As the local Chase Junior Hockey team rebounds from a horrendous period of injuries to regular roster players, so goes the fortunes of the KIJHL Franchise.
On Friday, Nov. 28 at the Art Holding Memorial Arena, the high-flying Sicamous Eagles came to town.
At game’s end the hosts had shot down the Eagles 3-0. This contest was entirely a team effort with Nic Bruyere earning the shutout, stopping 25 shots between the pipes. In the first, Eric Austin got things started, assisted by Austin Willier and Zachary Fournier. Twenty-one seconds later on the same shift, Fournier popped one in from Willier and Austin. In the second, Kolten Moore scored from Cody Hodges and Connor Harding. That was all that was needed in possibly the best effort of the season.
On Saturday the 29th, the team travelled to the Little Apple to take on the Kelowna Chiefs. An ugly lacklustre first period effort saw the Chiefs score three, prior to Logan Mostat from Wesley Matsuda getting one back.
In the second, the Heat scored four unanswered goals to take a 5-3 lead. It was Hodges from Willier, Kaleb Boyle from Hodges on a nifty behind-the-net, off-the-back-of- the-goaltender effort, Moore from Tommy Brown and then Travis Beaubien from Trevor Okino and Moore.
In the third, Brown lengthened the lead assisted by Beaubien and Matsuda before the Chiefs got one to make things somewhat tense. In the end it was a 6-4 victory for the Heat, with Michael Byer stopping 36 of 40 in goal. All in all, it was a nice reprieve from earlier team struggles, with two great victories.
Next up was a home contest versus the Revelstoke Grizzlies on Thursday, Dec. 4 and then a Chase Country Christmas contest on Saturday the 6th in Chase versus the Kelowna Chiefs.
The following afternoon, the 7th, the Heat is in Kamloops for a 5 p.m. contest against the Storm.
So it’s a full weekend of puck action as the Heat gets tuned up for three frosty games in December.