Anyone who has lived through their offspring’s teenage years knows they come with unexpected twists and turns. So imagine if you can, multiplying that experience by 23, going through it with other adults’ offspring and you have the ups and downs of your Chase Heat Junior B Hockey Team.
Weekend One saw the team come out charging on all eight cylinders, winning both games and looking great doing it. Weekend Two saw that same team come out flat, needing a serious tuneup, losing both games and not looking good doing it.
Friday night saw a rematch from the previous weekend with the Grizzlies from Revelstoke at the Art Holding Memorial Arena. The Heat scored first with Aiden Silzer-Hooker getting an unassisted marker halfway through the first period. In the second the teams swapped goals, with Catlin McLeod scoring assisted by Wade Cline and Reece Forman. Four unanswered goals in the third by the visiting Bears sealed it for a 5 – 2 loss in front of 312 fans expecting better. Kaleb Carpenter received the second star based on hard work at both ends of the rink.
Sunday the 23rd the Heat travelled to Sicamous for the first meeting of the season against the Eagles. One hundred and twenty-five fans, many of them supporting the Heat, took in the game and, during the second, it appeared as though the players on the ice also watched the game. The result was a 7 – 3 loss. Heat scoring was from McKenzie Guardiero unassisted in the second, new recruit Shelby Kostyshen and Connor Venne, also in the second. Penalty trouble in the first period dug a hole and after a very flat second period, the team played decently in the third. Devon Pearson in his first appearance between the pipes took the loss, thanks to abandonment from his teammates.
So in the five-team Doug Birks Division, the Heat went from number one to fifth after four games. Workhorses over the weekend were Guardiero, Carpenter and Levi Chamberlain. The teams’ Jekyll and Hyde imitation hopefully will come to an end quickly.
Next up is a road game Friday against the Kamloops Storm at McArthur Island, the Heat Golf Tourney at Sunshore Golf Course on Saturday and then a Sunday, 2 p.m. start, versus the howling dogs, the Osoyoos Coyotes, at the local rink.
