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KIJHL enters final week of regular season
It’s the last week of the KIJHL regular season, and while all of the playoff spots have been solidified, there is still positioning to fight for. This will make for an exciting week of action, especially in the Neil Murdoch division.
The Grand Forks Border Bruins have a two-point lead on Beaver Valley and Nelson, who all have two games remaining. On Friday, Beaver Valley visits Castlegar, while Grand Forks and Nelson face off against each other. Heading into the weekend, Beaver Valley has 13 wins, seven losses, an overtime and shootout loss against divisional opponents. Castlegar meanwhile has eight wins, 11 losses and three shootout losses. The Nitehawks have won four of their seven games against the Rebels.
After being winless in their previous 10 games against Nelson and 6-17-1-0 in the last five seasons, the Border Border Bruins have won five of the seven games against the Leafs. The Border Bruins have 12 wins, eight losses and one overtime and shootout loss in their division.
The Leafs have 11 wins, eight losses, two overtime losses and a shootout loss.
On Saturday, the Rebels take on the Border Bruins in Grand Forks, and the Border Bruins have won four of the seven games. At the Jack Goddard Memorial Arena, the Border Bruins have won 15 of 21 games. Nelson visits Beaver Valley and the Nitehawks have four wins in seven games, with the Leafs having won two of the last three games.At the Fruitvale – Beaver Valley Arena, the Nitehawks have won 15 of 21 games.
In the Eddie Mountain division, Fernie can still take third place from Golden as they trail by two points with two games remaining. In the Doug Birks division, Kamloops is two points ahead of the Sicamous Eagles for second and both have two games remaining.
These should be great games for people to watch. If you can’t make it to the rink, then take in the action on HockeyTV.
Eddie Mountain Division
The Columbia Valley Rockies won the regular season Eddie Mountain division title for the first time in 19 years. They secured the division with two games remaining and are Kootenay Conference regular season champs. Rockies head coach-GM Emery Olauson said accomplishing this was a goal from the start.
“I think it was a lofty goal, but I give a lot of credit to our guys. They took themselves seriously and 42 games later, I feel really proud,” said Olauson. “It was a challenging season and our division is extremely competitive and they have got objective No. 1 done. There is a lot more to do.”
The Rockies recently signed five-foot-11, 178-pound defenceman Damon Byers after losing Blake Hiltermann to a season-ending injury. Olauson said it was a major blow to lose Hiltermann. Byers is a player that Olauson has been watching for a while.
“He won a championship last season with the Estevan Bruins, and started the season in Humboldt,” he said. “One thing our team was a little short on was 20-year-olds, players that have been through the playoff grind. There is no better guy to add to our group with the injury to Hiltermann than Byers who played in the Centennial Cup. We are going to rely on him for his experience. He’s a good two-way defenceman who adds a veteran presence and leadership to the back end.”
Cam Reid of the Kimberley Dynamiters is three points behind Hunter Harwood of the Osoyoos Coyotes for the KIJHL lead in points by defencemen. Reid has 40 points in 39 games and leads all defenceman with 15 goals. When asked about that points race, Reid says he doesn’t think about points much.
“I try not to, it’s a little bit distracting sometimes,” he said. “I’m more about helping the team win and getting a win with the guys. The team is really good this year, so they help me out a lot. I’m setting them up, they are setting me up, it’s working out really well this year.”
Reid says his offensive improvement comes from having played in the league for a few years and learning how it works, plus maturity. Should Reid finish first in points he would be proud of that.
“It’s not like a huge deal, but it’s definitely an accomplishment,” he said.
Ethan MacDuff of the Fernie Ghostriders joined Luke Chakrabarti and Kayde Kinaschuk in reaching 100 career KIJHL points this season. MacDuff is now at 101 and reached 100 against the Columbia Valley Rockies. MacDuff has three goals and seven assists in his last four games
The Golden Rockets capped their regular season with six wins in their last 10 games and finished with 25 wins. In his last seven games, Levi Lamotte has a goal and nine assists for 10 points, while defenceman Liam Furlong had three goals and five assists. Goalie Levi Hall had a 3.95 GAA with an .892 SP in five games.
With 38 goals, Creston Valley Thunder Cats forward Luke Chakrabarti is just two shy of reaching 40, which is something he set as a goal at the start. Chakrabarti said it’s a “very hard goal to achieve.”
“That would be huge for me to hit because it’s a big mark to have a 40-goal season in a 44-game schedule, especially because I missed two of the games.”
Chakrabarti feels he has been playing really well and head coach-GM Brad Tobin puts him and his line out when they need a goal.
“I think we do a good job,” said Chakrabarti, adding he and Blake Anderson have a lot of chemistry. “We’ve had three centremen now, but they have come on and done their part and helped us produce.”
Winning the KIJHL scoring championship wasn’t a goal at the start, but he wanted to be part of that group that includes last year’s leading scorer Jack Henderson of the Osoyoos Coyotes, who is four points behind him.
Tobin says that he has liked Chakrabarti’s speed and energy on a shift-to-shift basis, which separates him from many players in the league.
“He wants to score every time he steps on the ice,” says Tobin. “It’s been very enjoyable watching him produce consistently throughout the season and have an opportunity to win a scoring title.”
Read about the rest of the KIJHL.
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