Twelve days after a 6-3 pre-Christmas break loss to the Fernie Ghostriders, the Creston Valley Thunder Cats fought back on Dec. 31, defeating the visiting Ghostriders 7-4.
In the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Eddie Mountain Division, the Thunder Cats, with 41 points, now sit just behind the Golden Rockets (43) and Kimberley Dynamiters (44), with Fernie leading the division with 59.
“You never know what you’re gonna get when guys have been away for so long,” said head coach Jeff Dubois. “We only had a couple practices leading into that game. … That was a good character win to get things back going.”
Caron Cartwright put the Thunder Cats on the board at 16:21 in the first period, but the Ghostriders scored twice in the next five minutes. Tyler Podgorenko and Cartwright each scored in the mid-second period, with a Fernie goal tying the score 3-3 at 3:05.
Fernie pulled ahead a few minute into the third period, but goals by Alec Wilkinson, Logan Wullum, Kyle Richter and Marcel Fuchs (shorthanded, with one second remaining) gave Creston the win.
“I thought we got better when we were playing from behind,” said Dubois, who added that the line of Cartwright, Wilkinson and Richter was big help, earning a total of 12 points in that game.
On Friday, the Thunder Cats visited the Ghostriders, a game that resulted in a 4-3 overtime loss.
“That’s one we’d like to have back for sure,” said Dubois.
Second-period goals by Nicholas Kovacik (power play) and Maverick Lynes tied the score by the end of the second period, and an unassisted goal by Cartwright gave the Thunder Cats an edge in the third period. But with 31 seconds remaining, an unassisted Fernie goal tied the score, resulting in nearly two minutes of overtime before Fernie scored the game-winner.
“We were well aware going into that game that Fernie hadn’t lost at home this season in regulation,” said Dubois. “In the more broad picture, we came back from the break and got three out of four points against the best team in the league. Overall, you look at it as a positive.”
Goaltender Brock Lefebvre was playing for the BC Hockey League’s Trail Smoke Eaters that night, so recent recruit Mitchell Martell took his place, stopping 37 Fernie shots.
“He gave us everything we needed to be in a position to win,” said Dubois.
On Saturday, the Thunder Cats hosted the Grand Forks Border Bruins — tied for second from the bottom of the KIJHL — for a tight game that earned the Creston a 3-2 win.
Ryley Bosman scored his first goal for Creston in the first period, with a single Grand Forks goal tying the game in the second. The Bruins pulled ahead by a goal early in the third period, quickly followed by a goal by Cartwright. Jackson Bruce-Fuoco scored the game-winner with nearly 12 minutes remaining.
“They came out and the truth is, they outworked us through the first 40 minutes-plus of the game. We found ourselves in the hole in the third period and had to wake up and get back to business.”
In the next week, the Thunder Cats play four games, hosting the Columbia Valley Rockies on Friday, visiting the Ghostriders on Saturday, hosting the Princeton Posse on Sunday and visiting the Dynamiters on Tuesday.
Although the Rockies are at the bottom of the Eddie Mountain Division with 18 points, Dubois isn’t taking them for granted.
“They’ve given us close games pretty much every time we’ve played them,” he said. “That will be a good test for us to start the weekend.”
The game in Fernie will be the last time this season the Thunder Cats will have an opportunity to earn points in the Ghostriders rink — and it’s a good test before the playoffs.
“If you’re going to get out of this division, you have to play against Fernie and win at least one in their rink,” he said.
Princeton, Dubois said, is “a hard working, hard checking, solid defence team,” and expects Sunday’s game to be a tough one.
But even after a three-game weekend, the Thunder Cats won’t have to dig too deep to find the strength to take on the Dynamiters on Tuesday.
“I suspect our guys will be up for that one,” Dubois said. “I don’t think you have to manufacture it for the guys to find the energy level to play against Kimberley.”