On Top and One in Hand

Sounds a little like the title of a seedy blue movie but tonight the Nitros wiggle to the top of the Eddie.  Fernie, needing a little maneuver from Doctor Heimlich, fell to the underdog Thundercats by a score of 4 to 3.  While the Dynamiters pull off a 5-2 win against the diminished Spokane Braves.  Stepper had some big saves and the offense saw some sweet goals including a TSN highlight razzler by Vanucci.  Spokane showing up with just 15 players looked tired and ready to go home about halfway through the second.  Not sure what’s going on south of the border.  Next action for the Nitros has Fernie in town on the 28th while Fernie plays Columbia Valley on the 27th.  CV should be 2 points for the Ghostriders and leave us with 2 games in hand again.  Nothing like making it interesting.

Still a Race for First

After a late season hiccup the Nitros showed some grit and pulled off a 6-4 victory (boxscore here).   With 2 games in hand things are really starting to look interesting. As well the mighty Kamloops Storm slipped up against Chase (boxscores).  Like the old saying goes “Any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team”

Revelstoke Tonight.

Big night for retribution for the big loss last weekend.  Consistent effort and sticking to the gameplan puts us on top again.  Getterdun boys.

Revy and BV, and a Trade?

Big weekend at BV.  The Nighthawks appear to be the best team in the league with the most potent offense.  This will test our defense and goaltending.  Good luck, play the way you can and all will be well. 

Tomorrow night the Grizz are in town and we need to prove the blowout last weekend was an anomaly. 

Ok, this is the real reason I am writing this, the trade that will not be.  Sources tell me that Josh Gray was traded to us from the Coyotees for Lane Koentges who is currently out with a broken hand.  Lane’s prognosis puts him out until at least the playoffs, maybe longer.  Rocky being the great GM he is was looking for a player to help us now and solidify some home ice in February.  Josh would have been a great addition but…..

After the Coyotees had agreed to the deal they released Josh so he could be added to the roster here.  Before the Nitros could complete the paperwork the Nelson leafs GM added him to their roster and promised him the world.  W.T.F!!!!  There was no deal between Nelson and Osoyoos.  Osyoos is furious and so should the Dynamiters.  This is downright cheating and is reprehensible.  This was reported to the league and guess what was done?  Absolutely nothing.   “With stunts like this the league looks like complete idiots.  The people running this league are obviously in over their heads.  How can teams do business with each other while this type of thing goes on unpunished.”

It’s Behind Us, Now to Look Forward

Coming off of the first time we have lost back to back games this season I think it will help us turn a corner and my bet is we will see consistent effort for 60 minutes on Wednesday.  Columbia Valley has had plenty of difficulty puting together any kind of game this year.  It should allow for the guys to refocus and get back to the form we all know.

6 Points in 1 Weekend on the Road.

Interesting weekend in the points race.  Not only are we fighting to maintain an lead over the Ghostriders in our division we go head to head with Kamloops who we are trying to surpass in the overall standings.  This is our most critical weekend to date and could help us with home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

Friday sees the Nitros face of against the Chase Heat who are better than their record suggest, considering they have picked up 4 of 8 points including an overtime win over Kamloops.  A long bus ride and maybe some overconfidence might result in an interesting first periond or so.

The Dynamiters sit 1 point behind the Kamloops Storm so the game on Saturday could be the point in which Kimberley moves ahead or falls behind the Storm in the standings, depending on how both teams do on Friday night.  The Kamloops barn is one of the hardest rinks for any team on this side of the divisions to win in as the olympic size ice is something we just don’t get to see as often as we would like.  Regardless this should be a good tilt.

Revelstoke 7-2-0-1 in their last ten have been showing their true strength.  Third day in and all bets are off for the Nitros.

6 points up for grabs, we’ll see if the boys can pull it off.

First in the Eddie, Third in the League. Is this the Year?

It’s been a while since I could say this but I can’t help but feel proud of the way the team has been performing.  Additionally the organization overall has a new look and feel that has sparked some buzz and reignited pride within the community.  The players, coaches, board members and volunteers all seem to be on the same page and the results have far surpassed the mediocre seasons of recent years.

We can all hope that the players and coaches understand that this year, with this team we are in a position to go all the way.   The time is now and we have not had this for years so we hope to see the boys make the most of.  We are on to something big.  LET’S…GO…ALL…THE…WAY!!!