The Creston Valley Thunder Cats held on to second place in the Eddie Mountain Division of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, still just one point ahead of the Fernie Ghostriders.
Both teams had a win and a loss on the weekend, giving them two more points, but no new place in the standings.
The Thunder Cats started the weekend with a 7-2 loss while visiting the Castlegar Rebels. A first-period goal by Alec Wilkinson gave the Thunder Cats a 1-0 lead that lasted just over a minute into the second period.
“We definitely let the game get away from us in the second,” said head coach Jeff Dubois. “In hindsight, we probably got a little too pleased with ourselves too quickly. … We took our foot off the gas pedal and they made us pay for that.”
Castlegar scored four goals in the second period before Grant Iles responded with 34 seconds remaining. Castlegar added a fifth goal five seconds later, and two more at 16:48 and 4:45 in the third period.
On Saturday, the Thunder Cats visited the Golden Rockets, at the bottom of the Eddie Mountain Division with 11 points, coming away with a 5-0 shutout.
Nicholas Kovacik scored the game’s first goal in the first period, with Thomas Cankovic and Logan Styler scoring in the second. Late in the third period, Sebastian Kilcommons and Carson Cartwright scored for Creston.
Although a few key players were missing, including Ian Desrorsiers and goalie Brock Lefebvre, Styler returned after a few weeks away, and Dubois was impressed by the effort of his line with Iles and Justin Podgorenko.
“They gave us a lot of energy and good shifts at both ends of the rink,” he said.
Following last night’s 6-1 loss hosted by the Kimberley Dynamiters, the Thunder Cats visit the Beaver Valley Nitehawks on Friday. The Nitehawks currently lead the Neil Murdoch Division with 64 points.
“There’s no question they’re a really good team,” said Dubois. “They’re a pretty high compete group. We know going in that’s a real tough place to win on the road.”
And on Saturday, Creston will host the Fernie Ghostriders.
“Saturday night at home is hopefully a chance for us to put some distance between us and them,” said Dubois. “Definitely all the games in our division are going to be pretty important matchups.”
•On Friday and Sunday, Thunder Cats forward Brett Witala played his first BCHL game, as an affiliate player for the Trail Smoke Eaters. In his first game, he scored a goal in the third period, in a game that saw the Smoke Eaters beat the Chilliwack Chiefs 6-4.
