January was a mixed bag for the Creston Valley Thunder Cats, winning four of the 10 games so far in 2025.
On the first of this month, the team celebrated a victory over the Columbia Valley Rockies, 5-3.
Tye Matthews gave the Thunder Cats a lead with his third goal of the season, which proved to be the winner against the Rockies. Goalie Jacob Burnside was solid in stopping 36 shots at the net.
Moving on to Feb. 4, the Thunder Cats were defeated 2-0 by the Fernie Ghostriders. Again, the goalies proved their value with Brendan Smith stopping 42 in the loss.
Then on Feb. 7, the team faced another loss, this time to the Golden Rockets, 6-3. Liam Munro led the Thunder Cats with three points.
Looking back on the season, victories over the Revelstoke Grizzlies and Grand Forks Border Bruins were big moments for the Thunder Cats with their strongest shows of team performance.
“I think both of those games we had really good team structure and I would say especially against Grand Forks, we knew it was going to be a tough game,” said head coach Geordie Wudrick. “That building being a bit of a smaller ice surface, we know how hard they play, but I thought overall, that was probably our best team win so far.”
Wudrick said it proved they can compete with and even beat some of the best teams in the league.
Creston’s record now stands 14-22-3 in 39 games played, leaving the team in fifth place in the Eddie Mountain Division, one point behind the Golden Rockets. The playoffs for the coveted Teck Cup begin on Feb. 28, for which the Thunder Cats have yet to secure one of the four spots left.
With only five games left in the regular season, fans can catch the last one on home ice on Friday, Feb. 21 against the Kimberley Dynamiters. Come check out the action at the Johnny Bucyk Arena that evening at 7 p.m.
