Postgame: Posse - 0 Nighthawks -3

Not even official assistance could stop the Nighthawks as they steam-rolled Princeton 3-0 at the Beaver Valley Arena. It was a rough game with plenty of hitting and post-whistle scrums.

Chris Derochie got things going early in the 1st with a goal on a feed from Chris Martin which turned out to be the game winner. Christian Johnson would get 2 in the 2nd from Justin Niminiken, one :29 seconds into the period and the other with :20 seconds remaining. Sky Buller made some very nice saves throughout the game to keep Princeton relatively close, but the stellar play of Zach Perehudoff didnt give the Posse a chance to gain ground. That along with outstanding defensive play kept the opposition frustrated all night.

As previously mentioned during the feed from tonight, I had noted that BV coach Terry Jones was displeased with several calls made by the officials and requested a discussion at the end of the 1st. This was subsequently denied on-ice, but by the resulting calls at the beginning of the second the discussion clearly took place behind closed doors. In a period of 1:33 seconds, BV took 2 tripping and 1 high-sticking penalty. While the high-stick was obviously legit, both the trips were bogus with Posse players "diving". Combine this with game-long NO-calls on the same plays in which BV had been penalized has me believing one of 2 things: 1 - bias, 2 - score management.  I dont buy the second so that leaves only one option.

Now, I feel as I must re-iterate, I dont care if a call is made or not made, I only care that calls are made(or not made) fairly and evenly to both teams. Thats been my stand point all along and I hold by it firmly.

Anyway, enough about that. Nitehawks win on the night with Zach Perehudoff getting his 3rd career KIJHL shutout along with 1st Start honors.

Game Stars:

BV - Zach Perehudoff
BV - Josh Peters
BV - Christian Johnson

As alluded to prior to the game, the Nighthawks have re-signed returning player Ryan Baines. Ryan played 41 games with BV last year and racked up 10-14-24 with 72 PIM. When asked what he has been doing this year he replies, "Just going to school!". Baines was attending courses in Kelowna at the OBCU campus but has transferred to Trail when he found that he could take all the same courses here. I think he missed us!! The 5'10" 170lb forward will be a welcome addition, and with the rapid recovery of Scott Davidson(knee surgery), the Nighthawks are surging into the last 16 games on all cylinders!

Tomorrow's game is against Columbia Valley. BV won the only other meeting against CV on Nov 26, 9-3 in Invermere. The game time is 1pm.