It was a busy week for the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals as they played three games in four days and made a couple of big trades.
News came in late Wednesday that the Gens traded team captain Wyatt Meiers to the Nanaimo Buccaneers in exchange for “future considerations.” It had been rumored that Meiers asked for a trade earlier in the season and the trigger was finally pulled. The Gens got a boost to their blue line with the return of Josh Harvey from the BCHL Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
As luck would have it, the Gens and Bucs were in action against each other Thursday and the end result wasn’t pretty. Tied 2-2 after the first period, the Gens came unglued as the Buccaneers scored six unanswered goals, three of which came short handed, to win 8-2.
Less than 24 hours after the Meiers trade, the Gens dealt leading goal scorer Kyle Wade to the Comox Valley Glacier Kings for goaltender Riley Mathieson. Mathieson joins Austin Caktas and David Anderson to fight for time between the pipes.
With two big trades so close together, the team knew it was something out of their control and that they had to just keep their heads down and continue to work hard.
“It’s a different feeling in there now, for sure,” defenseman Josh Carless-Jones said. “We’re just trying to stay focused and put a good foot forward with our effort on the ice and not really focusing on the extra stuff.”
Saturday night the Gens were home to the Saanich Braves, who sit seventh in the nine-team league, one spot ahead of the Gens. It was a similar start, with the Gens trailing 2-1 after the first period and 3-2, with goals from Josh Harvey and Mathieu Jallabert, after the second.
The Gens came out a different team in the third, scoring three goals (Keagan Fedorko and Logan Savard with two) to pull off the 5-4 win.
“We’re sick of losing and after the big loss to Nanaimo, we needed to turn it around,” forward Mathieu Jallabert said. “We came out strong in this game and never gave up through all three periods. It really felt good to get this win.”
Sunday, the Generals welcomed the Kerry Park Islanders to Oceanside Place and carried a 4-3 lead in to the third period but lost it as a pair of penalties led to back to back power play goals for the Islanders, who would add one more to win 6-4.
Next up for the Generals are the first place Campbell River Storm. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night here at Oceanside Place.
