The past week was a mixed bag for the Creston Valley Thunder Cats, who added a win, a loss and a tie to their record.
With 21 points, they remain in second place in the Eddie Mountain Division of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, seven points behind the Kimberley Dynamiters and three ahead of the Fernie Ghostriders.
The Columbia Valley Rockies sit in fourth place with 14 points, two of those earned during Friday’s 3-0 shutout against the visiting Thunder Cats a few days after their Oct. 20 6-3 loss in Creston.
“We did enough to win but we certainly weren’t at our best,” said head coach Jeff Dubois. “It was a couple of games against Columbia Valley where I don’t think we appreciated that they are a very good competitive team. We got the win really just because we were playing offense-first-type hockey.”
Goals by Logan Wullum and Lien Miller-Jeannotte gave Creston a 2-0 lead after the first period, with goals by Nicholas Kovacik and power-play goals by James Severs and Alec Wilkinson setting the Rockies back 5-2 at the end of the second. The Rockies scored once in the third period before Carson Cartwright added a shorthanded goal with 10 minutes remaining.
The lack of effort continued into Friday’s 3-0 loss in Invermere.
“Columbia Valley outworked us, outplayed us from the top of the lineup to the bottom,” said Dubois. “We didn’t give them the respect they deserved, and they made us pay.
“Those couple of games were an eye-opener that maybe we’re not as good as we think we are. Nobody gives it to you. Nobody gets two points just by showing up.”
Back in Creston hosting the Chase Heat on Saturday, the effort was improved, said Dubois.
“I think some of our guys got the message from Friday night,” he said. “At both ends of the rink, we were working better.”
The Heat started the scoring 17 minutes into the first period, with Marc-Antoine Gagnon (power play) and Severs each scoring in the second. After a couple of “uncharacteristic defensive mistakes”, the Heat scored twice in the first six minutes of the third period, with Cartwright tying the score with 1:56 remaining, for a final result of 3-3.
“I think we got to the point where the wins were coming easy and lost sight of the fact that you’re out there competing against someone who wants it too,” said Dubois. “We had a couple of games where our compete level just wasn’t as high as other teams’ and we paid for it.”
This weekend, the Thunder Cats take a three-game road trip, visiting the 100 Mile House Wranglers on Friday, the Kamloops Storm on Saturday and Revelstoke Grizzlies on Sunday.
The Thunder Cats shut out the Wranglers 5-0 when they hosted them in September, but will have their work cut out for them.
“They finish every check,” said Dubois. “Going into their rink on Friday is one we know is going to be tough physically.”
Creston also beat the Grizzlies in their last game, but hasn’t yet met up with the Storm, a team known for its big ice and speed.
“It’s always a challenge mentally and physically when you play three and three, and on this trip we’ve drawn three pretty tough teams,” said Dubois.
