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Nitros and Rockies facing off in division finals
KIJHL Notebook: Playoff edition
By Emanuel Sequeira
What a great first round of the playoffs to kick off the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) Teck Cup Championships. There were several overtime thrills, tremendous action and ends off with game seven battles.
This KIJHL Notebook focuses on the first round winners.
Eddie Mountain Division
Aside from the opening period in Game 1, Kimberley Dynamiters head coach and GM Derek Stuart felt his team played very well in their series sweep of the Golden Rockets.
“Especially limiting our opponent’s scoring chances, our physicality and conditioning really showed as the series progressed,” said Stuart, whose team allowed eight goals in four games. “Every player played at least one game except for one who is injured and each player contributed when they got their chance.”
To Stuart, having everyone contribute is a big playoff requirement and they have that right now.
“Kade (Leskosky) and Austin (Daniels) led the way offensively, but what I liked most was their play away from the puck,” said Stuart. “They were strong defensively, finished their checks hard and it helped open up some offensive opportunities for them. When they’re moving their feet, they are very difficult to contain.”
Leskosky, a rookie, had six goals and two assists in four games, while Daniels had four goals and four assists.
Columbia Valley Rockies head coach Briar McNaney liked the performance of his goaltenders and their team discipline. Grady Nicholas won all three of his starts and had a shutout to go with a 1.20 GAA and a .958 SP, while Scott Thompson won one of his three games with a 4.05 GAA and a .874 SP.
“We’ve seemed to have done a much better job tightening up the ship in regards to taking penalties and cleaning up our defensive zone and forecheck,” said McNaney, whose team took 88 penalty minutes. “I think Fernie played pretty well, I think they played even better than they have in the regular season getting better every single game which is something to be proud of for any group.
“We think that clamping down on those small details was the finishing touches in what was able to get us over the hump in the first round,” he continued.
McNaney said the group’s confidence is pretty high heading into the second round as they will face the Kimberley Dynamiters.
“The boys are feeling pretty good and we went into the series as a staff knowing that we only have two players (Owen Hughes and Colby Phillips) on our team with junior hockey playoff experience so it was going to be quite new and a bumpy road for the first couple of games.”
Once the comfort level kicked in, the Rockies confidence skyrocketed and an “OT winner from your top player gets your entire team buzzing.”
Click here to read about the rest of the KIJHL.
The Dynamiters and Rockies are set to face-off in game one of the Eddie Mountain Division final tonight (7:30 p.m.) at the Civic Centre in Kimberley.
Game two is Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Civic Centre.
Game three is at Invermere’s Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena on Monday, March 7 at 7 p.m.
Game four is March 8 at 7 p.m. at the Eddie in Invermere.
– Emanuel Sequeira is KIJHL Director of Communications
