The Kimberley Dynamiters opened their season on Friday against the Columbia Valley Rockies, and did so in fashion with a 6-1 victory; and then followed it up with a 2-1 road win on Saturday in Nelson.
First up was the home opener against the Rockies.
After player introductions, the Nitro’s needed only half of a period to get the first goal of the season by Mason Palaga, the Kamloops defender was acquired from the Chase Heat in the off-season. The 770 fans that packed the hazy Civic Centre were about to see that Palaga wasn’t done setting his already impressive first impression.
“I have never played in front of crowd like this.” Palaga said after the game, “it was amazing, I can’t express how nice it felt.”
Unfortunately, what has become a theme for the Nitro’s at the start of the season, rink troubles, and the first period had to be concluded prematurely, and then the remainder played out at the start of the second period.
The Rockies began firing back in the middle frame, but local goaltender Adam Andersen stood his ground.
“Adam was very good out there.” head coach and general manager Derek Staurt said. “He kept us in a few times… He’s getting more confidence, I think the nerves of playing in front of the hometown are gone.”
Andersen’s play allowed Nick Ketola to scored early on the power play, sliding the puck in the low corner, giving the Nitro’s a 2-0 lead heading into the second intermission.
The Rockies were able to get on the board and cut the Nitro’s lead in half. But after that moment, a fuse was lit, and the Nitro’s exploded. Palaga, and the signed-that-morning Austin Hope, would both score twice, leading the Nitro’s to a 6-1 victory.
“We just started to click.” Palaga smiled. “Everyone just started to realize what to do. We clicked and it worked well.”
Palaga said that that was absolutely the first impression he wanted to send at the start of the season, but added: “Most of all we were just wanting to get the win, these points matter later on in the year. I was just worried about the win, and glad we got it.”
While Palaga was an obvious star of the game offensively, scoring the hattrick and adding an assist, Stuart said that Brett Roberts played an excellent game defensively.
“He was the best overall defencemen. Moving pucks forward, being physical and taking care of our net. We gave him the coaches game puck. He played defense how we want everyone to play defense. We are very happy with how he played defence.”
Stuart added that both Luke Recchi and Matt Davies stood out. “Luke Recchi was energetic out there and really good on the penalty kill. Matt Davies was really good, and had a lot of shining moments while controlling the puck, he made some really good plays.”
While Stuart felt there was a lot of good things that came out of the game, it was only the first time that this squad of 20 players played together, and he felt that there were still parts of the game to work on.
The Nitro’s then head on the road to play the Nelson Leafs.
Head coach and general manager Derek Stuart said that he and the staff hammered home that Nelson is a different team from the Rockies, and that the Leafs are one of the favourites to win the Neil Murdoch division, if not the whole Kootenay Conference.
The Leafs took it to the Nitro’s early in the game, controlling the play at the Nelson Community Complex. It wasn’t until the midway of the first that rookie Cam Russell fired a shot while skating wide that surprised the Leafs keeper, giving the Nitro’s a 1-0 lead.
The second period was scoreless, it was the calm before the storm of what would be an explosive third period.
In the third tempers began to flair. It all started when Luke Recchi dropped the gloves with Leafs Justin Podgorenko, and came out on the loosing end. The Nelson rink became a warzone.
“I thought their will and determination, and courage to play through a war, was really impressive.” Stuart said. “Everyone really battled hard, it wasn’t pretty, there were a lot of mistakes and bad decisions. In terms of their effort level and not shying away, it was impressive.”
That’s just what the Nitro’s did, they didn’t shy away and battled. The Nitro’s got into penalty trouble, and were short handed at one point 5-on-3 for a whole two minutes. But Nitro’s goalie, Broc Merkl made incredible save and spectacular save, to keep the Dynamiters ahead 1-0.
“As soon as we killed off that big 5-on-3 I knew we had the game.” Merkl said confidently the day after the game.
After the lengthy penalty kill they built themselves a 2-0 lead on a wrap around goal by Brock Palmer.
The Leafs tried to mount a comeback, scoring a goal, and then swarming in the final two minutes, but it was to no avail, as Merkl kept the gate closed. He earned his first KIJHL win making 33 saves.
“It was very obvious that without Merkl last night we would have definitely lost the game.” Stuart said.
Merkl humbly said that it was a team effort. “I can’t take the whole credit for a win, last night I may have been a factor in the win,” He said, “but at the same time I had a great team in front of me that got those two goals.”
While the Nitro’s were not perfect in the 139 penalty minute game, Staurt was impressed with the performance of Russell, Palaga and Roberts; and how veterans Rota and Farmer stepped in to play defensive shifts when needed against the Leafs.
With the win, the Nitro’s earned four of four points in the weekend.
MATCH STICKS: Recchi will be re-evaluated after leaving the game after the fight. Tyler Van Steinburg sustained a lower body injury in Nelson as well. While not currently listed, it is expected that Nic Ketola will be suspended for his 10-minute major.
