Going into Sunday’s game at the Rod Brind’Amour Arena, the Campbell River Storm were not playing their best hockey. They had already dropped two road games on the weekend, 3-2 to the Peninsula Panthers and 4-2 to the Comox Valley Glacier Kings.
With the recent unpredictable play from the first place Storm, Head Coach Lee Stone, when asked how his team would play said, “I’ll let you know after the first period.”
It didn’t take long to get the answer. The Storm would open the scoring against the Panthers just 4 minutes into the return match. Gage Colpron would score his 15th goal of the season on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play with newcomer Dylan McCann.
Less than two minutes later, Michal Holub would get his first of the season from Kobe Oishi. Holub joined the club last week from the Melville Millionaires of the SJHL; the big forward has experience in the WHL, playing 87 games between the Seattle Thunderbirds and Lethbridge Hurricanes.
At the midpoint of the first period, Campbell River would have a 3-0 lead, when Colin Blake set up McCann who made no mistake. It was the club’s fourth shorthanded marker of the season. By period’s end the home crowd would watch their team skate to an impressive 5-0 lead. The other goals came from Holub with his second and Darryl Senholt, whose point blast deflected off Shawn Parkinson’s trapper and in.
Peninsula would get two goals in the second but the Storm never let them back into the game.
There was just one goal in the third period coming from Josh Coblenz, the game’s first star. In the former Campbell River Tyee’s first game back, after spending three games with the BCHL Powell River Kings, he accounted for three points.
Stone was pleased with his team’s response,” great first period, that’s what we were looking for. We told them to go out, have fun and make plays with the puck. It’s amazing what happens when we skate and our skills show. That’s exactly how we want to play the game.”
The Storm have just one game this coming weekend, a home grudge match with the second place Nanaimo Buccaneers on Friday.
