The Dynamiters 2022/23 season has begun and a crowd of well over 700 fans packed the Civic Centre on Saturday, Sept. 24 to see the Nitros demolish the Creston Valley Thunder Cats 7-3.
The Dynamiters started their season on the road with a loss 6-3 loss against Columbia Valley, so a win at home was more than welcome.
“It’s been really great so far. Definitely some things to work on, but it’s nice to get that first win, it’s something to build off for sure,” said forward Kade Leskosky. He got the first goal of the game, calling for the puck in front of the net, taking his time and putting it in, and went on to collect himself a hat trick, with a goal in each period.
The Dynamiters started the game off shorthanded due to a warm-up violation called on Luke Rothfos. The Nitros handled the first penalty kill well and after Leskosky’s goal and one from the Thunder Cats’ Luke Chakrabarti, the game was tied going into the second.
The second began with a head contact and 10-minute misconduct being served to Tyler Lindal just over a minute in, but Carter Spring managed to score a short-handed goal on a breakaway to give the Dynamiters the lead.
Trystan Self, who was named MVP by the team and the Eddie Mountain Division last year, as well as Top Goaltender by the Eddie Mountain Division and the KIJHL, made some stellar saves in the second, but Creston finally capitalized on an opportunity. They scored again to briefly take the lead, before the Leskosky, Cam Reid and Cash Regan, all returning players, scored in rapid succession.
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The third period saw Leskosky’s third and final goal and one from rookie Ethan Bloomquist.
“I think we maybe got there or showed signs of it in the third, the first period they looked a little perhaps nervous or flat,” head coach, general manager Derek Stuart said following the game. “It was a pretty intense game last night in Columbia Valley. There’s a lot of things to work on like there should be at this time of year, but there was also a lot of good things that we saw in the latter half of the game.”
Stuart was pleased with the new recruits, saying that their best line against Columbia Valley the previous night was their rookie line.
“A couple of our new D men are doing well, so I think we just need to work on some things team-wise, not necessarily system-wise — just things that we require Dynamiters players to do here that some of the new guys aren’t familiar doing or used to doing. We just have to work on some of those things,” he said.
He said there are some things that need to be worked on, and wasn’t entirely happy with the play from his veteran players over the weekend, calling some of the play “scrambly,” but acknowledging that that is to be expected this early in the year.
“Both games this weekend, a majority of it was pretty much like Timbits hockey where everyone just chases the puck,” he said. “Little things like spacing out and not getting so clumped together — things like that that we need to work on this week.”
Leskosky, who said his hat trick was made possible due to the teammates around him, said that his only goal for the year is to, of course, win the championship.
“Stu [Stuart] just wants the best for us, but there’s definitely things to work on, but it’s very early so we’re not all that close but we’re going to come together as a team and its’ going to be really good,” Leskosky said. “It’s all the little things we have to figure out. Systems will come.”
The Nitros’ next game is against the Chase Heat at the Civic Centre on Friday, Sept. 30.
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paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin
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