In their first appearance on the ice following a minor trade deadline shakeup, the Quality Foods Oceanside Generals saw a solid start erased by a disastrous five-minute stretch of a 7-3 loss to the Victoria Cougars Thursday in Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League play.
The Generals (9-23-1-1) will try again for their first win of 2017 when they face the Comox Valley Glacier Kings in back-to-back games this weekend. Oceanside travels to the Comox Sports Centre for a 7:30 p.m. game Saturday, then returns to Oceanside Place in Parksville for a 2:30 p.m. Sunday matinee against the Glacier Kings.
At the Jan. 10 trade deadline the Generals saw two players move on to Junior A hockey and added a pair of 20-year-old forwards. Centre Blake McCulloch comes from the Delta Ice Hawks of the Pacific Junior Hockey League, where he played 14 games following a midseason trade from the Surrey Knights. McCulloch had 12 points on a team-leading nine goals and three assists for Surrey at the time of that move.
“We’re hoping he boosts our offence a bit and brings some leadership to help with our young guys,” Generals head coach Gerry Bickerton said.
Forward Scott Latwat of Vernon, who will join the Generals next week, scored nine points on six goals and three assists in 25 games for the Golden Rockets of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
“Scott’s another experienced guy,” said Bickerton. “He’s quick, has good hands, and he’ll also help with that experience level.”
Matthew Rokosh, who had nine points on two goals and seven assists for the Oceanside in 20 games after coming over in a trade with Victoria, was signed by the Junior A Calgary Mustangs.
“Matt is very deserving,” said Bickerton. “He came in and worked very hard for us. He’s a very coachable kid and very deserving of the opportunity to play Junior A.”
Stratton Pickett, who has scored eight points in 19 games for the Generals, was picked up last week by the Junior A Alberni Valley Bulldogs as an affiliate player, and is traveling with the Bulldogs’ this week on a road swing through Washington State and Interior B.C.
To fill a void on the roster for Thursday’s game in Victoria, the Gens suited up forward Brady Kay of the major midget North Island Silvertips of Nanimo. Kay responded with his first junior hockey goal, a power-play tally in the third period as his parents looked on.
But then, though, the damage had been done as the host Cougars used a four-goal outburst in the final five minutes of the second period to erase a lead Oceanside had carried for more than half the game.
The Generals (9-23-1-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead on consecutive goals by Nanaimo’s Brandon Roberge, who scored his team-leading 18th and 19th goals in the opening 15 minutes of play.
Victoria (25-8-0-4) got one back at 16:33 of the first period, but the Generals and goaltender Wes Ellingsen carried the 2-1 lead into the final five minutes of the second period before things fell apart.
“We recovered after that first (Victoria) goal, but the last five minutes of that second period, oh man, we just had a mental breakdown.”
The Cougars got back-to-back goals 44 seconds apart — the second on a power play — to jump ahead 3-2 and prompt a time out by the Generals bench. But instead of blunting the Cougars’ momentum or regaining control of the game, the Gens surrendered a fourth Victoria score just 15 seconds after the time out. Another goal in the final minute of the period left the Cougars up 5-2 and essentially settled Oceanside’s fate.
“What was a solidly played 2-1 lead became a 5-2 deficit really quickly,” said Bickerton. “Against a strong program like that you can’t have those mental lapses. A five-minute lapse like that can take you from a lead to a huge deficit that it’s hard to fight out of.”
The teams each put 12 shots on net in the first period, but Victoria finished with a 50-27 advantage in shots on goal as Ellingsen finished with 43 saves in a losing cause. The Generals went 1-for-4 on the power play while surrendering one goal on two penalty kills.
