With just over two weeks left in the regular season, the Creston Valley Thunder Cats are proving that hard work pays off. This weekend was the first in a few where the team suffered no losses, with a tie and a win nudging them a bit farther ahead of the Fernie Ghostriders in the Eddie Mountain Division standings.
Maintaining that lead is key to opening the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League playoffs in Creston rather than an opponents’ rink.
“Everyone is pushing for home ice in the first round,” said head coach Jeff Dubois.
Creston had a slow start in Friday’s 5-5 tie against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, who scored one goal in the first period and three in the second for a 4-0 lead.
“It looked like it was going to be one of those nights,” said Dubois, but it turned out that “Friday was one of most perfect in terms of working our way out of a hole. … When we put our minds to it, never out of the game.”
Liam Plunkett scored two goals for the Thunder Cats late in the second period, and Carson Cartwright, Logan Styler and Ian Desrosiers followed in the third, before the Nitehawks tied the score with 12 seconds remaining.
The tie was made possible with the help of affiliate goalie Jason Mailhoit, who took over for Dawson Fennell after Beaver Valley’s fourth goal.
“Jason made some big saves to keep it at four and gave us a chance to come back,” said Dubois.
Cartwright and Desrosiers were key players in helping Creston bounce back.
“Both of them gave us what you hope for out of 20-year-old forwards,” said Dubois. “They both gave us goals in big situations. …
“Overall as a team, once we took that 5-4 lead, we played some of our hardest hockey of the season in terms of protecting that lead.”
With the third-place Fernie Ghostriders two points behind Creston’s 56 — and four ahead of the Columbia Valley Rockies — their visit to Creston on Saturday proved a struggle.
“They’re a hardworking, lunch bucket team,’ said Dubois. “They got a lot of shots to the net in the first period. We were definitely kind of on our heels early in the game.”
A goal by Cartwright tied the game with 1:22 left in the first period, and a single goal by Brett Witala gave Creston the lead in the second. Creston’s best period was the third, Dubois said, with goals by Cartwright (shorthanded), Maverick Lynes (power play) and Witala (empty net) securing the 5-1 victory.
After trying it out on Saturday, Dubois intends to keep Styler, Desrosiers and Witala in a line.
“There’s a lot of speed and offensive ability when you put those guys together,” he said. “We were also happy with what they gave us on the defensive side of the puck.”
Following a match against the division-leading Kimberley Dynamiters tomorrow night, the Thunder Cats have two more divisional games this weekend, visiting the Golden Rockets on Friday and the Fernie Ghostriders on Saturday.
Although the Rockets are at the bottom of the division with 12 points, Dubois isn’t taking them for granted, having played some tough games against the Golden team.
“You can kind of forget about the standings when you go into that rink,” he said.
And after Fernie’s loss to Creston on Saturday, Dubois expects the Ghostriders to be ready to return the favour.
“That’s going to be a real key game and that’s the last time we see them this season,” he said. “There shouldn’t be any difficulty getting up for that game.”
