anyone who exceeds that threshold. Plus, increase the penalty every time that they take another major after that.

Some may say that that targets the physical players... not so. One can play the game being physical. And the rule would allow the player time to change his attitude. However, with no cap on major penalties it will continue to endanger real players and make more headlines than credible play.

The series continues in Princeton tonight. Let's hope that as emotions rise and physical play increases, it doesn't degrade itself with the goonery exhibited at the end of last game.

Let me personally apologize for actions of a few out-of-hand patrons from Kamloops on the Saturday night brew-ha. These drunken young men were pointed out as potential trouble makers prior to the game but had been in attendance the night before and relatively behaved themselves. You can't kick someone out for actually behaving. They crossed the line on Saturday and I personally hope that they are turned away at the door if they try to come to another game at the Sports Centre.

Good luck to Storm in Princeton and I hope that they keep their heads about them. The Posse will continue to try their tactics knowing full well that they have little chance to move on.

The fans in Princeton deserve more than a team that constantly leaves a black eye on the quality of the neighbourhood.

The above expressed views are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kamloops Storm Hockey Team.

Your comments are welcome.

Great Game - Storm 3 Posse 2 in OT

Internet Broadcast a Bust!

It was a great game last night at the Mac Park Sports Centre as the Kamloops Storm pulled off an win in OT to defeat the disciplined version of the Princeton Posse.

Our apologies regarding the broadcast. When I arrived at the arena I was told that there were challenges getting onto the internet. We tried a few things but it appeared to be a hardware problem. Barry Dewar was working hard to have a techie look at it today so that we can broadcast tonight.

Back to the game.

Kamloops came out rather sluggish in the first period. Passes were not clicking, shots were missing and the Posse did a dandy job gettng pucks to the Kamloops net as well as neutralizing the Kamloops power play by keeping them to the outside and limiting shots. Whatever got to the net, Posse goaltender, Mike Garteig, had an answer for.

The open goal was scored by Kyle L'Arrivee from Jason Alessio and Matt Chomyc. L'Arrivee picked up a rebound on a sharp save by Storm goaltender, Anthony Manfredi and rifled it just under the crossbar.

Princeton did take their fair share of penalties and ended up a man short when Chomyc got tagged with a hitting from behind hit. He got 2 minutes and a game misconduct.

Kamloops came out flying in the 2nd period and was holding the balance of play. It wasn't until near the middle of the period when David Gore finally capitalized right off the faceoff on the power play to tie the score at 1. Later in the period, with Gore off for goaltender interference, Ryan Hanes won a clean faceoff and got it over to Taylor Stuart who made no mistake by slipping it under the pads of Garteig giving the Storm a 2-1 lead going into the 3rd.

Kamloops dominated again in the 3rd period although Princeton seemed to come on as they pressed for the tieing goal. Finally, with Kamloops killing a penalty, Brendan Stephen was johnny-on-the-spot to score the tying goal with just over 2 minutes remaining and eventually forcing overtime.

With less than 2 minutes gone in the OT, Devin Gannon broke up a Princeton rush and turned it around for a 2 on 1 with Scott Kirkham. Gannon held on until he was hash mark high and slipped the puck over to Kirkham who gave Garteig a little feign and scored the winning goal.

Gartieg ended up making 40 saves on the evening and was the first star, while Stuart was 2nd star and Kirkham was the 3rd star.

Game 2 goes tonight. Let's hope that we can get the broadcast done this time around.

PS... I do not receive emails during the game... sorry

Click here for other scores from Friday night playoffs in the KIJHL.

Real Playoffs Start Tonight

Okanagan-Shuswap Division Finally Gets Serious

It's a good thing that Armstrong has been accepted into the KIJHL for next year. Their presence and participation should help make sense of the post-season.

For the most part, the first round of Okanangan-Shuswap Division has been a marathon of nonsense. An 8 game-double-round-robin to eliminate one team almost sounds like it was something dreamed up by the the BC Teachers Federation in fast forward. And playing 8 games in 10 or 11 days is a grueling exercise for players, coaches, fans and officials.

Rant #1

For teams like the Kamloops Storm, who have a wealth of AP players, this first round offered a valuable rest for their top players after they knew that they were into the next round. That amounted to 3 totally meaningless games. Perhaps the losers in all this though, are the fans. Without taking away from the effort of the players that did play those games, the paying fans got to watch an enhanced major midget team, without a lot of warning. I don't blame the teams that used their AP players to take advantage of this situation however one has to ask that whether fielding replacement players for half the line-up for 3 games puts the term "playoffs" on to the comic page rather than the sports page.

Rant #2

In addition, the amount of games played also taxed the quality of officiating that we saw. I know that it is a developmental league however, if I was an owner, which is my business, I would be extremely vocal about the quality of officials used in the games. When you have "boys", as young or younger than the players playing, holding the balance of power in a game, you know that their is going to be trouble. It is unfair to the official, unfair to the players and again, unfair to the fans to see a kid out there 3 miles over his head try to manage a game. Let's hope there is a lesson learned here. People don't pay money to watch a referee become the centre of attention in the game because they lack experience. That's what minor hockey is for.

Now, the playoffs begin.

The Kamloops Storm have dominated the Princeton Posse all season. Princeton is known for its physical, almost intimidating play against other teams with success but it hasn't really seemed to work against the Storm. I might say though, the one game that we saw Princeton in Kamloops during the last round, the Posse decided to play hockey rather than WWE. It was almost refreshing. However, I believe that their fate will be the same. Now that the Kamloops vets are now well rested, I think the Posse will be blown out of the playoffs. At best, this series will go 5 games.

The Sicamous Eagles - Chase Chiefs series should be more interesting. The teams are evenly matched and should go 6 or 7 games. Sicamous certainly had the upper hand in the first round, winning both games however if Chase goaltender, Riley Wall can perform at the level that he is capable, he could steal the series for the Chiefs. But somehow, I'm not sure that this will happen. At this point in time, I would have to guess that Sicamous will prevail in 7.

In the Kootenay Conference, look for the Nelson Leafs to emerge to play the Fernie Ghostriders in the final. Nelson was far and away the best team in the league throughout the regular season and Fernie has the playoff experience to move on. I can't make a more detailed prediction than that as I really haven't seen enough of the teams in that conference to know what makes each team click.

See you tonight and tomorrow night at the Mac Park Sports Centre in Kamloops for the showdown with the Posse. If you can't make it, pick us up on the internet for the game and play-by-play yours truly.

(note: the opinions expressed above are strictly the views of this writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kamloops Storm Hockey Team)

Your Comments are welcome!

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.