Heading into the third weekend of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League season, Connor Hovelkamp of the Nelson Leafs and Ashton Gallagher of the Sicamous Eagles are the lone players to record hat-tricks.
Five goalies have had shut out performances, starting with Brenner Fyfe of the Kamloops Storm with a 43-save effort, Evan Leggett of the Williams Lake Mustangs stopped 35 and Blake Sittler of the Princeton Posse with 30. Haden Heide made his Castlegar Rebels debut with a 26-save effort and Landan Uzeloc of the Beaver Valley Nitehawks made 18 saves.
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Eddie Mountain Division
Columbia Valley Rockies head coach-general manager Tayler Sincennes liked their starts against the Chase Heat, leading 3-1 after the first period (7-3 win); and against the Nelson Leafs – a 4-1 lead for a 6-2 win.
“I think we’re 20 minutes away from playing a full 60-minutes,” said Sincennes, adding that some undisciplined play impacted momentum.
The Rockies’ special teams is performing very well with the power-play at 23.8 per cent, and the penalty-kill at 86.4 per cent. Only the Beaver Valley Nitehawks have a better penalty-kill at 100 per cent (19-for-19).
“In the Kimberley game, we scored a bunch of goals (3-for-7) and over this last weekend, it was only 1-for-8, but they generated really good looks. On almost every power-play we had an opportunity to score,” he said. “They are building momentum every time and then our PK did a really good job this weekend again.”
The Rockies are leaning on experienced players on the penalty-kill such as Teo Fath and Carter Krause are “usually our first guys over the boards” as they are excellent in getting the kill started. Johnny Lozeman, Trae Lees, Sam Cristo and Ethan Cerone are also used.
Kimberley Dynamiters head coach-general manager Derek Stuart likes the execution of their systems and structure much better than the opening weekend.
“Our team toughness was also very evident, especially in the game versus 100 Mile House,” he said.
Nick Hughes, Top Defenceman in this week’s KIJHL 3 Stars of the Week, enjoyed a two goal, five-point performance against 100 Mile House.
“Nick has been our best defenceman early on and has stepped up offensively with Trey Stephenson out with an injury,” said Stuart. “He is smart about when he takes offensive chances and is very skilled with the puck.”
As an 18-year-old rookie with the Sicamous Eagles, Hughes produced at .82 points-per-game (32 points in 39 games), so he has an offensive track record.
Going into this weekend, Stuart said they want to outwork opponents, while playing simple and smart.
“Limiting unforced turnovers will be important if we want to have success,” he said, as they play in Princeton and Merritt.
Stuart said that rookie Luke Davies (three goals in two games) has had a great start, as has Riley Langille, who leads the team with seven points in four games. Defenceman Jackson Murphy and Callan Valstar have been very good in all areas and proven to be a very reliable pairing.
The Creston Valley Thunder Cats are 1-4 on the season and lost 1-0 to the Castlegar Rebels and 7-2 to the Nelson Leafs last weekend. Rookie Berkley Gross, 18, is tied with second-year forward Liam Munro with two goals, while Gross also leads the team with three points, tied with defenceman Sidney Brill.
Newly acquired goalie Brendan Smith is 1-1 with an .875 save rate. He made 41 saves in his Thunder Cats debut against the 100 Mile House Wranglers on Sept. 27.
Golden Rockets head coach-general manager Jed Houseman felt his team underperformed against the Nelson Leafs, not able to capitalize on early chances.
“We had a couple of early power-play looks that we needed to capitalize on,” said Houseman. “We need more attention to details and overall our team game could have been better.”
Against Chase, he said they were paying attention to details with systems, however, they needed more high danger chances and chances in tight.
Rookie Kanye Huang has three points in three games to lead the team, after joining the organization following a tryout with the Melfort Mustangs of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
“I love Kanye’s game,” said Houseman. “He’s a real fit guy, who spends a lot of time in the gym and that correlates and pays off for him in the long run. He’s showing he’s got the strength and a great skill set. He plays with a ton of pace, is heads up and has a cannon of a shot. He’s definitely a weapon for us.”
Brett Krawchuk, who they added from Revelstoke, had a good performance. Houseman said for his size (5-9, 150-pounds), he is showing a great compete level, not giving up, and plays with pace.
Goalies Riley Deck and Landon Garbitt have had solid performances. Garbitt had his first start against Chase, and allowed the game-winner with four minutes remaining, and stopped 34 of 36 shots.
“He gave us every opportunity to win,” he said, of the 6-3, 170 pound goalie.
Houseman added that Deck has been great so far and is calm in goal.
Head coach-general manager Chad Scharff saw positive things from his Fernie Ghostriders team, and other areas they need to approach better. Overall, he feels they need to start better, but he felt they competed, showed character and never quit.
“I look at the Kimberly game and even though we’re down 4-2 in the third period, we found a way to get a point and get into a shootout,” he said. “Against 100 Mile House, we’re down 3-0 early in the game and we find a way to fight back (lose 6-4).”
Riley Enns, 19, impressed Scharff with his play over the weekend.
“He’s a guy whose work ethic is unmatched and was able to contribute offensively,” said Scharff, as the 6-1, 190-pound forward scored a goal in each game.
Neil Murdoch Division
The Nelson Leafs are playing in a way that is pleasing head coach-general manager Briar McNaney. There are things that can be cleaned up, but offensively they are executing the game plan and he believes they can be a “pretty successful team.”
Hovelkamp has impressed with his hot start (3-4-7 in five games) and has played a solid two-way game.
“He has a real knack for the net,” said McNaney.
Rylan Konescni, a summer acquisition from Osoyoos, is producing at above a point-per-game pace. He had 24 points in 38 games last season.
“He’s making opposing defences really struggle,” said McNaney.
Avery Hewson is their version of Montreal Canadiens Brendan Gallagher as McNaney describes him as a “little firecracker.”
“For a 17-year-old, he’s got guts.
“When games start to get out of hand, the yelling and screaming starts, in a place like Nelson with 700-plus fans on any given night and it’s loud, he’s a kid that is born to play in front of a big fan base,” continued McNaney. “He’s a kid you really trust to have on your side and able to play with energy, be put on the spot offensively, and do multiple things.”
Grand Forks Border Bruins head coach-general manager David Hnatiuk was happy collecting three of four points on the weekend.
“I think our bigger picture wasn’t so much the weekend, it was September,” he said. “Not that it means much, but we went 5-0 in the pre-season and won three of the four regular season games. We took 17 of 18 available points, and to start, seven of eight regular season points.”
Being early in the season, Hnatiuk sees areas to improve, but it’s about rhythm and how they want to play and their identity.
“The early part of the process is looking good,” he added.
Also looking good is goalie Matthew Dovichak, who has played all their games with three wins and a 1.95 goals against average with a .909 save rate.
“I want to give him an opportunity to come in and show that he is capable of being our guy and I think his first four games and even pre-season have shown that,” said Hnatiuk. “Dovi has stepped up and answered the call and he had a good showing.”
Dovichak was patient behind Ethan Shebansky last season, learning a lot, and had a successful rookie year. Last season, the Strathmore, Alta., native played in 19 games, going 11-2-0 with a 3.45 goals against average and a .897 save rate.
An 8-2 loss to the Border Bruins sticks out to Beaver Valley Nitehawks head coach-general manager Terry Jones.
“I feel like on the one hand, we’ve had some good games, put some offensive numbers up, our power-play and shorthanded play has been really good. Our goaltending has been outstanding, but I think we have a lot of work to do on the little and important things,” he said. “It’s getting better with our habits and playing the game a little bit faster.”
The poor performance was a great lesson.
“In those moments early in the year, I think when you start looking at the stats and compare notes with the other teams, you think you’re pretty good. You have to realize that you got a real competitive team in Grand Forks, who wanted to have some redemption from last year’s playoffs. I feel like they came out and badly outplayed us. It’s a really good lesson for our group in how we prepare.”
Captain Liam Ray has impressed.
“He has been very solid, a great leader and we know he’s a solid, physical force but, he’s playing very composed and that’s good.”
Losing 4-3 to the defending Teck Cup champion Revelstoke Grizzlies, then bouncing back for a 1-0 win against the Thunder Cats made Castlegar Rebels head coach Nick Headrick happy.
“I thought we played the defending champions pretty well, they are a good team and have good coaching and structure, and we were in the game,” said Headrick. “I like how we were down 2-0, we didn’t quit, we rallied right away and got two, even when they went up 3-2 in the third, we found a way to fight back and tie it again. That is something we had a hard time doing last year.”
The positive against the Thunder Cats was holding the lead.
“The weekend before, we blew two leads to Nelson,” he said. “We definitely learned our lesson from that weekend and it was good to get the first win.”
Headrick pinpoints the reason for not being able to hold leads to “kind of taking our foot off the gas and getting content as the game goes.”
“The biggest thing for me is the way we’ve been managing pucks,” he said. “At times we’ve been hurting ourselves, whether it’s poor decision-making in our zone, or being lazy on pucks and discipline has kind of been an issue for us certain times,” he said.
To no surprise, Josh Gamble has impressed and leads the team with seven points in four games, and Headrick added he knew the Wilcox, Sask., native would be a big piece. Headrick has also liked the play of rookies Hunter Jaman, Rhyle Weaslehead, and Kwentyn Oss.
“I think those young guys and then our core veterans have been solid for us,” said Headrick.
Recent goalie addition Heide, picked up from his hometown Lloydminster Bobcats of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, looked really strong in his debut. Heide played five games with the Bobcats last season and had three wins in five games.
The Spokane Braves literally got into a shootout battle with the Kelowna Chiefs, losing 7-6. Head coach Michael Bay loved their response after being down 4-0, scoring four unanswered themselves.
“We’ve gotten better every game and just keep building, gaining more experience as a young group,” he said. “It really highlights the team’s character and offers a valuable team-building experience. We have a lot of young players and seeing them battle back like that and show resilience reflects significant growth.”
Bay said that forward Lance Insko has been their best player.
“He’s always had the tools to be a great player. He’s demonstrated that and has started to play with real confidence and is constantly pushing himself and his teammates to improve.”
Bay likes that Insko plays a hard, energy-filled 200-foot game.