"And the goaltender ... scores!"
That's not something Kimberley Dynamiters' commentator Jim Scott has said too many times in his long tenure with the team, but that was the call on Saturday night as goaltender Josh Hager potted an empty netter with 40 seconds left on the clock in his debut game with the Nitros.
Hager's goal made for a 3-0 win over the Creston Valley Thunder Cats on Saturday, Nov. 2, so not only did the team's new goalie score a goal his first game, he did so while also getting a shut out, making 18 saves and understandably being named player of the game.
"I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better debut with a new team in the history of the league than that," said head coach, GM Derek Stuart. "A shutout and then he created a memory that everyone in that rink on Saturday will remember for the rest of their lives, it was pretty cool to see. Not a bad night for him on Saturday."
The Dynamiters acquired Hager through a trade for Kyan Gray and defenceman Jimmy Proulx to the Quesnel River Rush.
"We had an opportunity, we had inquired about Josh early in the process and the asking price was quite high and we just were patient and circled back a few weeks later and the asking price came down," Stuart said. "We were able to acquire an elite goaltender and we just thought it would be better to have two outstanding goalies instead of just one."
After the previous weekend's loss to Creston ended their seven-game win streak, the Dynamiters bounced back in a big way with a 6-3 win in Invermere against the Rockies.
They then returned to Invermere on Friday for what proved to be a much closer contest.
Nate Murdoch was the first to score, just under five minutes into the first period, his third goal of the season. He'd then score his second of the night in the second period, making it 3-2 after Billy Kiray tied things up.
Columbia Valley went on to score two unanswered goals before October's Player of the Month Luke Davies scored the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining.
Saturday night's shutout against the Thunder Cats saw Nathan Laforge open the scoring late in the first. Following a scoreless second period, Danik Reeves potted his fifth goal of the season on a power play to make it 2-0. With the Cats' goal empty, Hager made his move for a historic debut and a 3-0 win.
Overall, Stuart was happy with the way his team played over the past week, having addressed some of their weak spots from the past games.
"I thought this week we were much more disciplined, we only gave up three even-strength goals in three games and the team played much better defensively, both goaltenders were fantastic," Stuart explained. "I think Marc Samyn was excellent in both games in Columbia Valley.
"I think defensively, especially against the Rockies, we've given up three even-strength goals in all three games against the Rockies total all year, so I think defensively we were much better and discipline-wise we were taking the right steps as well."
Unlike last week with the Tuesday away game, the Nitros now have a full week off to practice before they hit the road for games against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks on Friday, Nov. 8 and the Nelson Leafs on Saturday, Nov. 9.
"Our whole month is pretty clean, we don't have any Sunday or Tuesday games, all our games are on the weekends," Stuart said. "We're going to have an opportunity to improve through practices and I think getting back to our typical hard practices on Monday and Tuesday is going to be a huge benefit to us down the road."
The next Dynamiters at-home action is on Friday Nov. 15 against Columbia Valley and on Saturday, Nov. 16 against the Golden Rockets.
