Novice Chinooks host Picture Butte

Novice Chinooks vs Picture Butte
J. Davis photos and video

Josh Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

The Pincher Creek Novice B Chinooks took to the ice on the morning of Sunday, February 10, hosting their Picture Butte Novice Elks Broncos counterparts at the MCC arena. Both teams were strong, and it became clear early on that they were a good match for each other. The Chinooks had strong teamwork and good passing, while the Elks Broncos showed off some fancy stick play.

#6 Riley Potts of the Chinooks scored the opening goal of the game at 17:53. At 12:51 #23 Ryan Holm tied the scoreboard; less than a minute later #47 Tyler Mason scored the Elks Broncos’ second goal, and his first of three this game. #17 Koltyn Kipling made a couple of great saves for the Chinooks this period.

#49 Logan Hillaby of the Elks Broncos scored the next goal of the game with ten minutes remaining in the first. #28 Cory Dyck then assisted #6 Potts in the best goal of the first. The period ended with the Elks Broncos in the lead 2 – 3, but it was still clearly anyone’s game.

Things were looking tricky for the Chinooks at the start of the second, when one minute in #47 Mason scored his second of three goals on minute into the period. Then #6 Potts earned his hat trick with 17:52 on the clock. This was followed up at 16:11 by #47 Mason’s own hat trick. #28 Cory Dyck scored the next goal for the Chinooks with 12:08 left on the clock. #6 Potts scored his final goal of the game this period at 7:07, tying up the score 5 – 5, and it remained there for the rest of the period.

#23 Mayz Vance of the Chinooks scored the first goal of the period five minutes into it. The third period was the most aggressive yet, with both teams playing hard looking for a win. With 6:18 on the clock #21 Kieran Randall scored another goal for the Chinooks, bringing their lead to 7 – 5. Almost exactly a minute later, at 5:17, #48 Quade Vandendugen of the Elks Broncos scored an impressive goal. Eight seconds later Kourtney Serfas tied it up for the Elks Broncos. The game ended in a tie with a score of 7 – 7.

Asked about the results of the game Chinooks Assistant Coach Jay Potts said “I’m glad we tied these people. It would’ve been good to come out with a win; we tied them before. They’re (Picture Butte) still ahead of us by a game in the Spud League. “

Coach Potts called passing the team’s best offensive strength, but said that they will continue working on utilizing all members of the team and looking for open players on the ice. When it comes to defense, Coach Potts was succinct: “We like trying to take our men at the blue line.”

“We still have two games left,” he continued “and they’re next weekend: One against Bow Island and one against Vauxhall.  That’s gonna let us know where we sit.”

Upcoming games:
The Novice B Chinooks will be hosting the Bow Island 'A' Rebels at 9:15 am on Saturday, February 16, and the Vauxhall 'B' Sabres at 9:15 am on Sunday February 17.  Both of those games will be at Pincher Creek's Memorial Community Centre Arena.