JOSH LOCKHART
The Kimberley Dynamiters were in action on Tuesday night as the Golden Rockets traveled south on highway 95 to the Civic Centre.
After the weekend off due to the KIJHL Prospects Showcase in Kelowna, the Dynamiters were ready to get back on the ice.
Brock Palmer, who scored two goals during the showcase, scored the opening goal of the game with one minute left in the first period on the power play. The goal ended a short, but also Palmer’s longest point drought of the season, two games.
The Dynamiters continued to build their lead in the second as Cooper Page scored his first goal back in a Nitro’s jersey.
“Page was a bit rusty, and that’s based on he hasn’t played in a while.” Head coach and general manager Derek Stuart said. “Other than that he was great. His leadership was something that we needed. He’ll get better as he gets more comfortable.”
Then Chase Gedny fired in the teams second power play goal – his 18th goal of the year and his eighth power play goal of the year.
“The power play was really moving the puck. In the last month or so we have been working on holding the puck more and showing more poise, moving it on the tape, moving the puck hard, and try to tire out the opponent instead of attacking right away.”
The Golden Rockets did respond at the end of the second period, making it a 3-1 game after 40 minutes.
Scoring continued in the third, as the Nitros scored three more unanswered goals by James Farmer, Matt Davies, and Brandt Bertoia.
Farmer recently moved to a position where he lead the Nitros in playoff scoring last year, and that is quarter-backing the power play. Coach Stuart feels that Farmer was outstanding in that role on Tuesday.
Adam Andersen manned the crease as the Nitros won 6-1, turning aside 13 shots.
Davies scored four points against the Rockets, earning himself the Home Star of the Game and Hot in the KIJHL recognition.
“He was great, especially on the power play.” Stuart said. “He is one of the players that has grown in moving the puck quicker on the power play, getting it back to the point, and spreading out the penalty kill, allowing us to get in our formation up high.”
The Dynamiters also dressed seven defenders. Stuart was pleased with how James Rota and Derian Bamber played in returning from injury. He was most pleased with local defenders Lucas Purdy and Harrison Risdon and their play.
The most amazing part of Tuesday’s game, however, was not the scoreline, but that 551 fans showed up for a Tuesday night game.
“I heard some of the players talking after the game talking about how impressed they were to get that many fans, they truly appreciate it.
“It’s amazing. It shows how awesome and amazing our fanbase is.”
The Dynamiters now get ready for their last 10 games of the season. Seven of the games will be on the road.
“It will be a good thing for us, to mentally focus. We’ve got to step out of our comfort zone. When we are playing our game it doesn’t matter where we are playing.
“Mentally it will be a good challenge for us to play the remaining games on the road.”
Also, another three of those games are against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats. The Nitros currently hold a seven-point lead on the Cats.
“One of our goals is to win our division. I think everyone is aware that Creston is seven points behind us, and we have three games against them. For us we need to focus on playing our game.
“There is a chance we could play Creston in the playoffs so we have to continue what we have done the last two games against them.”
The Dynamiters this weekend play Friday in Invermere against the Columbia Valley Rockies (16-15-3-3), and then play in Creston against the Thunder Cats (24-9-2-1).
“The Rockies are a lot different team in their own rink than they are in our rink. It is going to be a challenge. They play us hard, it is going to be a tough one on Friday night.”
Both games start at 7:30.
MATCH STICKS: Cody Campbell was out of the country checking out two American Collegiate Hockey Association campuses, he returned Wednesay.
