Storm Hammer Heat in Last Tilt Before Xmas
Storm enter KIJHL Christmas Break with shellacking of Chase
For Immediate Release: Friday, December 22, 2023
KAMLOOPS, BC — The Kamloops Storm enter the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League Christmas break sitting in a tie for second place in the Doug Birks Division.
The Storm won their fifth game in six starts and their third in a row against the Chase Heat, beating them 8-1 at McArthur Island Sports Center Friday night (Dec 22).
It was the start of the Storm’s Alumni Weekend.
Kamloops led 1-0 after the first period and were up 2-0 after two periods as they raise their record to 20-7-0-1. Chase falls to 8-17-0-3.
The Storm got goals from eight different players: Sam Zulyniak (Kamloops, BC), Jake Phiillips-Watts (Quesnel, BC), Braycen Dube (Cranbrook, BC), Ty Horner (Kamloops, BC), Evan Douglas (West Kelowna, BC) John Spraggs (Vernon, BC) Sam Lewis (Kamloops, BC) and Isaiah Bagri (Quesnel, BC). Dube’s goal was his first since being acquired two weeks ago from the Kimberley Dynamiters. Bagri had a goal and one assist in his KIJHL debut. He and fellow affiliate players: Logan Haulk (Prince George, BC) and Grady Gustafson (Williams Lake, BC) were up from the Cariboo Cougars of the BC Major Midget League.
Lewis had a goal and one assist to be named the Red Tomato Pies Player of the Game. His two points give him 23 on the year: that’s the second most of any KIJHL defenseman.
Colton Phillips-Watts (Quesnel, BC) earned the win in the nets: stopping 25 of 26 shots. The only Heat player to beat him was Cole Whelan (Calgary, AB) in the third period. Phillips-Watts is 12-6 on the season.
Both teams don’t return to KIJHL league play until Friday January 5, 2024. The Heat host the Kimberley Dynamiters at the Art Holding Memorial Arena. Kamloops visits the South Cariboo Memorial Arena to face the 100 Mile House Wranglers. Next home game for the Storm is Saturday January 6th, 2024 when they host the Princeton Posse. Game time for those three games will be 7 PM. They are shown on a pay-per-view basis on FloHockeyTV.
REEBOUNDS: The Storm paid tribute to late Kamloops and Chase alumni Austin Braid before the game. Braid died of brain cancer November 27th.
This game was the fifth of six meetings between the Heat and Storm. Kamloops has won four of the five meetings. Their final match up in the regular season is Saturday January 13th when the teams meet at Mac Isle.