The KIJHL regular season schedule came to an end last weekend with key action on several fronts. For the Golden Rockets, it was a home-and-home series against valley rival Invermere, with the contests spelling potential home-ice advantage in the opening round with Fernie. But, as it turned out, the local stars will be settling for a solid third-place finish in the Eddie Mountain Division after splitting the games, with each team winning in the opposition’s home arena.
Friday evening at the Plywood Palace, the Rockets ran into a red-hot Ryan Tamelin in the Columbia Valley net. The game opened up with Golden’s Easton Doan ringing one off the crossbar at the 45-second mark, and then the contest settled into a very close-checking affair. With little room to manoeuvre at both ends of the ice, the first shot on goal of the game didn’t occur until the 6:00 mark.
Shortly afterwards, Columbia Valley got on the scoreboard first, when Mason Alexander outraced the Golden defence to the puck off the end boards, to slide it past Seth Goodstriker in the Rockets’ cage. They would add to the lead just a minute later on a Caden Williams marker. Golden’s offensive attack came to life over the remainder of the frame, as Cooper Thompson, Alexander Kwong and Austin Bruce all had solid scoring chances, but were turned aside in succession by Tamelin.
The visitors would increase the margin to 4-0 with a pair of early second-period goals, before the Rocket’s captain Cooper Thompson scored a power-play tally at the midway mark. The teams would exchange goals in the final minutes, as Brayden Bissell hit for Golden, firing in his 22nd goal of the year. With ten seconds left in the period, Thompson once again led the charge, as he broke in all alone on Tamelin but was robbed on a quick wristshot.
In the final frame, the Rockets threw everything at the Invermere net, but could only close the margin by a singleton off the stick of Jake O’Keefe, late in the game. Final score was 5-3. Rockets outshot Invermere 45-30. The Golden loss, combined with a Fernie win over Kimberley, locked up second place for the Ghostriders and home-ice advantage.
Saturday night, the same two clubs were back on the ice, this time in Invermere. And it didn’t take long for Golden to take control.
With three quick goals before the game was ten minutes old, the Rockets stormed into a solid lead. Despite holding Golden’s top offensive line scoreless in the game, Invermere had problems containing the Rockets’ secondary attacks, as each of Brandon Spilchen, Brett Krawchuk, and Spencer Bates found the back of the net.
Golden would further extend the margin to 5-0 in the middle frame, with a pair of power-play goals from Jake O’Keefe and Jackson Gair pulling the trigger.
Spencer Bates was the big gun for the Kicking Horse crew in this contest, hitting for a goal and three assists, leading his teammates to the win.
Post-season action is slated to get underway in the Ghostrider southern centre this Friday and Saturday, and shifts to the Plywood Palace for Games 3 and 4. Specific dates and times not available at press time. Be sure to check the KIJHL and Golden Rocket websites for info.
