KIJHL Notebook: Okanagan Conference | Kamloops Storm
Posse leaders bringing consistency
This week’s KIJHL Notebook has Okanagan Conference coaches share what their biggest win/individual performance or moment was to end 2024.
Bill Ohlhausen Division
The Revelstoke Grizzlies have been happy with how their younger players were able to adapt to team play.
“It’s always a process and a big jump for them, but with the good leadership the returning players provide them, this process was made easier,” said Grizzlies head coach Jiri Novak. “We have had some ups and downs, but with the experience of our group, we were able to find a way to get the results we wanted. We are really happy with the group and can see they are hungry and want to have another successful season.”
Tyson Horiachka and Grady Sterling-Ponech have had impressive performances for the Princeton Posse. Head coach-general manager Torrin White says what sets them apart has been their consistency.
“Whether in practice, or a Friday home game, you know exactly what you are going to get from those two all the time,” said White. “They have done a great job bringing other players on board and have been especially important for our first-year players to see how to conduct yourself on- and off-the-ice.”
The biggest moment and turning point for the Sicamous Eagles in the first half of the season came during a collection of November games, starting with a 3-2 overtime win at home against Williams Lake on Nov.16.
“We really began to play good hockey with consistent 60-minute efforts,” said Eagles head coach-general manager Liam McOnie. “We were rewarded with some great wins.”
The Eagles went on to win six straight games.
Wes McLeod, head coach of the Merritt Centennials, feels his team has had a few key “signature moments” this season. One is from their final game before the Christmas Break on Dec 18 versus Princeton.
“What a wild game, full of twists and turns,” he said. “We were up 4-2 in the second, blew the lead, down 6-4 with eight minutes to go in the third. We dug in and found a way to tie it up with 15 seconds left before winning in overtime and giving Princeton their first loss on home ice this year.”
The Osoyoos Coyotes remain focused on earning a playoff spot in the Bill Ohlhausen Division. Their biggest win came on Dec. 28, 2-1 over the Merritt Centennials.
“Hunter Arntsen was outstanding,” said Coyotes head coach-general manager Ken Law, as Arntsen made 54 saves. “We go back into their barn and lose Arntsen 6:17 into the game and play with 15-year-old Jasper Wood.”
The Coyotes lost that game 9-2. Law isn’t sure if Arntsen will return this season.
Law had added goalie Russell Newman from the Grand Forks Border Bruins to back up Arntsen after Brandon Gee was called back up to the WHL’s Wenatchee Wild.
Kelowna Chiefs head coach-general manager Dave Whistle felt their 6-3 win over the Princeton Posse on Nov. 23 was a “really good win.”
“They have a very good offensive team and I thought we played really well from start to finish,” said Whistle. “Now that we played Princeton again, they do have a very offensive team. I think we must have done a really good job on our forecheck because we kept the goals down to a minimum. I would say that was a really good win for the group and there were some other really good strong performances.”
Whistle added they just need to score four goals a game to win.
Doug Birks Division
Levi Stuart, head coach-general manager of the 100 Mile House Wranglers, says they look at all individual and team performances the same.
“No individual moment is greater than the next, each moment is all part of the process leading up to and building towards the end goal of winning a championship,” said Stuart.
For Kamloops Storm head coach Andrew Fisher, their 5-4 overtime victory over the Sicamous Eagles Nov. 8 stands out from their first half.
“We were down in the third, faced a five-minute penalty-kill and were without our captain after a spirited fight at the start of the period,” said Fisher. “The guys showed resilience coming back to tie the game on a power-play of our own after giving up the go-ahead goal. It was a back and forth OT, before we got the winner with seconds left. This game spearheaded a 6-2-0 stretch for us to finish the month of November.”
Once the calendar flipped to November for the Quesnel River Rush, head coach-general manager Logan Maxwell said they started finding their identity.
“We started to play to that identity for large portions of games,” said Maxwell. “Now it’s just time to do it more consistently and for 60 minutes.”
Back-to-back wins against the River Rush and Wranglers at the start of December were key moments for the Chase Heat. Head coach-general manager Kyle Evans said that defeating two very good teams, who also happen to be divisional opponents, on the road was a “nice reward for the hard work our guys have been putting in on a daily/weekly basis.”
“Despite the hunger, compete and work ethic our guys show at practice, we’ve had a very up and down first half,” said Evans. “We placed some lofty expectations on ourselves to start the season and this group is still learning what it takes to win and how to overcome adversity.”
Williams Lake Mustangs head coach-general manager Tyrell Lucas feels their last win, 5-1 against the Heat heading into the Christmas break, was a good team morale booster.
“We’ve been battling really hard and just keep coming out on the wrong end of it and our last game was just a really good team effort,” said Lucas. “We had teammates standing up for each other and battling hard. Our goaltender battled really hard and it was basically a playoff game between us and Chase.”