Mark Berry
Special to the Mirror
Friday night – Storm 3 Cougars 0
The Storm were looking to exact some revenge on the Victoria Cougars given their disappointing showing against the Cats last season (2W-8L-1T).
In the end, Campbell River was dominant in their 3-0 victory.
For Storm Captain, Kobe Oishi, the convincing win came down to one thing, “We knew they were going to come out hard, we used our speed and that was a big factor.” He added, “All 12 forwards and all six D bought into the systems tonight.”
Reid Wilson opened the scoring at 3:25 of the first period pouncing on a rebound off a Dawson Frank blast from just inside the blue line.
Much like their season opener, the Storm looked to be the better team out shooting the Cougars 41-14.
Were it not for the performance of the VIJHL’s perennial top goaltender, Anthony Ciurro, the game could have been out of control early.
In the second period there was no scoring but there was a fight. Wilson and Cougar player Liam Kinshala dropped the gloves late in the frame and were first to the showers.
It wasn’t until the final minutes of the third period that the home side was able to get another shot past Ciurro.
Carter Hikichi set up rookie Brady Chin who showed veteran patience coming from behind the Victoria net and simply out waiting the goalie for his first of the season.
Reid Wheeldon capped off the scoring with an empty net goal.
In his post-game comments, Storm Associate Coach Mike Wilson applauded the performance of his players, “They were even keeled tonight, didn’t get too high or too low, they went out there and did their jobs.”
Saturday night – Braves 8 Storm 7
As good as Friday was, Saturday was bad and ugly. After finishing the first 20 minutes with a 3-0 lead, the Storm would give up 8 goals in the final 40 minutes to take an 8-7 loss.
Head Coach Lee Stone said, following the game, “Just like last year in the playoffs they worked hard. Brad Cook (Saanich H/C) makes sure that those guys are busting their … every time they touched the ice; they out competed us.”
VIJHL leading scorer Nick Guerra had a five point night for the Braves while linemate Dale McCabe picked up six points. Campbell River goals came from Colton Rhodes (2), Max Daerendinger (2), Christian Brandt, Reid Wilson and Zach Erhardt.
The Storm are in Nanaimo on Thursday for their only road game in September.
On Friday night, the undefeated Comox Valley Glacier Kings are at the Brindy for a 7:30 puck drop.
