Rockies weekend update

by Steve Mantyka.

Ghostriders haunt Rockies.

The Columbia Valley Rockies were bested Friday night by the Division leading Fernie Ghostriders, 7-1 in a game that was dominated by the Ghostriders from the drop of the puck.

Coming out guns ablazing, the Ghostriders fired away at will, directing 30 shots in the first period at the Rockies Netminder Jeff Magee. Magee was the story as he kept his team in the game, keeping Fernie off the scoresheet until 19:06 of the second period when Brendan Hawryluk finally put the puck past him. Mitch Board then tallied three straight times for the Ghostriders to stake a 4-0 lead after two periods.

Three minutes into the final period, Cody Brndjar netted his first goal as a Rockie, assisted by Kevin Anderson and Darrell Boldon.

Brendan Hawryluk added two more goals for Fernie to complete a hat trick and Michael Anderson scored in the final minute to give Fernie a 7-1 advantage.

Columbia Valley’s bright spot was clearly Jeff Magee, stopping 62 of 69 shots sent his way. Counterpart Joel Miller stopped 15 of 16 for Fernie.

The three stars were Mitch Board, Brendan Hawryluk and Bond Hawryluk. The two teams met again Monday in Columbia Valley.

Thunder Cats Edge Rockies in Overtime

The Creston Valley Thunder Cats rolled into Invermere to face the Rockies on Saturday night and got the last shot, the one that sent them on the road home with a 3-2 overtime win.

In an even period that saw Creston outshoot the Rockies 11-8 and take a 1-0 lead into intermission, the Thunder Cats got an unassisted goal from leader scorer Joe Densmore, beating Jeff Magee at 13:15.

Just over a minute into the second period, Rockies leading scorer, Darrell Boldon, unassisted, tied it up at one.

Columbia Valley would take the lead at 3:07, Julian Fraser from Kalen Bird and Briar McNaney as the Rockies again directed 8 shots at the Thunder Cats goalie, Sunny Gill. Creston would fire 15 shots at the Rockies goalie, Jeff Magee.

The third period saw Creston shooting from everywhere, directing 18 shots at Magee as they tried to tie the game, and their wish came true early – Robbie Stuckey from Keven Cann at 16:07. Creston pressed on to try to win in regulation, put Magee turned them away. The Rockies sent 10 shots at the Creston net in the third period.

In overtime, Colton Grolla from Scott Swiston was the winning tally at 2:55 for the visiting Thunder Cats.

The three stars were Rockies Jeff Magee, Grolla from Creston and Rockies d-man Kalen Bird.

Final shots recorded were in favour of Creston, 45-26. The Rockies debuted R. T. Rice and Kory Movold in their first regular season action. Defenseman Chris Johnson also played his first game of the year on the weekend.

Columbia Valley hosts the Castelgar Rebels Friday, November 27 and continue to support Prostate Cancer Awareness through November. Kamloops will be making their lone visit to Invermere on Friday, December 4.