This weekend’s loss to Revelstoke isn’t as important for the Sicamous Eagles as their victory versus the Kamloops Storm, who they face off against in the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference division semifinals.
Game one of the semifinals was scheduled to take place Tuesday night (after press time) in Kamloops.
On Wednesday, Feb. 19, the Eagles hosted the Storm in their second-to-last game of the regular season. And while neither team was playing their full lineup, the Eagles still managed to beat the top team in the KIJHL with a 4-3 tally.
Sicamous Eagle AP (affiliated player) Darien Blight potted the first goal for the team on a power play in the first frame. He was assisted by Derek Miskiman and AP Colby Sherlock. Darien Head put in a second marker for the team, a power-play conversion at :15 assisted by Jayce Davis and Hayden Orton. In the second period, another Sicamous AP, Justin Wilde, added a third goal for the team off of Colin Blake. Wilde added the winning marker in the third period, assisted by Stephen Hawco and Blake.
Asked how the Eagles are feeling about facing the Storm again in the semifinals, general manager Wayne March said the guys figure they can beat them.
“They are quite positive… that’s what’s important,” said March, acknowledging the Storm is a well-rounded team with a lot of veterans.
“We’ve beat them before in their own barn,” said March. “Our goaltender (Kris Joyce) is probably number-one in the league… We stick to our game plan, we should be able to compete with them.”
Though the Eagles lost 5-4 in their last game of regular-season play versus the Revelstoke Grizzlies, the real losers were the goonish bruins who, not proceeding to the finals, attempted to inflict as much damage as they could on the Eagles.
“They came out just to eliminate as many kids as they could,” said March, who will be submitting letters to the league regarding the lack of officiating and poor conduct witnessed in Revelstoke.
Eagles defender Jayce Davis may not be making the playoffs as a result of a head injury on the boards.
Forced to play a defensive game, Eagle Curtis Witney still picked up the only marker in the first frame, while Nathan Grieve potted two power-play conversions in the second. Jameson Stoski put in the final Sicamous goal, again during the power play, in the third period.