By Stephanie Stevens

Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said there is “no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.”

A minor lapse in that focus going into two home games last weekend potentially cost the Columbia Valley Rockies the game against the Kamloops Storm Friday, Nov. 22.

The Kamloops team took to the ice in the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena in a manner that matched their name and potted three goals in 10 minutes, resulting in rookie goalie Ryan Bain being replaced by the more seasoned Jaiden Jakubowski.

That pull was not a commentary on Bain’s performance alone, but also a lack of defensive support.

“I think Bainer had a tough night Friday with not much help,” said associate coach Tucker Braund.  “We needed a spark and a change and sometimes a goaltending change does that. We just chased the game all night… it’s hard to come back from that.”

Ethan Cerone (assist from Kobe Mason) got the lone first period goal, followed in the second by Carter Velker (Noah Asmundson and Carter Hensch) and Johnny Lozeman (Owen Ditzel).

Jakubowski kept 27 of 29 more shots on goal out of the net but the Storm took the game 5-3.

The Storm was sitting midway in the Doug Birks Division of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) up until Friday and are now in second.

“You can’t take any team lightly in our league, any team can win on any night… we have to be ready for a battle every game, because everyone is working hard and trying to get better every week and if we come into the rink with the mindset of it’s going to be an easy game we will be in for a surprise… and I think we got surprised,” said Braund.

Saturday night saw the Neil Murdoch Division leading Grand Forks Border Bruins in the Eddie.
“It was a much better effort all around on Saturday,” said Braund. “We didn’t play great but we played better and we battled it out until we won. We stuck with it… we made mistakes but we got back to our game and we got what we came for.”

First period scoring was opened by the Bruins but Cerone evened things up with an unassisted goal late in the period.

Second period saw one more for the Bruins and Hensch (Asmundson) tied it up in the third to take them into a fast-paced three-on-three overtime. Cerone (Godley and Lucas Masters) took the game with a power play goal for a 3-2 win.

Jakubowski kept 35 of 37 shots on net from hitting the mark.

“That’s a big win for us, being down, playing a chippy and confident team and we showed them we can hang,” Braund said. “It was great.”

The Rockies are away this upcoming weekend playing the Merritt Centennials Friday and the Kelowna Chiefs on Saturday.

The next home game is Friday, Dec. 6 against the Creston Valley Thundercats.

Lead image: Rockies’ defender Jaxson Sperling presents an opposing view to Border Bruins players during Saturday’s tilt against Grand Forks at the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena.  Stephanie Stevens photos

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