The Kimberley Dynamiters headed to Fernie on Saturday, Jan. 24 to take on the Ghostriders, their historic rivals.
The game ended in a 3-2 overtime win for the Dynamiters, but it was what happened after the game that stood out.
Fernie goaltender Nick Kunyk, well after the final whistle had blown ending the game, blockered Remy Spooner in the face.
"It was a very cowardly act," said Dynamiters head coach, general manager Derek Stuart. "Unfortunately we don't get to play Fernie again, so we're hoping the Department of Player Safety will administer an appropriate suspension."
The Bulletin will follow up on that as more information becomes known.
Besides that incident, Stuart was happy with how his team played on Saturday night and how they've played Fernie throughout the season as a whole. They faced the Ghostriders in six games this regular season, winning five of them.
Last season's league MVP Tristan Weill continues to find his form this year, opening the scoring with a power play goal midway through the first period.
Fernie's Coden Fournier answered back with a minute left. Nate Murdoch gave the Nitros back their lead late in the second, but a power play goal from Riley Enns early in the third would send the game to overtime, with Jackson Murphy getting the winner for the Dynamiters.
"We played very sound defensively," Stuart said. "We held them to 22 shots and most of those came on their power plays."
And there were quite a few of those, eight in the first period alone.
Since December 7 the Dynamiters have had 12 wins and just one loss. There are just seven games left in the regular season and are currently still comfortably in the top spot of the Eddie Mountain division. At 55 points they are sitting in fourth in the KIJHL's overall league standings, behind the Grand Forks Border Bruins who have 57 and the Princeton Posse and Revelstoke Grizzlies who each have 58.
Their next game is in Golden on Saturday, Feb. 1 and they will next be at the Civic Centre on Friday, Feb. 7 when they will welcome the Columbia Valley Rockies.
