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The Dynamiters will do their best to ruin the Thundercats’ return to this side of the 60th parallel tonight in Kimberley.
Creston Valley is coming off the longest road trip of the year — try 5,000 km return — having split a two-game series with Fernie in Whitehorse this week.
“I think it’s an opportunity for us to jump on them early,” said Nitros’ head coach Kevin MacKay. “I don’t know what time they got back, but it’s a long way to go for two days. Hopefully we can get them a little bit sluggish, and if we can jump on them early it should be a benefit to us.”
Creston had to travel to the Yukon’s capital to get their first win against the Ghostriders this season. They were down 3-1 in Tuesday’s opener, but won 6-3 and halted the Ghostriders’ 10-game win streak.
“That’s a great coup on their part,” said MacKay. “They must have played quite well.”
Creston leap-frogged Kimberley in the standings with the win.
The Dynamiters have two home games this weekend, as they’ll host the Columbia Valley Rockies on Saturday.
Earlier in the season, the Dynamiters had played to the level of the Rockies, one of the lesser teams in the KIJHL. More recently, Kimberley seems to have figured out how to compete against them, averaging more than six goals for and less than one against the last three times they’ve played.
“We’ve just got to stick to our game plan… no matter who we’re playing,” said MacKay. “We’ve got to execute better offence, better defence — just all-around, high-end execution if we want to go into the playoffs on a high note.”
Defenceman Corson Johnstone will sit out at least the next two games as he mends from a noggin knock suffered last weekend, while forward Chad Filatoff will slot back in.
Even with goalie Michael Smith returning from a recent junior A call-up, the Nitros will have just 18 players this weekend.
“Everybody is in a pretty good mindset,” said MacKay. “We’ve had a short bench here for a little bit, but usually about once a week we get three or four affiliates up and they seem to generate a lot of freshness and intensity.”
There won’t be any midget affiliates available for the next four games, as the Cranbrook Ice are on the road.
“That gives the guys opportunities to get a little more ice time, and hopefully they can elevate our game,” said MacKay. “Maybe it gets guys an opportunity to score some more goals and get some momentum going.”
