After a strong performance in the first round of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL), the Revelstoke Grizzlies have started their second series against the Kamloops Storm on a similarly strong note with back-to-back wins over the weekend.
The Revelstoke Grizzlies roared through the first series of the KIJHL playoffs with a sweep against the Chase Heat. Winning four games straight, the Grizzlies punched their ticket to the second round against Doug Birks Division rivals, the Kamloops Storm who etched out the Sicamous Eagles in a close seven-game series.
The series opened on Friday night, March 8, in Revelstoke but it was Kamloops who drew first blood early in the game.
Nathan Bohmer scored an unassisted opening goal at just 2:22 into the first period for his fourth of the playoffs.
It took two more goals before the Grizzlies answered back near the end of the second period. At 14:47, Grizzlies’ Ethan Coventry picked up his third goal of the playoffs to snap the shutout, assisted by Luke Aston and Daniel Wittenberg.
Not cooling off during the intermission, Coventry emerged from the break and scored within one minute, bringing the score to 3–2 for the Storm.
Brady Schwab and Daniel Wittenberg scored to tie the game and take the lead, respectively. But it was Coventry’s hat trick empty net goal that closed out the game with an authoritative 5–3 win after a strong comeback.
The series was back in action Saturday night, March 9, with another Kamloops goal opening the scoring.
Unlike Friday’s game, the Revelstoke Grizzlies didn’t leave the first goal unanswered for long, scoring just 30 seconds into the second period.
With scoring momentum from the previous night’s game, Ethan Coventry picked up another hat trick on Saturday to help give the Grizzlies their 5–2 win with Kamloops’ two goals coming from Braycen Dube.
With two games and two wins in Revelstoke giving the Grizzlies a two-game lead in the series, the Grizzlies head to Kamloops for the next two games.
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