Atom 2 Chinooks tie Taber Oil Kings in epic barnburner

Atom 2 Chinooks vs Taber Oil Kings
T. Lucas photos and video

Toni Lucas and Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

Pincher Creek's Atom 'C' Chinooks hosted the Taber 'C' Oil Kings at the MCC arena on Saturday morning, February 9.

You really couldn't ask for two more evenly matched teams, and you certainly couldn't ask for a better game than the one they delivered.  It was amazing to see how far the Chinooks have come over the course of the season, in terms of teamwork and individual skills.  This time out they were considerably bolstered by the addition of associate players Drew Stuckey, Cory Dyck, and Riley Potts.

Stuckey scored the first goal of the game early in the first period, unassisted at the 16:43 mark.  Jeremy Tessari scored for Taber shortly after that at the 15:54 mark, assisted by Bayden Kaye.  The first period ended in a 1-1 tie.  Tessari proved to be the lone scorer for Taber with a total of four goals.  All but the first one were unassisted.

In the second period Riley Potts scored at the 13:21 mark, the first of three goals for him over the course of the game.  An A/P hat-trick, all three goals unassisted.

You could feel the tension in the arena during the last period.  The athletes were tuned in to the game completely, compelling us to really pay attention in the stands.

The game was most dramatic during the last minute of play.  The score was tied 3-3.  Potts broke the tie with only 46 seconds remaining, and the Chinooks seemed sure of a win.  Proving almost anything can happen in hockey, with only 24 seconds left in the game Tessari added one to his previous hat-trick, and at the final buzzer it was 4-4.

A side note: the addition of Isabelle Charette as one of the Assistant Coaches this season seems to be working out well for the Atom 2 Chinooks.

The Atom 2 Chinooks have one more regular season game scheduled, an away game against Bow Island on Saturday, February 16 starting at 11:45 am at the Bow Island Arena.