January 3rd

Islanders Strong on
the Road

The Islanders returned to the ice on January 3rd after a lengthy Christmas holiday where they did not see a lot of ice time.  Kerry Park iced their first game against the new look Sooke Stingers.  Both teams hit the ice flying and the Islanders were surprised by the Stingers new work ethic that has trickled down from their new coach.  It was evident that there was some rust on the Islanders, but they managed to out work the Stingers in the first period, but not by much. 

The Islanders took to the 2nd period with a better work ethic than they displayed in the 1st.  The Islanders scored four straight goals in the 2nd period in a span of 2:30 with two goals coming from Kevin Shillito, one from Brady MacDowell, and another from Jordan Grant with 2 assists from Wayne Twan, and singles from Keegan Young, Neil Doherty, Brent Botchar, and Shillito.  Continuing to improve their game and shed the rus,t the Islanders controlled most of the 2nd period.

In the 3rd stanza the Stingers came back to and rippled the mesh twice to cut the Islanders lead in half, but Twan notched a goal from Bryce Baloun and Young to finish off with a victory which was hard fought and unexpected competition from the new Sooke Stingers.  Keefer Smiley was between the pipes earning the victory stopping 30 of 32 shots while being tested many times.

The Kerry Park Islanders second game in the New Year, January 5th, saw them in Comox facing the Glacier Kings with their blue jerseys with white trim.  The Islanders came out flying after they learned a lesson against the Stingers by taking them lightly.  The Islanders opened the scoring on a power play goal by Kevin Shillito assisted by Michael Posey and Trevor Greco.  A second goal came from Curtis Steacy from Scott Jamieson three minutes later.  The Islanders went into the intermission with a 2-0 lead.

The middle frame saw Keefer Smiley replace Matt Young Between the pipes due to the flu.  The Islander kept up their work ethic and pressure in the 2nd but allowed the Glacier Kings to tie the game at 2.  The Islanders did fight back to take another 2 goal lead led by Bryce Baloun scoring a power play goal from Jordan Grant and Jamieson, and Brady MacDowell scoring from Grant.

Heading into the 3rd frame the Glacier Kings saw much of the same Islanders they saw in the first two periods, but the Glacier Kings again tied the game at 4.  There was a long delay in the third, when Baloun hit a Glacier King forward through the glass shattering it, which lasted for almost 30 minutes.  This delay did not cool down the Islanders as they fought to score a 5th goal by Steacy from Shillito and Jamieson.  With the Glacier Kings desperate to score a tying goal they pulled their goalie for the extra attacker, but Wayne Twan scored on the empty net to take another 2 goal lead.  With only 8 seconds left in the game Tony Bertuzzi dangled through the Glacier Kings team to score assisted by Trevor Greco and Twan to beat Comox 7-4.  Matt Young stopped all 5 shots he faced in the first period and Smiley stopped 23 of 27 for the win.  The Islanders went 2 for 5 on the power play to show why they are among one of the top Junior B teams in Western Canada.  The Islanders peppered the Glacier Kings goalie with over 50 shots in a gritty effort to extend their win streak to 3 and to winning 7 of their last 9.

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