The Quesnel Kangaroos played their first game of the season Saturday night at the West Fraser Centre, with a close loss to the Terrace River Kings. Around 800 spectators came out for the game, filling most of the seats at the new rink.
Sports patron and volunteer of the year nominee Bob Sales was invited to do a ceremonial puck drop at the game, recognizing his dedication to hockey and to bringing the West Fraser Centre to fruition.
The Roos and River Kings were evenly matched and both teams came out fighting in the first period, with no goals scored. Roos players Curtis Gassoff, Dan Kirkham and Joey MacDonald all received penalties during the period, with Gassoff landing in the penalty box twice. Terrace’s team saw two players spend time in the penalty box, for slashing and hooking.
During the second period, the Roos took four penalties during the period, with Waylon L’Heureux, Alessio Tomassetti, Joey MacDonald and Kris Wert all taking time out of the game, giving Terrace the chance to score twice during power plays near the end of the period.
Following period two, coach Joel Thomas said: “We’re not trying to set a precedent for this season [with all these penalties]. We’ve got to work on our discipline, that’s definitely one of our goals. We’re not out of the game yet, though.
He went on to comment that the Roos have three or four new players this season. “We’ve got some new really young guys, so our older guys are leading them.”
Period three saw just L’Heureux in the penalty box, spending two minutes for cross-checking.
Just over 10 minutes into period three, Roos player Nick Tomassetti scored, assisted by Alessio Tomassetti, making the Kangaroos’ only goal of the night.
The buzzer sounded with Terrace up by one to end the game.
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