The past weekend’s action at the Art Holding Memorial Arena included the storming of the arena by the Kamloops KIJHL squad and the third encounter within two weeks with Grizzlies from the Revelstoke area.
Unfortunately the Heat displayed an ongoing knack for letdowns at the worst possible moment.
On a wet and soggy Saturday the 5th of December, during the Chase Country Christmas celebrations, the team faced the Kamloops Storm.
After the first 20 minutes were complete, the local side was up 2-0, thanks to Pat Brady from Trevor Okino and Spencer Farstad, followed by Zachary Fournier from Mason Palaga and Austin Willier.
Then complacency hit and Kamloops came storming back with a pair from Zackari Andrusiak and then Sol Seibel on the power play.
Kolten Moore on the power play from Okino got the lead back for Chase for a short 37 seconds when Hunter Kero brought the Storm even at 3-3.
In the third, Wilson Northey potted the game winner for the Kamloops crew, a 4-3 win. Nic Bruyere faced 31 shots in net for the Heat.
On Dec. 6, a bus of grumpy Grizzlies arrived in Chase from Revelstoke intent to beat the Heat.
The visitors brandished elbows, hands and sticks to no avail throughout the evening’s ice capades. The 1st period was scoreless with the Heat receiving the referee’s attention on two occasions.
In the 2nd, Little Fort’s Tommy Brown got Chase started, helped by Okino and Braden Hughes. Just after the nine-minute mark, a bit of a donnybrook erupted that resulted in some ejections from the game.
Familiarity at times breeds contempt, and this was an indication of that as well as things to come.
So on to the 3rd period and Chase pops in three more to take a 4-0 lead, Okino on the power play from Hughes and Fournier, then a short-handed unassisted marker from Willier, followed by Brown’s second goal from Hughes and Moore.
Over and done with, the fans and the Heat think, but Grizzlies’ Jeff Bochon from Brady Mende think otherwise as a pair of goals 24 seconds apart create angst in the stands and on the Heat bench.
However, Logan Mostat from Okino and Fournier appears to restore some semblance of calm prior to Ryan Hozjan unassisted for the Grizzlies creating a heightened level of concern.
The last four tallies happened in a time span of one minute, nine seconds.
Prior to all that there was another tilt that entertained the fans and both player benches. A bit of old-time hockey manifesting itself from two normally high skilled and quick hockey teams. Bruyere stopped 35 of 38.
Scribes Scribbles: The Heat’s education guru Tom Atkinson and detailed manager Lars Pittendreigh have contributed immensely with this article, by providing exceptional words and editing in a team effort to upgrade the quality for our loyal readership. Our thanks to them for helping the franchise continue its success on and off the ice.