Rebels struggle on road trip

Despite finally having the services of sharp shooter Scott Morisseau, the Castlegar Rebels lost two of three games on their East Kootenay swing last weekend.

The Rebs lost in overtime 4-3 to Kimberley on Thursday, beat Columbia Valley 6-1 on Friday, and lost 4-2 to Golden on Saturday.

Photo courtesy of Steve Jessel/Invermere Valley Echo

The Rebels road trip started Thursday in the Bavarian city where they faced the Dynamiters.

The teams traded goals in the first period with Anthony Delong scoring at 7:45 assisted by Morisseau. Jordan Revie responded for Kimberley at 2:26.

Goals from Tyler Robinson (assisted by Stuart Walton and Nolan Kinney) and Morisseau (assisted by Delong) put the Rebels up 3-1 midway through the second period.

Kimberley took over at that point with Senate Patton bringing the Nitros to within one at 1:24 of the second. 

Dynamiter veteran Richard Hubscher tied the game two minutes into the third period with a power play goal.

Mark Strachan picked up the winner for the home team at 3:56 of the third period, assisted by Patton and Hubscher.

Castlegar had an easier time of things on Friday night in Invermere against the Columbia Valley Rockies.

The Rebs scored four goals in the first period and added two more in the second for the 6-1 win.

Scoring for Castlegar were Arthur Andrews with two, Morriseau, Connor Bowen, Delong, and Horcoff. Aaron Barclay scored the lone goal for Columbia Valley.

The Rebels got off to another strong start on Saturday in Golden.

Tyler Robinson, assisted by Stuart Walton, scored the first goal of the game at 12:08 of the first to put Castlegar up 1-0.

Golden's Brandon Shirley responded at 4:36 of the first to tie the score for the Rockets.

Peter Mingus put Castlegar up 2-1 midway through the second with an unassisted goal. Unfortunately, the goal would be the Rebels last as they watched Golden score three times in the third to secure the 4-2 win.

Picture courtesy of the Jessica Schwitek/Golden Star

Castlegar in back at home Saturday with an intra-divisional game against first place Beaver Valley. The Nitehawks overtook the Nelson Leafs after beating them 3-2 on Saturday.

The Rebels then head Stateside for a game in Spokane against the Braves.

Two out of three ain't bad for Rebels

The Castlegar Rebels had a busy weekend with three games in three days. The Rebels picked up four out of six points, beating Creston Valley, Spokane and falling to Beaver Valley.

On Friday, the Rebs travelled to Creston and beat the Creston Valley Thunder Cats 5-3.

 Brandon Formosa opened up the scoring for the Cats with a power play goal at 14:53 of the first period. Goals from Stuart Walton and Connor Bowen put Castlegar up 2-1. Scott Swiston tied the game at 2-2 with a power play goal with 2:17 left in the first period. The Rebels then took the lead again half a minute later with Nolan Kinney scoring assisted by Anthony Delong and Walton.

Braydon Horcoff put the Rebels up 4-2 at 9:18 of the second period with assists from Peter Mingus and Daylen Pearson.

Creston Valley cut the gap to one with a power play goal from Jesse Collins at 5:19 of the third period. However, the Thunder Cats would get no closer. Pearson scored an empty netter with 16 seconds left to seal the 5-3 win for Castlegar.

The next night, the boys were in Fruitvale where they fell to the surging Beaver Valley Nitehawks and had a chance to gain some ground against their divisional rivals. However, the 'Hawks had other ideas as they soundly thrashed the Rebels.

Beaver Valley pushed ahead 3-0 with goals by Ryan Edwards, Tyler Collins, and Dallas Calvin, and again 5-1 with Josh Peters and Mason Spear scoring. The final score was 7-4 for the Nitehawks, who are second place in the Neil Murdoch Division, three points ahead of Castlegar.

Delong provided most of the scoring for the Rebels as he netted a hat-trick. Arthur Andrews scored the other Castlegar goal.

Pearson chipped in with three assists.

The Rebels returned to Castlegar on Sunday afternoon where they beat Spokane 5-2 led by a hat-trick from Kinney and two goals from Brenden Heinrich.

Rebels thankful for shutout in Spokane after OT loss at home

Friday and Saturday of the Thanksgiving weekend bore very different results for Castlegar's Jr. B KIJHL squad as it completed a home and home set with the Spokane Braves. The Rebels lost at home 4-3 in overtime on Friday and won 3-0 on Saturday in Spokane.

Connor Bowen tries to stick-handle through the Spokane defenders during Friday's game at the Complex. Jim Sinclair photo.

"Overall, I think as expected there were some good things that we did that we are getting better at and some things that we obviously still need some work at," said Rebel coach Steve Junker.
Friday night at the Castlegar Community Complex the Rebels jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to be eclipsed 4-3 by their guests in overtime.
Scoring goals for Castlegar were Diego Bartlett and Stuart Walton in the first period, and Tyler Jones in the third. Zak Kroll picked up the game winner for Spokane at 4:08 of O.T.
"We let it slip away. We started doing some things we liked but then got away from our game plan and gave up a two goal lead," said Junker. "We want to be tough to play against. That's one thing that has to be a part of every hockey player's (repertoire). You have to be tough to play against. If you're not - all you're going to do is allow other teams to do what they want."
Saturday's game saw the Canadian visitors make a definitive statement with a 3-0 win. After a scoreless first period, Bartlett got the Rebs on the scoreboard with a goal assisted by Arthur Andrews and Peter Mingus.
Brendan Heinrich put Castlegar up 2-0 at 8:58 of the second period, assisted by Dylan Houle and Tyler Robinson. Bryce Eviston scored a short-handed empty netter with 1:25 of the third period to seal the victory for the Rebels. Assisting on Eviston's goal were Bartlett and Andrews.
"It was a much better effort on Saturday," said Junker. "We stuck to the game plan a little bit more."
Alex Ross picked up the shutout for Castlegar, turning away 26 shots.
"He played solid," said Junker. "I thought our guys played solid in front of him as far as defensively. It was a nice way to finish the weekend. It was definitely disappointing not getting two points on Friday night but we were able to get a win on the weekend and head into another week of work."
That does it for the Rebels until Friday, Oct. 14 when they'll travel to Creston Valley for a date with the Thundercats. On Saturday, Oct. 15, the Rebs play an inter-divisional game in Fruitvale against Beaver Valley.
Following Thanksgiving weekend action the Rebels were solid occupants of third place in the KIJHL's Neil Murdoch division with 11 points, seven clear of fourth place Spokane and trailing front-running Nelson (17 points) and second place Beaver Valley (14 points).

Boom goes the Dynamiters!!

Stuart Walton's power play goal at 14:01 of the first period was the only goal the Rebels would need as Castlegar shut out the visiting Kimberley Dynamiters.

Connor Beauchamp picked up the shutout for Castlegar as turned away all 19 Nitro shots.

Tomorrow (Saturday), the Rebs are at home for the second night in a row against Osoyoos, the team that knocked Castlegar out of the KIJHL play-offs last year.

Rebels celebrate a banner year!!

The Castlegar Rebels raised the banner for the team's 2010-11 Kootenay Conference Championship at Friday's game at the Castlegar Community Complex. Doing the honours were Anthony Delong and Erik Alden.

Unfortunately, the banner raising was the highlight of Friday night for the Rebels as they lost 3-0 to Nelson in the team's home opener.
Nelson was led by two goals from Patrick Martens and a single by Colton Malmstren.
Leaf goalie Andrew Walton picked up the shutout turning away 27 Rebel shots. Connor Beauchamp was between the pipes for Castlegar and made 28 saves.
The teams are back at it tonight in Nelson.

After going undefeated in pre-season, Rebels say 'Bring on the regular season!'

Pre-season games may not count in the standings at the end of the year, but wins are wins and early success is often a harbinger of later success.

The Rebels won three of four games and tied the other in the pre-season, beating Nelson 6-3 on Wednesday at home, beating Nelson 8-2 on the road, tying Beaver Valley 3-3 on Saturday at home, and beating Beaver Valley on the road 4-3 on Sunday.

Castlegar forward Diego Bartlett tries to avoid the stick of Beaver Valley defender Jake Ernst as the two teams played Saturday at the Castlegar Community Complex.

"Obviously, we have lots to work on. That's what pre-season's for. We saw lots of good things and lots of not so good things," said Rebel head coach Steve Junker. "Weren't not expecting guys to know exactly how we want to play just yet. That's what we're trying to work on, while at the same time trying to evaluate players and find out who we want on the hockey club."

The coaching staff has made some personnel decisions after the pre-season games and the team is preparing for their regular season opener Friday at home against Nelson.

"There's still some decisions that need to be made but for the most part we know what we are going to be rolling with," said Junker.

The Rebels are still waiting for some possible cuts from Junior A camps that will help bolster the squad.

"I think there's always some adjustments that you're trying to make. You're trying to make a good hockey club and I think we will be a good hockey club it's just a matter of fine tuning it and making sure we're heading into it with the right people.

On Sunday, the Rebels played a hard fought game in Fruitvale against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, winning 4-3.

Castlegar struck first with Evan Ritchie netting a power play goal at 17:30 of the first period assisted by Riley Ostoforoff and Corbin Legros.

Craig Martin tied the game up at 9:57 of the first for Beaver Valley. Ryan Edwards scored with a minute left in the first stanza to give the Nitehawks a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

Back to back goals in the second period put the Rebs back up. Scoring for Castlegar were Quinn Klimchuk at 16:42, assisted by Tyler Akroyd, and Aaron Brewer, who scored a power play goal at 1:49 assisted by Kody Disher and Diego Bartlett.

Bartlett put the Rebels up by two goals, 4-2, with two minutes left. Bartlett was assisted by Ostoforoff and Brendan Heinrich.

The Nitehawks drew within one with 25 seconds left as Edwards scored his second goal of the game, but it was too little, too late.

The night before, Saturday, Castlegar needed two third period goals to tie the 'Hawks in a game played at the Castlegar Community Complex.

Beaver Valley struck first with Ryan Edwards scoring in the first period. The Rebs tied it up early in the second stanza with a goal from Arthur Andrews assisted by Peter Mingus.

The 'Hawks then went up 3-1 with consecutive second period goals from Bryan Hinchcliffe at 11:30 and Mason Spear at 5:17.

Kody Disher brought Castlegar within one of Beaver Valley with a marker at 17:12 of the third period  assisted by Evan Ritchie and Brendan Heinrich.

Tyler Robinson picked up the tying goal for the Rebs at 13:46 assisted by Tyler Jones.

"To be honest, I wasn't really happy with our first couple of periods," said coach Steve Junker. "But that's kind of the way it is with exhibition, that's the reason for it - to kind of work the kinks out and try to learn a new system with a new group of players and figure out how we like to play as a team."

Junker was pleased, however, with the way the team fought back in the third period to tie the game up.

"I definitely thought our third period was better. Not just based on the fact that we scored some goals or that we competed," said Junker. "Your compete level has to be there at all times.That's one thing I'll demand from start to finish - that our compete level is at the highest."

The Rebels kicked off the pre-season with a pair of wins over the Nelson Leafs.

On Wednesday, Sept. 7, Castlegar started slowly in their first pre-season game of the year but eventually pulled away for a 6-3 win over the visiting Leafs.

The teams travelled to Nelson the following day for a rematch which the Rebels won soundly 8-2. Leading the way for Castlegar were Anthony Delong, who scored two goals and added two assists, Aaron Brewer, who had one goal and two helpers, and Arthur Andrews, who notched a goal and two assists as well.

Other Rebel scorers were Daylen Pearson, Bryce Eviston, Quinn Klimchuk, and Tyler Robinson.

Sharing the duties in net were Patrick Dafoe and Brenden Mills, who each let in one goal.

Rebel Notes - Be sure to follow my new Rebel blog at www.castlegarrebelyell.blogspot.com.

Rebels fit to be tied

The Castlegar Rebels tied the Beaver Valley Nighthawks 3-3 at the Castlegar Community Complex in KIJHL pre-season action Saturday night.

Beaver Valley struck first with Ryan Edwards scoring in the first period. The Rebs tied it up early in the second stanza with a goal from Arthur Andrews assisted by Peter Mingus.

Peter Mingus of the Rebels tries to fight off the Nighthawk defender

The 'Hawks then went up 3-1 with consecutive second period goals from Bryan Hinchcliffe at 11:30 and Mason Spear at 5:17.

Kody Disher brought Castlegar within one of Beaver Valley with a marker at 17:12 of the third period  assisted by Evan Ritchie and Brendan Heinrich.

Tyler Robinson picked up the tying goal for the Rebs at 13:46 assisted by Tyler Jones.

"To be honest, I wasn't really happy with our first couple of periods," said coach Steve Junker. "But that's kind of the way it is with exhibition, that's the reason for it - to kind of work the kinks out and try to learn a new system with a new group of players and figure out how we like to play as a team."

Junker was pleased, however, with the way the team fought back in the third period to tie the game up.

"I definitely thought our third period was better. Not just based on the fact that we scored some goals or that we competed," said Junker. "Your compete level has to be there at all times.That's one thing I'll demand from start to finish - that our compete level is at the highest."

Rebels face off against Beaver Valley Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Castlegar Community Complex

The Rebels are now 2-1 in pre-season after winning their first two games handily against Nelson. The team finished off their pre-season schedule tonight (Sept. 11) with a road game in Beaver Valley.