Submitted by Mark Teterenko

The Rockies came out of week six with three of four possible points. They finished Friday night with a 3-2 overtime loss versus the Creston Valley Thunder Cats and followed that up with an 8-4 win against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks on Saturday. 

When asked how they thought the team performed, Coach Briar McNaney stated that “if you sit back and take a look at the weekend as a whole, 3 out of 4 points is successful. However, we were unhappy with our game Friday night. We felt the energy was missing, and we could not execute to our usual standards. A team like ours that has the goal of winning our league needs to bring those qualities every game. Saturday night felt much better as a whole. The team responded quite well to the challenges that the staff gave them, and I feel like we found another gear that our young group may have not known they had. It was a real proud moment from not only the staff perspective, but [also for] the countless volunteers and fans to see that they were able to bounce back so quickly in the way that they did. This young group took a big step Saturday.” 

GM Wade Dubielewicz stated that “versus Creston, I thought we started really well. We stopped skating and managing the puck in the second period, which allowed Creston to carry out most of the momentum. I think we were fortunate to get to overtime and get one point. However, good teams find ways to stay in games even when they might not deserve to.”

When asked if there are any areas that are going to be of focus this week to better prepare the team for their week 7 matchups, McNaney stated, “I think there needs to be a few systematic reminders,” but that the team is at their best “when [they] hammer down on fundamentals and principles.” Dubielewicz highlighted that the team will need to “focus on improving special teams and tightening up defensively in all three zones. The division is incredibly tight and every weekend moving forward is very important”.

The Rockies have a rematch away versus Creston on Friday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. MST, followed by a home game against the Kimberley Dynamiters on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. MST.

For more information and up-to-date news on the team, visit rockieshockey.ca. 

Let’s go Rockies!