The sense in the last couple of weeks of Heat hockey was that a corner had been turned, that things were looking up for our ice warriors that represent Chase. How better to display that but in front of hometown fans at the Art Holding Memorial Arena.
Friday night the 9th of the month the visitors were the Osoyoos Coyotes for their only visit of the season. 4 minutes in the Coyotes were on the scoreboard first. Less than 9 minutes later they earned their second a beauty of a shorthanded effort that sucked the oxygen out of the arena. However little surprises come in big packages as Owen Dean on the man advantage ripped a point shot past the goalie assisted by Kaleb Preymak and the 1st concluded with the Heat down 1, the score 2-1. In the 2nd the visitors scored once to increase their lead. The 3rd saw both rosters scoring. Tyson Tokarz tallied assisted by Jarod Sigouin and Parker Garries prior to the Coyotes tickling the twine twice. Bignell completed the game’s scoring assisted by Kieran Armitage and Preymak. The end a 5-3 loss for the Heat. Meyer Gaume faced 42 shots and stopped 37 of them, too many times being left unprotected and defenceless. A 7th straight loss for the Heat.
Saturday night the 10th rolls around and the Eagles from Sicamous are the evening’s guests. A nasty kneeing major by the visitors places the Heat on a 5 minute man advantage 3 minutes into the game. First Mikkel Hrechka from Trevor Kennedy and Sigouin pops in a powerplay counter. The déjà vu happens as Dean from Armitage and Garries blasts one into the twine. The period ends 2-0 Heat and everyone has something to talk about between periods. Between that time and the remaining 40 minutes of play the Heat ran out of gas, the wheels fell off and the only excitement was the dance competition between periods and the world famous Chili Chuck. Thirty-seven shots fired in those 40 minutes and the Eagles scored 7 unanswered goals to beat the Heat 7-2. Roderic May started in goal and closed the door in the 1st period with or without help. Gaume came on in relief early in the 3rd and it would be speculation that neither one enjoyed the event. Too many breakdowns, too many miscues and too many multi shot opportunities by the opposition, leaving the tenders alone.
On the bright side of life the acquisitions of Tokarz, Preymak and Hudson Ketsa is a huge positive. Kudos to Dean who seems to have found his niche with blasts from long range. Watching the games one and all has to have a tender spot for May and Gaume. So it’s now 8 straight losses with two left to play before the Christmas Season break. Keep your twisted twig on the ice and your cranium protector cinched!
