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Quarter-mark look at Eddie team performances
KIJHL Notebook: Team Performance
By Emanuel Sequeira
With most Kootenay International Junior Hockey league (KIJHL) teams now completed the quarter-mark of their 42-game schedule, we dig into how they have been performing in this week’s KIJHL Notebook.
Eddie Mountain Division
Atop of the Eddie Mountain Division, the Columbia Valley Rockies have eight wins in 13 games. The Rockies earned a split last weekend, in which they bounced back to double up the Beaver Valley Nitehawks 8-4 after losing in overtime to Creston Valley. They improved their record against Neil Murdoch division teams to six wins and a loss.
The Fernie Ghostriders sit one point behind the Rockies with eight wins in 12 games. They earned back-to-back shutout victories over the Castlegar Rebels and Grand Forks Border Bruins last weekend.
“It’s a process, it’s nice to see them figure out our system and play the right way,” said Ghostriders head coach and general manager Ty Valin. “It always takes time. You don’t want to peak too early and you don’t want to peak too late either.”
A commitment from the players to play strong defensive hockey has stood out to Valin. Captain Kyle Klein has been playing well and has been “a huge person in our dressing room.”
“Even his on-ice play has started to come around,” said Valin. “He’s playing a good defensive-minded game and becoming a good shutdown defenceman. He is also contributing on the offence as well. It was nice for him to get his 100th game last weekend.”
The Kimberley Dynamiters have won seven of their 12 games. They picked up wins over Creston Valley and Golden last weekend to improve their record to seven wins, three losses, and two shootout losses.
“We are playing much better as of late, especially in terms of generating scoring chances,” said Dynamiters head coach and general manager Derek Stuart. “I really liked how we controlled the game and dictated how it was going to be played. We held our opponent to single digit shots in each period and that usually gives us an opportunity to get the result we want.”
The Dynamiters outshoot their opponents every period, with the largest margin in the second at plus-27. The Dynamiters are 5-0 when leading after the second period.
Since joining the Dynamiters from the North Okanagan Knights earlier in the season, Tenzin Bogardis has brought a calming presence to the blueline.
“He is extremely poised with the puck and gets it moving north quickly,” added Stuart. “He has improved our PP as well.”
In six games, Bogardis has three points, two of which are power-play assists.
The Creston Valley Thunder Cats have seven wins in 12 games. They split their games last weekend, earning an overtime win over the Rockies. Nearly half of their wins have come against divisional opponents and the second period has been their best offensively, outscoring opposition 16-6.
The Golden Rockets have won five of 11 games. They lost both last weekend 5-4 in overtime to Beaver Valley and 3-2 against Kimberley. The Rockets are 4-0 when leading after two periods.
Click here to read about quarter-pole team performances for the rest of the KIJHL.
Emanuel Sequeira is KIJHL Director of Communications
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