You can poke a teddy bear with little repercussion and enjoy a bit of rain in the spring…but. If the bears are just out of hibernation and mad or torrential rains leave you defeated, that’s a different story. This week’s past week discusses three games played by the Heat versus Revelstoke and Kamloops. We will shine a light on getting hit by a cement truck as well.
On Tuesday, February 18th our team travelled to the Grizzlies den to face off versus the Division leaders. In the 1st the teams played like local business owners Gary Lanoue and Dan Nelson were coaching. Both of them love cement filled vehicles crashing in demolition derbies and that’s what we witnessed, hard hits. But Coach Brad Fox was at the helm and during the period 3 powerplay goals were scored, 2 for Revelstoke and 1 by one of the nice recent acquisitions Tanner Chapman from Matthew Poole and Lucas Ouellette. In the 2nd Chase tallied to tie the game, an awesome energy shift with Diego Flota getting the counter assisted by linemates Garrett Martin and Braeden Huth. In the 3rd the Heat scored twice for a 4-2 lead, Ouellette from Flota, 2 minutes later Aidan Brown from Ben Schmidt and Trevor Kennedy. Bam…we mentioned not poking bears while someone or something did! Four unanswered goals turned the tables on the Chase crew in 7 ½ minutes of fury. With less then a minute to go Brown from Jacob Biensch and Poole scored with goalie Rod May pulled but the Grizzlies got that one back with 7 seconds left. From fighting back to collapse this match ended in a 7-5 loss. Three members of the Heat get some mention, Brown with 2 goals, Flota with a goal and assist and Ouellette with 1 and 1.
On Friday the 21st in the cozy confines of the local Chaos Castle our lads faced the first of two Storm events. As in that Tuesday grizzly encounter Tanner Chapman once again from just outside the blue paint found mesh that got the Heat on the board from Kennedy and Brown. 1-0 after 20 minutes with Chase dictating most of the play. Period 2 found the game being tied before the great handiwork of Dylan Handel scored the winner from Biensch and Jarod Sigouin. Kamloops in the 3rd received 5 separate penalties to extinguish any hope of getting back in this one. When the credits rolled it was 2-1 Heat, with Jack Osmond deserving mention in stopping 30 of 31 to backstop his team. Matthew Poole while not getting on the scoresheet perhaps played his best game of the season as well, earning an acknowledgement.
Sunday afternoon the 23rd found the same two combatants in a different locale with the losers from Friday hoping to settle a score. Chase in the 1st got things started with Ouellette doing the deed on a goal mouth scramble assisted by Chapman and Kennedy. Storm evened things up to end the period 1-1. In the 2nd Kamloops scored, followed by the ”Cement Truck” Flota snapping a shot into the top corner from the wrong wing for his 3rd of the season from Ouellette and Schmidt. The Storm scored again with the game 3-2 Kamloops. No scoring in the 3rd left the end score unchanged.
Diego Flota is a Regina Saskatchewan defenceman converted to a winger for most of this campaign. He doesn’t show up on the scoresheet often but this past week highlighted what he is capable of and with the playoffs on the horizon it’s a very good thing. He hits like a cement truck if you are on the same tracks, or standing around with your head down. Nobody really wants to know how it feels but it looks like it hurts! An energetic dependable forward, insurance for the backend and a young fella finding his scoring touch at the right time.
What’s next, well it’s back to the Grizzlies den in Revelstoke on Tuesday the 25th, catch the action on Hockeytv. Friday the 28th the Heat head up the Cariboo to face off versus the Wranglers in 100 Mile House (Hockeytv). Next game at the Art Holding Memorial Arena is Saturday the 29th versus the Revelstoke Grizzlies. Time to get your fanny with the kids in tow in one of those plastic buckets everyone likes to jump out of, see you all there.
Poking Bears & Weathering Storms
