Weekend Warriors!!

My apologies for not getting to this sooner, life invariably gets hectic and this being a hobby, it tends to become less important than family. Regardless, here is what happened the weekend of Nov 25 - 26.

Friday, November 25

Beaver Valley traveled to Golden to face the Rockets for the first time this season in the Golden Arena. BV surrendered the opening goal by Lane Erickson 7:46 into period 1. The power play kicked in for its only tally by Derek Lashuk at 12:56 to tie the game at 1. Goldens Lyndon McBryan would put the Rockets ahead with a buzzer beater and give them a 2-1 lead after 20.

Whatever was said in that intermission was apparently the right thing as that last second goal by Golden was the last bit of offense they got. BV rattled off 5 goals in the second period. Chris Derochie got it started at :22 seconds from Ryan Edwards and Fraser Stang. Not to be outdone, Dallas Calvin waltzed in unassisted a mere :11 seconds later to give the Nitehawks a lead they would never relinquish. Three more from Stang (3:57), Justin Niminiken (7:06), and Tyler (Philly) Collins (16:40) would finish off a second period that showcased a 24 - 5 shot differential for Beaver Valley.

The third was a more even battle with BV acquiring the only goal shorthanded at 16:29 by Calvin from Collins.

Game Stars:

BV - Ryan Edwards 2A
BV - Tyler Collins 1G 1A
BV - Fraser Stang 1G 2A


Saturday, November 26

For the second game in two nights, BV gives up the opening goal. Damon Raven scored at 9:49 to put the 1-27-0-1 Columbia Valley Rockies on the scoreboard. That lead would last just :10 seconds as Justin Niminiken gets his 2nd goal in 2 games to tie it at 1. Kellen Machand would once again put Col. Valley up at 14:32 but Chris Derochie would pull BV even again with 2 mins remaining in the first.  Despite being outplayed and outshot 13 - 5, the Rockies managed to keep pace with BV through 20 mins.


Mason Spear got the 2nd period scoring started at 9:05 and was joined 1:40 later by Jacob Boyczuk to give BV a 2 goal lead midway though 2. Col. Valley would chip away on a second goal by Raven at 11:59, but couldnt manage to tie it up, again being outshot 13 - 3.

For the second night in a row, BV lit up their opponent for 5 goals in one period. This time in the third. Max Flanagan got it started at 8:38 and the floodgates opened. Craig Martin (11:26), Spear (12:22), Christian Johnson (16:24), and Ryan Edwards (18:57) scored to fully dominate the Rockies outshooting them 24 - 6 in the third.

Game Stars were not posted.


So, once again, the Nitehawks had a successful weekend pulling all possible points and extending their win streak to 8 games. BV goes into this coming weekend with a pivotal home-and-home series with Fernie starting Friday, Dec 2 at the Fernie Memorial Arena and then on Saturday, Dec 3 here at Beaver Valley Arena.

As alluded to in a previous post, the Dec. 3rd game at home is "Pub Night". All Nitehawks fans and family are encouraged to go to the Fruitvale Pub after the game for beverages and wings. the Fruitvale Pub has been a long-time supporter of the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, so lets show THEM our support and be there!! NOTE: This has been postponed until after the holidays

Around the KIJHL

GRAND FORKS WINS!!! It was bound to happen....sooner or later! On Nov 25th, GF rolled into Invermere and snatched a win away from the Columbia Valley Rockies. Brendan Jackson got the teams first GWG of this 2011/12 season. But the celebration was short lived as the were decimated 9-1 by Fernie and then 14-3 by Golden on successive nights.

On the Upswing

League leader scorer Ryan Edwards along with line mates Chris Derochie and Craig Martin are getting the "call"!! Edwards and Derochie are playing for BCHL Vernon Vipers this evening against Penticton while Martin is once again getting the nod from Smoke Eater brass. Martin played 4 games so far this season with Trail notching up 3 goals and an assist along the way. Both Edwards and Derochie have played single games with Vernon although neither of which has a point.

In the Community  



On saturday Dec. 3rd, select Nitehawks will be helping out with Breakfast With Santa at the Memorial Hall in Fruitvale between 9am and 11am. Come on down and show your support for the community and make sure you bring the kids!!

Postgame: Leafs - 3 Nitehawks - 5

In a pivotal 4 point game that could see either Nelson pull within 2 or have Beaver Valley pad their lead, Leaf fans were ecstatic to see Nelson jump out to a very quick 2-0 lead on goals by James Sorrey and Brett Norman just a mere :40 seconds apart early in the first. Both goals were completely against the flow of the game as BV had controlled the puck for the majority up to that point but couldnt solve Leaf goalie Andrew Walton. Craig Martin finally got BV rolling 3 mins later on a 2-on-1 getting his own rebound and snapping it past Walton shorthanded. Nelson would get that one back on the same pp from Colton Schell to lead 3-1 before the game is 10 mins old. The remainder of the opening period was remarkably uneventful although BV controlled a lot of the play but couldnt "finish" in front, or get the rubber to Walton. Nelson either blocked, or intercepted most of BV's chances in front.

The second period took up where the first left off, with BV out-working and out-hitting Nelson but still unable to generate much in the name of offense towards the net. That didn't stop them from pushing and were rewarded 6 mins in on a Chris Derochie goal from Ryan Edwards and d-man Nick Perez. The Nitehawks tied it up with 2:09 left on a weird play. Justin Niminiken lead a 2-on-1 and fed a hot pass over to Mason Spear who didnt have his stick set right and so the puck was tipped up and over the net. It was then that it got weird, the puck bounced BACK and hit goalie Andrew Walton in the back and trickled in. Sometimes you just have to be lucky!! That allowed BV to exit the 2nd on a positive note with the score knotted at 3.

Odd man rushes were the norm tonight as both teams pinched in and pushed for the go-ahead goal. The score remained tied for most of the period until another 2-on-1 lead by Tyler (Philly) Collins who threaded a pass through the defender over to Max Flanagan who made no mistake and put his team up for the first time on the night. Ryan Edwards would add an empty-netter with 1:02 to play to complete the comeback and seal the win.

Game Stars:

BV - Chris Derochie 1G, 1A
BV - Nick Perez 1A
BV - Brantley Schapansky

Next game is on Friday November 25 at the Golden Arena in Golden and then the following night in Invermere to face the Columbia Valley Rockies where Beaver Valley hopes to add onto their current 5-game win streak.

Pub Night - Next Nitehawk home game is on December 3. Team President Dennis Bedin is inviting all to the Fruitvale Pub after the game. Further details to come......so stay tuned!!

Again, a special thanks to fellow "reporters" Adam Kamara (Nelson's 103.5 The Bridge and Nelson Leafs play-by-play), and to Chris Wahl (Mountain FM and the Voice of the Trail Smoke Eaters) for joining me tonight.

Readers can follow Adam(@adamkamara) and Chris(@wahlsy) on twitter.


Around the KIJHL:

Spokane Braves beat Grand Forks 8-4, Golden defeats Columbia Valley 10-2, Castlegar held off Penticton 3-2, NO Knights score 3 late to edge Creston 5-4, Kamloops handled Chase 7-2, and it was Osoyoos over Kelowna 4-2

Postgame: Lakers - 2 Nitehawks - 7

Tonight was a night to honor a former Nitehawk. Christopher Kissock played 2 seasons as  a Hawk but went on to play baseball instead. Drafted by the Phillies in 07, Chris has been playing with their farm team and was chosen to play for Team Canada in the 09 Baseball World Cup earning a Bronze Medal. in 2011, Kissock again was selected to play for Canada in the IBAF World Cup in Panama and earned yet another Bronze and then on to the Pan American games. Team Canada beat Team USA 2-1 to earn its first Gold Medal in Canadian baseball history. Congrats Chris!!

....back to hockey.....

Penticton Lakers came into town riding the coat-tails of a november snow storm that has blanketed Fruitvale for the first time this winter season. Wanting to extract revenge for the loss last week, Penticton started the game very strong out-playing and out-skating the Nitehawks. Carter Jensen opened the scoring on a scrambled play in front burying a loose puck behind Hawk keeper Zach Perehudoff just 6:28 in. Clearly this was a wake-up call as momentum changed directions and Max Flanagan tied the game just 1:27 later. Craig Martin would add another for BV at 14:28 and the Nitehawks would never look back leading 2-1 after 20.

The 2nd period started off how the first ended with BV on the attack and just 1:39 padded their lead on a sneaky seeing eye shot by Mason Spear that squeezed between the post and Laker goalie Austin Buzzell. Nitehawks controlled the play for the most part of the period and added a 4th goal at 11:29 by Tyler (Philly) Collins. A few minutes later following a scuffle along the boards, Laker forward Sean Alldridge dropped his gloves and started into Bryan Hinchcliffe. Once Hinchcliffe managed to get facing Alldridge, he quickly planted several sandwiches flush in the kisser while taking him to the ice unceremoniously. Decision was decisively given to Hinchcliffe. Alldridge was given an extra 2 minutes for instigating, which seemed fitting considering Hinchcliffe wasnt even facing him when it all started. BV rounded out the period with a 4-1 lead after 40.

Period 3. Lets call it the Beaver Valley Penalty Box Procession!! The frustration started when Fraser Stang was given a roughing penalty for muscling a Laker forward off the puck in open ice. So the other guy fell down, that means Stang was penalized for being stronger? It was a ridiculous call in my eyes and one look at the boxscore to see who was the ref for the night will set off "bings" in quite a few peoples minds as to why I feel that way. Digression intervention here!! Carrying on with the game......Johnson would collect his own roughing call just :39 secs later to put BV down 2 men. Penticton wasted no time and scored just :22 secs in to pull to within 2. Arie Postmus would take a cross-checking penalty :41 secs after that to once again place BV 2 men down. This time though, they were up to the task and stemmed the bleeding. Christian Johnson would regain the 3 goal Nitehawk lead at 13:13 and Dallas Calvin added another exactly 4 minutes later. Mason Spear capped it all off with a ppg at 19:33 and BV slams the door on Penticton.

Game Stars:

BV - Dallas Calvin (1G, 3A)
BV - Christian Johnson (1G, 1A)
BV - Zach Perehudoff (.929 S%)

Next up is Nelson on sunday here at home. Game time is a VERIFIED 6:00PM instead of the usual 1:00PM sunday game.

Game Day - Lakers/Nitehawks

One week to the day since Beaver Valley invaded the South Okanagan Event Center in Penticton and cam away with a well deserved win. Tonight marks the second meeting between the Penticton Lakers and the hometown Nitehawks. In their first meeting, it was a close game through 2 but BV locked it up in the 3rd.

The plan for tonights game?? Stay out of the box!! BV allowed 6 power play goals on 17 chances in the 2 games against Penticton and Princeton while only scoring 4 in 15 chances themselves. Nitehawks captain Arie Postmus agrees they need to "..tighten up on the pk..." in tonights rematch which goes down at 7:30 pm in Fruitvale's Beaver Valley Arena.

BV will be again without forward Scott Davidson who is out with a severe lower body injury and is hoping to be ready by christmas time. Ryan Dixon may also miss tonights game also with a lower body injury, but the remainder of the team is intact and ready to rock! I will have more info about tonights starting netminders and any other player news just before the game on our twitter account @BVNitehawks.

Postgame: Nitehawks - 6 Posse - 4

2 for 2!! It was a successful trip through the snow to the Okanagan for the Nitehawks as they defeated Princeton last night in what was described as "...it was close in gameplay not so much on the scoreboard..."

BV opened the scoring at the 7:23 mark on an unassisted effort from Chris Derochie. Princeton came back with 2 power play goals, one at 14:52 from Eric Kubis, and another from Kevin Raimundo with 1:28 left in the 1st to lead BV 2-1 after 20 minutes. The 2nd period was a different game altogether as BV came out and scored a ppg early by Max Flanagan to tie it at 2. They would continue their dominant play in the 2nd with Derochie's second goal of the night at 9:10 and then another by Craig Martin shortly before the period ended to lead it 4-2 after 2. BV scored their 2nd ppg just 2:37 into the 3rd from Derek Lashuk which would eventually turn out to be the game winner. Princeton did pull to within one on goals from Devon Grossler(ppg) and Alex Demchuk to make it close with 12:47 remaining but BV shut the door just past the midpoint on Martin's 2nd goal of the game.

Everything aside from the scoreboard supports the claim of it being a close game. BV edged the Posse in SOG 29-28, but Princeton won the special teams battle going 3-7 while BV only managed 2-7.

For the second game in a row(we arent counting the GF game), the line of Edwards-Martin-Derochie had a multiple point game. Edwards(3A), Martin(2G,3A), Derochie(2G) seem to have got their rhythm back and are steamrolling goalies once again.

Game Stars:

BV - Craig Martin 2G, 3A
BV - Chris Derochie 2G
PP - Erik Kubis 1G, 2A

Next game is Nov 18 at home for a rematch with Penticton. Nitehawks get a 6-day rest to heal up and rest. Game time is 7:30 in the Beaver Valley Arena.


Around the KIJHL:

Nelson Leafs destroyed the Border Bruins 14-0!! The largest goal differential so far this year by any two teams. Penticton shut-out the Rebels with Jessie Gordichuk getting his first career shut-out. Congrats Jessie!!! Spokane and Osoyoos battled to a 5-5 tie.

OK Road Trip - Penticton/Princeton

Well its one down, one to go on this the first semi-road trip to the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference. Last night in Penticton was an relatively even match-up until the third period. The two teams swapped goals in the first on tallies by Max Flanagan(BV) and a ppg by Steven Killy(PL). Penticton took the lead early into the second on their second ppg by Reilly O'Connor and held it until the 8:29 mark when Dallas Calvin and Bryan Hinchcliffe scored to even strength goals 2:23 apart to take the lead back. Lakers answered right back 1:51 on their third ppg of night by Michael Pond to even things up after 2.

But thats where the Penticton offense would falter as BV rattled off 3 in the 3rd and capitalizing on both PP opportunities. Derek Lashuk started it at 3:32 on the pp to break the tie. Tyler Collins would add another ppg at 12:43 on the 5-min major to Steven Killey, and then added another with just :01 secs left on the clock to round off the 6-3 win.

No game stars were selected, but Id like to suggest a few even though I didnt get a chance to see the game. Dallas Calvin and Max Flanagan each had a goal and 2 assists for 3 points while Tyler Collins had 2G and Chris Derochie pitched in with 2A. OK, so I couldnt make up my mind. Lets just call the entire team a star :)

Opposing teams are in trouble if BV scores first so far this young season. Winning 11 of 13 when scoring first and even when NOT scoring first they are 5 of 8.

Tonight we go up against the Princeton Posse, game time is 7pm at the Princeton & District Arena. Catch the play-by-play with George Elliot here. Princeton come off a disappointing loss to Castlegar last night in hopes of pulling off an upset tonight. Like I have always said, anything can happen! Of the 3 times Princeton loses the first of back-to-back games, they have won all 3 of the second games so far while BV has won 7 of 9 when winning the first game, even though its technically the third in 3 nights for BV.



Around the KIJHL:

With the win by Castlegar last night, they pull even with the Nelson Leafs for 2nd spot in the Neil Murcoch having 3 games in hand over the Leafs.

Kamloops Storm are doing just that... Storming!! Their last loss was to Revelstoke back on Oct 8. In fact, 2 of their 3 losses have come at the hands of the Grizzlies who has the only regular time win against Kamloops. In their first game without D-man Shane Poulson, Chase lit the Storm up for 4 power play goals.

A number of suspension handed down today by KIJHL brass:

Kirk Reeves(KC) - 1 game for miconduct in last 10 mins.
Brock Anderson(OC) - 1 game for miconduct in last 10 mins.
Steven Killy(PL) - 3 games for match penalty
Cody Williams(PP) - 1 game for match CFB
Mitch Fowler(SB) - 1 game for miconduct in last 10 mins.
Gerry Hol(SS) - 3 games for match penalty

The Sicamous Eagles trade the playing right of Brett Liedl (94) to the Kerry Park Islanders for the playing rights of Matt Reed (93)

Postgame: Bruins - 2 Nitehawks - 14

No, that is NOT a typo! Yes, they DID score 14 goals. In the words of a Nitehawk D-man, "...finished a gross game 14-2....". I completely agree! I have personally never seen the Grand Forks team play, so I was unprepared for the slaughter in which I beheld this evening. It looked as if GF dressed a squad of Major Midget players and are trying to pass them off as Junior "B". The caliber of play was such a nite and day difference. BV skated where they wanted whenever they wanted, took the puck away on a whim, and seemed to put the puck in the net just because they were tired of playing with it. Don't get me wrong, I love to see my team win, but not this way and if this is how GF has been playing this season, then its no surprise at all to see them win-less so far.

Thats enough on that....on to the positive side of things! AP call up Jake Lucchini had 3 pts (2G, 1A) in 3 games earlier on this season with the Nitehawks....until tonight. Lucchini gave the coaches a reason to maybe hold on to him a little while longer with 2G and 3A for 5 pts tonight. Ryan Edwards, one word, WOW! With 1G and 5A, he rocked the joint for 6pts. Tyler Collins also had a 5pts night with a hat-trick and 2 helpers. Dallas Calvin pitched in for 4A, while Craig Martin, Chris Derochie and Justin Niminiken each had 2G and 1A. Arie Postmus even got in on the action with a goal and an assist. In fact, only 2 skaters DIDNT get points tonight, so it was a well rounded effort that left me little time to actually ENJOY the game, lol.

Cole Buckley started the game for GF and let in 9 goals on 33 shots through 2 periods (looking over the official statsheet, it seems they once again found some shots sitting on the statroom floor and tossed them into the mix as what is posted is not what was announced). Buckley was replaced by Nicolson to start the 3rd but he didnt fair much better allowing 5 goals on 17 shots. Zach Perehudoff was solid in net for Beaver Valley allowing only 2 goals on 22 shots in an important bounce-back game after the disaster in Castlegar.

BV went 3-8 on the PP and even had a shorty late 3rd. Grand Forks was held off the special teams board and at times it looked as if BV was on the power-play controlling the box in the GF zone when in fact it was GF who was on the PP.

Game Stars:

BV - Tyler Collins 3G, 2A  - I called this one midway through the 3rd
BV - Dallas Calvin 4A - Seemed to be everywhere and probably lead the team with SOG
BV - Chris Derochie 2G, 1A - Solid as always

I was somewhat perplexed that Edwards didnt make the 3 Star selection due to his 6pt night, but there can only be 3 and the entire team deserved them. Next game is tomorrow night in Penticton to drain the Lakers then Saturday in Princeton to disband the Posse. Both game times are 7:00pm

Game day: Border Bruins/Nitehawks

After winning 7 of 8, the Nitehawks dropped two in a row to begin the month of November. This cant last forever and tonight is as good a night as any to shake off those two setbacks and get rocking once again. Grand Forks is having another disappointing season and have yet to record their first win but by no means does it mean this is a shoe in victory for BV. Typing that, I could hear the scoffs and snickers in my head of all you who read this, but lets face it, this is hockey!! ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!

After a 5 day rest, the Hawks get back their captain Arie Postmus who has been out for several weeks with an undisclosed injury. Craig Martin is still up with Trail and is doing very well with 3 goals in 4 games with the Smoke Eaters. He may return for tonights game but not likely. Ryan Edwards had returned from Vernon for the Nov 5 game in Castlegar.

BV needs to tighten up on defense to minimize the turnovers and move their feet to win the battles along the boards. The vaunted power play also needs to get back going even though they still inhabit the leagues top spot there.

Game time tonight is 7:30 at the Fruitvale arena.

Side note: I ran across this today and figured I would share it with all of you. Thanks to Jesse Bartsoff for getting it set up and we look forward to more,

Nitehawks TV

Postgame: Nitehawks - 5 Rebels - 6

In what was marked out to be a bounce-back game, Beaver Valley came out with jump to start the 1st and opened the scoring late with a ppg by Derek Lashuk. But just a scant 1:45 later, Castlegar answered with a ppg of their own by Stewart Walton and then another by Arthur Andrews 1:04 after that while even strength to lead BV 2-1 after 1.

The 2nd didnt start out to be much better as CG got another PPG and another ESG by Andrews and Disher just :58 seconds apart. BV did manage an answer at the midpoint with 2 quick goals of their own :53 seconds apart, but their momentum was squashed by a shorthander from Delong to make it 5-3 after 40.

BV came out with fire in the 3rd and were rewarded just :42 seconds in when Derochie banked one in off Delong to pull within 1. Delong atoned for that 9:36 in and put out the fire with his 2nd goal of the night(3rd if you include the BV goal that was banked in off him lol) on another lazy give-away in the neutral zone. BV would once again pull close on a Dallas Calvin penalty shot goal with 1:42 remaining, and although they pushed hard with the goalie pulled, they couldnt get the equalizer.

At times it looked like BV was a tired team. For the most part of the 3rd they were being lackadaisical with their passes and fights for the puck. Even though they outshot CG 40-28, they weren't quality shots and the power play was next to non-existent and went 1 for 11.

Ryan Edwards, who I originally reported as not playing tonight, did actually return from being on loan to Vernon and put up 3 assists tonight. I am also informed that D-man Arie Postmus is scheduled to be back in the lineup for thursdays game. In a stroke of luck, Kelowna Chiefs dispatched Nelson 6-3.

Congrats!! - Craig Martin, who himself is on loan to Trail, scored his first BCHL goal tonight in a 7-4 loss to Salmon Arm. You can view the boxscore here. It is reported that he will finish out the weekend with Trail before returning to Beaver Valley..

Next up, Grand Forks on Thursday Nov, 10. Hopefully BV can work out the kinks and get back on track. See you at the game

Game Day - Nitehawks/Rebels

Beaver Valley wants to bounce back from a painful loss last night to Creston. It was a relatively close game after 2 periods with a BV ppg goal by Dallas Calvin at 3:08 of period 1 and another ppg by Crestons Trevor Forward at 18:27 of period 2. It was at 1:05 of the 3rd period when things went ugly for BV. Creston rattled off 4 straight goals in a 4:26 span including 2 more from Forward and singles from Scott Swiston and Brock Ward. BV did answer back at 10:43 with a goal by Chris Derochie and another ppg 7 minutes later from Mason Spear, but it was too little, too late as Creston rolled on to win 5-3 in front of a home town crowd. BV went 2-7 on the PP to keep their league lead intact. The only positive on the night was that Princeton beat Nelson as well to preserve the Nitehawks 3 point lead on the Leafs.

Tonight in Castlegar is going to be another tough fight with Edwards and Martin still out of the lineup. Look for another strong game from Derochie and Calvin. BV beat CG 7-4 in Fruitvale in their only meeting so far this season. Game time is 7:30 at Castlegar Complex and I will be in attendance.

Side note: Congratulations to Ryan Edwards on his first Junior A win with the Vernon Vipers last night. "Game with Vernon was sick! Missed an open net though." were Ryan's thoughts on the game.

Game Day: Nitehawks/Thunder Cats

After 4 days off, the Nitehawks are back in action to face Creston. Hopefully the time off has allowed for the injuries to heal and bring everyone back to the line up. BV won the only other meeting vs Creston at home back on Oct. 7, but only just. It was a last minute goal by Nick Perez that put the Nitehawks ahead for good as they won 5-4.

Tonights game will have mixed up line combination as reports have Ryan Edwards and Craig Martin playing for Junior A teams tonight, AGAINST each other!! Grats on the jump boys!!! Edwards got the call up to BCHL's Vernon Vipers while Martin was called up to our very own Trail Smoke Eaters. Vernon will be in Trail tonight to face off at the Cominco Arena. Game time is 7:30 and @walsey has the PBP call so watch for updates.