Beyond the Blue Line

By Stephanie Stevens 

A little slide in execution and a few too many penalties took their toll on the Columbia Valley Rockies points board after going 4 and 0 in the first two weekends of the regular season.

“We didn’t execute to the level we should expect out of our group,” said head coach Tayler Sincennes. “Castlegar is a good team that took advantage of that.”

Scoring didn’t open up until the second period at the October 4 game against the Rebels.

After three goals by the Rebels, assistant captain Wyatt Wurtz put the Rockies on the scoreboard (assists from Carter Velker and Jack Thorne). Peter Godley followed up in the third (Bryan Kim and Owen Ditzel) and Velker (Carter Hensch) got one more in but the game ended 3-6.

Ryan Bain was in goal and stopped 25 of 31 shots.

Saturday (October 5) saw the team in Nelson facing off against the Leafs.

“I thought we played well, we just took too many penalties to win on the road,” said Sincennes. “We made a good push and it was a good game, we just came out on the wrong end of it.”

Ditzel (Kim and Noah Asmundson) opened things up in the first with Wurtz (Johnny Lozeman) closing out the period with another. Hensch (Dylan Duzan) potted one more in the third but the game went to the Leafs 4-3. Rockies goalie Jaiden Jakubowski kept 38 of 42 shots (on goal) at bay. 

The boys are back in Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena on Saturday, Oct. 12, with the puck dropping at 7 p.m.

A slight increase in ticket prices will be in effect, bringing the team a little closer to on par with the rest of the teams in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, but president Brett Holt said they are still the lowest price in the KIJHL.

Tickets at the door will be $12 for adults, seniors and students $10, junior will be $7 and children under six years will still be free.

Fans can also purchase tickets online at Showpass to skip the line and save a little cash.