Creston Valley Thunder Cats saved their best game of the year for a weekend that most of their parents were on hand to watch.
“It was our best performance of the season,” head coach Brad Tobin said on Sunday. “We played our game for the full 60 minutes and got rewarded for it. Our bench was engaged all night and kept the positivity flowing through the whole team.”
Tobin was referring to Saturday night’s 3-0 shutout of the high-flying Nelson Maple Leafs, who now sit tied for the KIJHL lead with 26 points.
Creston came out flying in the first period, outshooting the Leafs 17-5, but only Justen James was able to find a crack in the armour of Nelson goaltender Josh Williams. Liam Plunkett and Aiden Wong assisted.
Two power play goals in the middle frame rounded out the night’s scoring. Ronnie Wilkie (James and Tyler Witzke) and Carson Small (Bryce Sturm and Wong) scored with the man advantage.
It was a chippy game, with Nelson taking 15 minor penalties to Creston’s 10. Each team received a pair of 10-minute misconducts.
Levi Mitchell earned the game’s Home Star for his shutout effort as he stopped all 30 shots he faced.
“Levi Mitchell had a great performance in net, making a few key saves to post his first career KIJHL shutout,” Tobin said. “Ronnie Wilkie played the part of a veteran leader all night, he led by example on the ice and was vocal on the bench all night.”
On Saturday afternoon the Thunder Cats hosted players, their family members and billets at a buffet lunch in the Community Complex. Prior to the Saturday night puck drop the parents were introduced to the crowd and each was presented with a rose.
The Thunder Cats’ week started on a high note with a Tuesday win on the road in Invermere.
The Columbia Valley Rockies, who sit in third place in the Eddie Mountain Division, scored the first and last goals of the game but five markers in a 16-shot second period were all Creston really needed to walk away with two points.
Tyler Nypower opened the scoring 3:32 into the game and Columbia Valley skated off with the lead after 20 minutes, outshooting the visitors 11-9.
Not surprisingly, it was captain and team leading scoring Liam Plunkett who started the middle frame onslaught, bulging the twine 47 seconds into the period, with assists going to Justen James and Dylan Rantucci. Before the period was half done, Bryce Sturm (Jack McArdle and Levi Mitchell), Ronnie Wilkie (Plunkett and McArdle), Brody Ryan (Tyler Witzke and Mitchell Wolfe) and Sturm (Rantucci), with his second goal, had given the T-Cats a lead that put them in the driver’s seat.
The teams traded goals in the final period despite Creston outshooting the home side 19-11. James (Ryan and Plunkett) and Brandt Black were the scorers.
Two power play goals in second period action helped the Thunder Cats cause. Liam Plunkett was named the game’s Away Star. Columbia Valley didn’t help their own cause by taking six of the game’s eight minor penalties.
“We didn’t have the start we wanted in Invermere but after going over some details in between periods we exploded for a five goal second period,” Tobin said.
Friday was the black mark on the T-Cats’ week, when they absorbed a 5-2 loss at the hands of a well rested Fernie Ghostriders, who hadn’t played since the ammonia leak tragedy at the Fernie Memorial Arena.
“I have to give credit it to their goalie for putting on a great performance, he played an outstanding game for the Ghostriders,” Tobin said. “We had the scoring chances all night but couldn’t get the results we wanted.”
Creston poured 45 shots on the Ghostriders’ Zak Larson, but managed to get only a pair behind him.
A power play goal by Conor Monaghan (Mitchell Wolfe and Carson Small) gave Creston a short-lived lead 6:04 into the second period. But Fernie responded quickly, with goals by Keelan Saworski, Grayson Neufeld and Mitch Titus putting the visitors in the driver’s seat heading into the final frame.
Saworski stretched the lead to 4-1 midway through the third period and Ronnie Wilkie (Justen James and Aiden Wong) narrowed the margin a minute later. But Devyn Stewart restored Fernie’s 3-goal lead shortly after to end the game’s scoring.
The Thunder Cats finish October with an 8-6-1 record, good for second spot in the Eddie Mountain Division, 9 points behind Kimberley and 4 ahead of Columbia Valley.
Captain Liam Plunkett is in an 8th place tie in league scoring with 24 points and is the only Thunder Cat in the Top 20.
Creston returns to action with a pair of road games this weekend. They take on the Beaver Valley Nitehawks in Fruitvale on Friday night and then move on to Golden for a Saturday tilt against the Rockets.