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Questionable calls mar Grizzlies weekend

Revelstoke beat Kamloops Storm 3-1, fall 6-4 to Beaver Valley Nitehawks on weekend.
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Riley Creighton and Brodie Buhler of the Revelstoke Grizzlies screen the front of the net as an Andrew Standish shot beats Beaver Valley Nitehawks goalie Zack Perehudoff on Sunday. The Nitehawks won the game 6-4.

With a crowd hurling a steady stream of vitriol at referee Lyle Hinds  and an angry Grizzlies owner, Lew Hendrickson, saying he was going to report Hinds to the league, coach Kevin Kraus could have made excuses. Instead he took the blame for Sunday’s 6-4 loss to the Beaver Valley Nitehawks in a game decided by two late power-play goals on questionable penalties.

“I was proud of the way my boys battled through adversity,” he said. “It snowballed from me losing my emotions to my team losing their emotions.”

Before Sunday’s game, the Grizzlies earned a hard-fought victory over the Kamloops Storm on Saturday. Spencer Samuel had a goal and an assist and Aaron Brandoli made 45 saves in the win.

On Sunday, the Nitehawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Dallas Calvin and Taylor Stafford scored within 25 seconds of each other in the sixth minute of the period. However, a pair of goals by Tyler Reay 27 second a parts a few minutes later tied the game.

It was late in the second went things went wrong. First, Samuel was given a two minute penalty for slashing, and a further two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. That caused Kraus to lose it, and he was penalized too, putting Revelstoke down by two men for two minutes. The Grizzlies killed off the 5-on-3, but during the second penalty, Kurt Black put one home to give Beaver Valley a 3-2 lead.

In the the third, Revelstoke flew out of the gates, getting goals from TJ Christensen and Andrew Standish to take the lead. Dan Holland replied quickly for the Nitehawks to even the score.

The game appeared to be headed for overtime, when two questionable calls put Revelstoke down by two men again. First, Samuel got called for interference when he collided with an opponent when trying to hold the blue line to prevent an offside. Brayden Beckley then got called for slashing 46 seconds later, giving Beaver Valley their third 5-on-3 advantage of the game.

That broke the bears’ back, and Dallas Calvin and Russell Mortlock put home power play goals to seal the Nitehawks victory. “We had a good weekend and I think there’s some positives we can take from it,” said Kraus. “I’m happy with my team right now. Once we get everything settled down and get guys back off injuries than we have a competitive team in this division and this league.”

This weekend the Grizzlies face the North Okanagan Knights in Armstrong on Friday before hosting the second-overall Castlegar Rebels on Saturday.