Jack Lambert. Tyson Lautard. Dominic Fiorentino. Kort Kisinger. Tyson Horiachka. Kade Leskosky. Reese MacLean. Gavin Tritt. What do all those names have in common? They have all scored overtime winners for their teams in the KIJHL Teck Cup championships.
Let’s take a dive into the great playoff action in this week’s Notebook.
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Entering the playoffs, Columbia Valley Rockies Head Coach-GM Emery Olauson said he knew things would tighten up defensively in the playoffs. So far, the Fernie Ghostriders have been able to play well enough for the Rockies high octane offence to not explode with nine goals in four games.
Lucas De La Salle, Reed Sparrow, Keenan Ingram and Anthony Domina are all tied with four points for the Rockies, who trail the Ghostriders 3-1 in their series. De La Salle, Sparrow and Kobe Mason each have two goals to lead the team. Ewan McDevitt has the lone win in goal. |
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The Fernie Ghostriders have generated 12 goals in four games. They are led by Jack Lambert’s four goals, which includes an overtime winner, as he was noted above. Kort Kisinger and Liam Fitzgerald have two goals each. Aiden Kruhlak has posted a 2.17 goals against average with a .939 save percentage in four games to earn three wins. |
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Kade Leskosky gave the Kimberley Dynamiters a shot at advancing to the Eddie Mountain Division Final with his overtime heroics last night. Jayden Kostiuk leads the Dynamiters with three goals, with Connor Furukawa and Tristan Weill netting the other two winners. Cam Reid has five points to lead the team. |
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With eight goals in four games, Kylow Monkman leads the Golden Rockets with two goals, while Jordan Lario has the team lead with three points. Goalie Levi Hall has played all the games and posted a 2.46 GAA with a .924 SP. He has stopped 122 of 132 shots.
Off the ice, young broadcaster Dylan Khunkhun, 10, has called his first KIJHL playoff games. Olauson, the Rockies Head Coach, was asked about Khunkhun after the broadcaster posted a photo of them talking before a game on social media in the regular season. “Oh man, that kid’s awesome,” said Olauson. “He’s done a great job. Turns out he plays minor hockey here in Invermere too. He knew every players’ name, he’s studying, he is gung ho. I love his passion for broadcasting. It’s a fun broadcast to listen to.” |
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The Grand Forks Border Bruins will look to avoid elimination against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats at home on Friday. With 12 goals in four games, Matteus Reis and Spencer Horning lead with six points each. Rees recorded a hat-trick in their 7-3 win on Feb. 18 and he leads the team with five goals. Ethan Shebansky has a win and posted a 2.70 GAA with a .937 save percentage. |
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Blake Anderson leads the Creston Valley Thunder Cats with five goals and eight points with the Chakrabarti brothers, Luke and Max, behind with five and four, respectively. Luke has one goal, but it’s a winner. Also potting winners for the Thunder Cats, who are a game away from advancing to the Neil Murdoch Division Final, are Nikolai Morrison and Stavros Koutsantonis. The Thunder Cats went with Parker Forrest in net for Games 3 & 4 and it paid off with his second straight win. In two games, Forrest has stopped 57 of 60 shots for a .950 save percentage and a 1.50 GAA.
Thunder Cats Head Coach-GM Brad Tobin said after not playing in the first two games, Forrest waited for his chance to get in the crease. “He has played outstanding in both of his starts,” said Tobin. “He’s made a few big saves in key moments to rally the team. Especially last night in the final two minutes, he made some desperate saves when we needed it.” |
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The Beaver Valley Nitehawks are a win away from advancing to the Neil Murdoch Division Final after Gavin Tritt scored in overtime last night against Nelson. Tritt continued to poke at a puck and got it past Jasper Tait. The Nitehawks have scored the second most goals in the playoffs with 21. They are led by Nathan Dominici with five, followed by Boris Hristov with four in three games. Along with Tritt, Dominici and Ollie Clement have scored winners against the Leafs. Clement leads the Nitehawks with seven points. In goal, Connor Stojan has a 3.03 GAA with a .913 SP. |
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The Nelson Leafs have scored 13 goals led by defenceman Tyson Lautard with three, including an OT winner. Lautard also leads the team with five points. In goal, Jasper Tait leads the Leafs with a 4.57 GAA and his crease mate Fred Larochelle has a team-best .882 save percentage. |
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Winners of the Bill Ohlhausen regular season division, the Princeton Posse will look to add playoff division championship to the list after they swept the Summerland Steam with a 4-1 win Wednesday night. Anmol Garcha had a two goal, two assist performance and scored the winner. That effort launched him into top spot among Posse point leaders with seven. Right behind him is Dayton Nelson with six points in four games. Tyson Horiachka scored two game-winners while Ty Russell scored the other. The Posse used both their goalies Nate Glenn and Peyton Trzaska. Glenn posted a 1.50 GAA and a .957 SP and Trzaska had a 2.19 GAA and a .925 SP. |
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The Summerland Steam generated eight goals in their series loss to the Posse. Luke Rothfos led the teams with three goals and four points, followed by Kent Moors and Austin Cameron with three. Moors had two goals. In 143 minutes of action, Rogan Bacon, 18, posted a 2.51 GAA with a .940 save percentage. |
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The Osoyoos Coyotes avoided elimination with a 7-6 overtime win over the North Okanagan Knights, thanks to Reese MacLean. They were led by a four-goal, five-point performance by Coletyn Boyarski, who now leads the team with nine points. Joe Davidson is behind him with five points. Jack Henderson is second in goals with two.
Coyotes Head Coach Ken Law had high praise for Boyarski’s performance. “Coletyn was a complete player last night working hard in all areas of the ice,” said Law of the 20-year-old, who spent two seasons in the SJHL with the Melfort Mustangs and Kindersley Klippers. “He has a bullet of a shot and hits what he is shooting at. If you give him an opening, he will make you pay.” |
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The North Okanagan Knights are a win away from advancing to the Bill Ohlhausen Division Final. They lead all playoff teams with 24 goals. The line of Kevin-Thomas Walters, Matthew Johnston and Devin Jameson combined for nine points in yesterday’s loss. Johnston leads the Knights with five goals and 12 points. Walters has nine points. Tyler Badger, Adam Bourgeois and Collin Kozijn have scored winners. Austin Seibel has a .906 SP with a 3.48 GAA. |
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The Revelstoke Grizzlies scored 19 goals in four games against the 100 Mile House Wranglers with Jake Wallace and David Coyle leading with five points. Wallace and Colton McLeod lead with three goals. In the four games, the Grizzlies allowed just two goals and Owen Albers played in Game 4, allowing a goal on 11 shots. In Game 3, Jozef Kuchalso, who had three wins in the series, stopped 14 of 15 shots. The Grizzlies will now play in the Doug Birks Division Final. |
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In their series loss to the Revelstoke Grizzlies, Ethan Saunders and Jack Mulder scored for the 100 Mile House Wranglers. |
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The Kamloops Storm will be looking to extend their series with the Sicamous Eagles on Friday. They have scored 14 goals and are led by defenceman Devin Benson with four points. Branden Toye leads the Storm with three goals, while Ryan Larsen has their lone winner. Goalie Colton Phillips-Watts has a 4.25 GAA and a .867 SP. |
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The Sicamous Eagles are a win away from advancing to the Doug Birks Division Final. They have scored 19 goals in four games and are led by Warren Roberts-Lee in the goal department with four. Aiden Kalin and Reid Tisdale have three goals each. Kalin and Daniel Kroon lead with five points. In goal, Gage Reimer has a 3.25 GAA with a .900 SP. |
