With an 0 — 5 record, the Columbia Valley Rockies are now the only winless team in the KIJHL after losing to the Fernie Ghostriders and Beaver Valley Nitehawks last weekend – both games at the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena.
Friday’s loss was to the Ghostriders, who took an insurmountable lead before the first half of the opening period.
Ghostider Josh McCulloch opened the scoring by registering two goals just 45 seconds apart before the five minute mark. He assisted another Fernie goal only minutes later. Then near the end of the period, the Ghostriders scored a fourth goal.
But the 4 – 0 blow was softened seven seconds later by the Rockies’ Ryan Lawson, who scored an unassisted goal right after winning the face off.
“He picked somebody’s pocket, just put it on net and kind of surprised the goalie,” said head coach Wade Dubielewicz. “That stopped the bleeding a little bit.”
Only one more goal was scored at the Eddie on Friday, and it went to Fernie – allowing them a to go home with a 5 – 1 win.
The home crowd had far more to watch during Saturday’s matchup against Beaver Valley Nitehawks. The first period saw the Rockies fight off two penalties, but no goals were scored.
Doan Smith opened the scoring for the Rockies in the second period, with help from Brayden Barker and Sam Young. But after going back onto the penalty kill, the Nitehawks tied it up with the man-advantage.
The third period saw a handful of penalties dished out after a fight between the Rockies’ Carter Melnyk and Nitehawk Tyler Hartman.
Beaver Valley then took the lead with an even strength goal midway through the final period, which ended up cementing the Nitehawks as the victor with a final score of 2 — 1.
“We have a really young team,” Mr. Dubielewicz said. “It’s going to take us a bit of time to grow together, but once we get it together, there’s no team in the league that we won’t be able to beat.”
Goaltender Brody Nelson Stopped 37 of 39 shots on Saturday.
The Rockies are on a road trip this weekend, taking on the North Okanagan Knights on Friday, the Kelowna Chiefs on Saturday, and the Princeton Posse on Sunday. They’re going to be on home ice again on Friday, October 10th against the Golden Rockets.
“We’re going to keep working on the fundamentals as a team, and specifically defensively,” said Mr. Dubielewicz. “We’ll keep getting better every single week and the fans will notice.”
