The Creston Valley Thunder Cats have skated to success with victory in the last four games.
The game against the Kimberley Dynamiters on Saturday, Oct. 26 was a real nail-biter, tied up in third period. With his second goal of the season, Sidney Brill scored the winner 13 seconds into overtime, ending the game 4 to 3. Berkley Gross led with two goals and an assist and goalie Brendan Smith made 39 saves for the win.
The following evening, the Thunder Cats returned home and defeated the Williams Lake Mustangs 6 to 4.
Taylor Schmideder, also with his second goal of the season, scored the final point with seven minutes left in the third period in another tight victory for the Thunder Cats.
During the game, Berkley Gross led with two goals, while Liam Munro collected three assists. Ti Regan scored his first goal for the Thunder Cats. Goalie Jacob Burnside made 33 saves to earn his first win of the season for the Thunder Cats.
Head coach and general manager Geordie Wudrick said the team has been gelling on and off the ice the last few weeks.
“We had a lot of changes to our line-up and staff from the team last season, and the more the players have gotten to know each other, the new systems, and daily habits, the better things have been translating on the ice,” he said.
He added goal-tending has been excellent all season, and he hopes to see that trend continue.
“One area we need to keep improving for us to compete on with the top teams in the league is trying to reduce our shot volume against our goal,” said Wudrick. “If we can lower their workload with less shots and chances against, they will give us a chance to continue winning.”
The team is still finding their offensive touch.
“A lot of that stems from our defensive zone assignments and also having a desire to possess the puck and manage the puck better in the offensive zone and neutral zone,” he said.
Next, cheer on the Thunder Cats against the Fernie Ghostriders on Friday, Nov. 1 at the Johnny Bucyk Arena, starting at 7:30 p.m.
