It was a big weekend for the Kimberley Dynamiters, complete with two big wins, a huge contribution to the Kimberley Helping Hands Food Bank and the annual Santa Skate.
The Nitros kicked off the weekend with an 8-3 win over the Spokane Braves. There was not only a lot of goals scored, but a lot of penalties called, particularly in the second period, with more than a few calls for misconducts, roughing, head contacts and fighting.
“I think that’s part of the way Spokane plays,” said Dynamiters head coach Derek Stuart. “We just got sucked into it in the second period a little bit but at the same time I didn’t think we did anything we shouldn’t have done.”
On Saturday, Dec. 9 it was the annual funding drive for the Kimberley Helping Hands Food Bank. Representatives were outside before the game selling socks and collecting donations of cash and non-perishable food items.
When the first goal of the night was scored by Tristan Weill, his twenty-eighth goal of the season and not his only goal of the night, fans rained down donations of socks and toques onto the ice as well.
In total, the fans contributed $728 in cash, plus another $145 through purchasing socks, 117 pounds of food and four bins of mitts, toques and socks.
Additionally, the Dynamiters organization, Kootenay Savings and Melody Ford each chipped in $500 and took to the ice after the first period to present Food Bank President Barry Cummins with a cheque for $1500.
“It’s neat to see, it’s fun to see, I know the guys always want to be the one who gets that first goal of the night,” Stewart said. “Our fan support is unbelievable just the overall support we get, but when we have things like this it just really comes to fruition to show how lucky we are to get the support that we get.”
Saturday’s game against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats was a big success for the team as well, coming away with a 4-1 win.
Both games saw goals and solid play from a wide spread of the team, in addition to its star players.
“It’s taken a while, but the guys are starting to find their way,” Stewart said. “[Tyler] Lindal, [Luke] Rothfos, Lindal’s getting a chance in the top six and he’s been great this weekend in that role. Guys like Selin got a goal last night. Guys like that are really playing well right now.”
Lindal, a 2004-born product of Humboldt Saskatchewan and their Broncos AAA and AA program is on his second season with the Dynamiters. He scored a highlight-worthy goal just 13 seconds into the second period, assisted by Rothfos and team captain Carson Cleland.
“It’s good to get lots of different names on the score sheet, keep the morale up in the room,” he said after Saturday’s win. “We’ve got so many good hockey players in this dressing room that anyone can score on any night.
“I think our preparation before our games has been better than the start of the year, we really dialled that in and we’re getting better results from being ready to go, it’s a big thing.”
Lately it’s hard to write about the team without mentioning the stellar play of league points leader Tristan Weill. He had two goals on Friday and another two on Saturday and his next goal will be his thirtieth of the season.
“I haven’t seen all the teams in the league yet I don’t think, but for my money he’s the best forward in this league,” Stewart said. “He finishes his chances, he’s such a phenomenal skater that he gets himself into good positions and he’s got a really good shot.
“What I liked tonight from Tristan was his work ethic, he was finishing checks, he was back checking, he was getting to the right spots without the puck defensively, so yeah he might have had some points tonight, but I liked the way he played without the puck more tonight.”
Stewart also pointed out that it’s impressive to note that the majority of Weill’s points are coming at even strength. Only 10 of his 29 goals and 20 of his 55 points come from the power play.
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The Dynamiters have just two more games before their Christmas break: against Fernie on Tuesday, Dec. 12 at home and in Golden on Friday, Dec. 15. They will come back from the break for the annual Christmas Classic, in Kimberley on Friday, Dec. 29 and in Fernie on Saturday, Dec. 30.
Be sure to get there early, last year’s game sold out.