The month of October got off to a decent start with the Chase Heat claiming four of a possible six points in a three-game weekend.
First up on Friday the 2nd were the 100 Mile House Wranglers. These two division rivals don’t play well with each other. In the 1st with two-and-a-half minutes gone, Logan Mostat scored unassisted. With a little over a minute left in the opening frame, Mostat popped his second in from Alex Durbeniuk and Tommy Brown. The Wranglers made it close with a marker with seven seconds left in the period.
In the 2nd, Brown from Mostat and Kolten Moore made it 3-1. In the 3rd, Braden Hughes from Austin Willier and Michael Fidanza sealed the deal for a 4-1 victory for the Heat. Daniel Toews in the twine stopped 31 of 32 hard-rubber projectiles.
Game 2 on the road versus the Kamloops Storm on Saturday night saw Chase play lackadaisically enough to deliver a win to the Storm. Never out of this contest on the Olympic-size ice surface, the Heat couldn’t get into second gear. Kamloops got one in the 1st, two in the 2nd and one in the 3rd, with Chase getting two on the powerplay in the latter stages of the 2nd.
Brown from Moore and Okino and then Mostat from Moore and Hughes. Nic Bruyere between the pipes played well with very little help from his friends for the loss.
Sunday the 4th at the Art Holding Memorial Arena saw the Golden Rockets arrive depleted and worn down after visits to 100 Mile House and Kamloops. Chase started slow, popping a single marker in the 1st, Fidanza from Zachary Fournier and Mostat. In the 2nd, the Heat got five unanswered goals, Brown from Travis Beaubien and Hughes, Fournier from Durbeniuk and Fidanza, Fournier again from Trevor Okino and Grady Musgrave, Moore from Beaubien and Brown and then Hughes from Mostat.
In the 3rd Chase got three more, Fidanza unassisted, Mostat from Musgrave and Okino and then Fournier for his hat trick marker from Mostat and Fidanza. Golden popped the balloon on the celebration by getting a late goal with 38 seconds left.
Hot Topics: Fournier’s hat trick was a first for him in the KIJHL. He is featured on the League website as “Who’s Hot.” The line of Fidanza, Fournier and Mostat scored second of the nine goals. Mostat is currently tied for fifth in KIJHL scoring. The Heat hold down second spot in their division, three points back of the Storm. Next up are the Invermere based Columbia Valley Rockies on Thanksgiving, Sunday the 11th.
