Too Close in Two Ice Games

The Cold Lake Jr. B Ice came close in both their weekend match-ups; but not close enough to take the win in either. On Friday the club hosted the Lac La Biche, falling 2-1. Then Saturday, the club took to the road, in Killiam, falling 6-5.

Game 1 vs Lac La Biche

“I liked our effort tonight, we just didn’t have a lot of chances,” Head Coach, of the Ice, Scott Hood says he was pleased with the team’s play. The bounces just didn’t go their way. In a rematch from the weekend before, the Ice welcomed the Clippers to Imperial Oil Place on Friday evening. Last time it was a 5-2 game, in favour of the Clippers. This time around the Clippers took the win with a 2-1 score.

The Ice were down two goals after the first, after Lac La Biche’s Brody Rosychuk and Isaac Barr put pucks to the back of the net. It was catch up and hold off from there.

The Ice were successful in holding off the visiting club from scoring again in the game; but they never quite caught up. Shane Whitney, with Evan Feehan & Coltan Buchta put in their sole Ice goal, during the second period. The third played out very quick and clean with only three stops for penalties.

“We ran into a hot goalie again, and we’ve gotta correct that. It’s going to happen no matter who you play, you gotta be ready for that number one goalie,” the coach says the club will regroup and be ready for Saturday’s game on the road.

Game 2 vs Killiam

“They’re a tough team in their barn. We’ve got to stick to our game plan, no matter who we play.” The Ice traveled to Killiam on Saturday for a match against the Wheat Kings. The opposing team opened up scoring in the game, but the Ice quickly responded with a pair of goals from  Steven Kufflick, to end the period 2-1.

The second period was quite the opposite, with the Wheat Kings putting up three goals and the Ice only one, from  Jean-Guy Boisvert. Great news for Boisvert as it was the first of three for a hat trick evening. The veteran put in two more for the go-ahead in the third. Sadly, it was followed up by a goal from the Wheat Kings, that forced overtime.

Jackson Angelstad got the overtime winner for Killiam in just over a minute of extra time. It was a 6-5 final for the home club.

“Playoffs aren’t a guarantee anymore, it’s not going to get any easier for us,” with eight teams going to the NEAJBHL, the Ice are in seventh place, six points ahead of the cutoff.