Atom 1 Chinooks and CNP Thunder tie in first Provincials game

Atom 1 Chinooks face off against CNP Thunder
Josh Davis photos and video

Josh Davis Pincher Creek Voice

On the evening of January 17 the Atom 1 Chinooks hosted their Crowsnest Pass Thunder counterparts at the Memorial Community Centre rink for their first Provincial game of the season. #18 Caleb Evans, Captain of the Atom 2 team, stood in for Chinooks #9 Trinity Tanner, who was sitting out due to an injury.

Right from the start of first period both teams seemed evenly matched. The tenacious Chinooks showed a lot of energy early on, aggressively stealing the puck, while the Thunder demonstrated solid teamwork and great passing, using this to make as many shots on the net as they could. Chinook goaltender #1 Wesley Krampe was in great form at the start of the game, making several nice saves and shutting the Thunder out.

The first twelve and a half minutes of the game went by this way before Thunder #11 Kyle Gault scored the first goal of the game, assisted by #20 Jace Lewis. The score stayed at 0 – 1 until almost the end of the period when Thunder #15 Landen Yakubowski, with the assistance of #16 Chris Collings, slipped another one past Krampe with 4.1 seconds left on the clock. The first period ended with the Thunder in the lead 0 – 2.

Not a minute into the second period, the Thunder scored their third goal of the game by #14 Sante Canderan, with #16 Collings getting his second assist of the game. When Wesley Krampe’s head is in the game, he is an incredibly talented goaltender, with good instincts. But if he had a flaw this game it was that he seemed to take those first two goals personally, and it was to his detriment at the start of second period.

The Chinooks started to get more aggressive second period, and were working more like a cohesive unit than during the first. With 6:56 on the clock #14 Micheal Kaupp scored the Chinooks’ first goal of the game, with #17 Rylan Bruns giving his first of what would be three assists this game. From here on, more of the game would be played on the Thunder’s side of the ice. With just over a minute left in the second Chinooks’ #5 Logan Deley scored a beautiful goal, assisted by #12 Alex Comeau. The period ended with Thunder in the lead 3 – 2, but it was clearly anyone’s game again.

The intensity was upped in the third period when Thunder #91 Matt scored an unassisted goal at 15:06. Krampe didn’t get discouraged this period, however. Instead he really focused that perfectionism, and made several beautiful saves. The Thunder, which racked up three more penalties than their Chinook counterparts this game, was given a penalty for tripping at 7:47. Their aggressive playing backfired here, when #14 Michael Kaupp scored his second goal of the game during the power play, assisted by Rylan Bruns and #11 Easton Fitzpatrick. Kaupp earned himself a hat trick before the period had ended, assisted this time by Fitzpatrick and Bruns. The game ended in a draw at 4 – 4, with no overtime.

But fear not: A chance to resolve this close match-up is not far off. On Wednesday January 23 the Atom 1 Chinooks will be at  the Crowsnest Sports Complex arena in Coleman on Wednesday, January 23 starting at 7:30 pm for their second Provincial game against the Thunder. If its anything like this one it’s sure to be a nail biter.