The Creston Valley Thunder Cats earned a shutout and also suffered a loss on the weekend, but maintained their second-place position in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Eddie Mountain Division.
They started out hosting the Doug Birks Division’s Sicamous Eagles on Friday, shutting them out 3-0 with goals by Carson Cartwright in the first period, Brett Witala in the second and Logan Styler (empty net) in the third.
“The score probably flatters us a little bit,” said head coach Jeff Dubois.
The team, he said, didn’t make an easy night for goaltender Brett Lefebvre, who stopped all 47 Eagles shots.
“We haven’t played our nest game in front of Brett for a few weeks,” he said. “It’s not that we’ve been bad on a regular basis. I don’t think we’ve been as good as we can be consistently.”
The Golden Rockets got off to a better start than the Thunder Cats in Sunday’s game, scoring twice in the first period. Witala scored early in the second, a goal followed by two more from the Rockets. In the third period, Witala scored six minutes in, with Lien Miller-Jeannotte adding a third goal with four minutes remaining. The Rockets scored again three minutes later.
“We put ourselves in a hole early in the game and Golden scored a couple goals off turnovers in our zone,” said Dubois. “By the time we got our act together in the third, we dug ourselves a deep enough hole that we couldn’t get back into it.”
Five players were missing in Sunday’s game — a combination of illness and violations of team rules — but being shorthanded was no excuse.
“At the same time, the group of guys that were out there definitely didn’t get the job done,” he said.
He was pleased, though, by the performance of Witala, who started Friday after being traded for Austin Steger, who now plays for the Campbell River Storm in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
In Friday’s game, the newcomer’s line with James Severs and Ian Desrosiers created a lot of opportunities, and he was involved in all three Sunday goals.
“We were expecting to get a fast, skilled guy who was going to contribute,” said Dubois. “He’s as good as advertised, probably better. He’s got some real star quality on the offensive side and caught everybody’s attention.”
This weekend, the Thunder Cats play only one game, hosting the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, who currently lead the Neil Murdoch Division.
“Beaver Valley always tests you physically,” said Dubois. “If you try to take shortcuts, it catches up pretty quickly. … It’s going to be a real test to see if we can get back on track with our work ethic and play on the defensive side of the puck.”
