Bruins tally second win of the season
By Michael Wirischagin
Where there’s smoke – there is fire, and the Grand Forks Border Bruins lit the lamp early and often as they tallied their second win of the season this past weekend. The win marks the end of their early season losing streak at nine games. While the rest of the past 14 days may have not been so kind to the Bruins, they once again showed signs of why those around the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League were so excited about the promise that the Bruins could bring. Dating back to Oct. 15, the Border Bruins welcomed the undefeated Osoyoos Coyotes to the Grand Forks Arena where the Bruins were a long shot to win, and they didn’t. They did, however, compete and if not for a poor first period the Bruins would have had a shot at knocking off the Coyotes. But too many first period goals by Osoyoos sunk the Bruins ship and the Coyotes remained undefeated in the season. Dylan Sahara scored the Bears’ lone goal in the loss. On the 16th, the Bruins invited the Castlegar Rebels to town – another top quality opponent as the Rebels lead the Kootenay Conference: Neil Murdoch Division (the same division that the Bruins play in.) Grand Forks was able to record an additional goal but did end up losing once again, this time by the score 5-2. Grand Forks forwards Randy Tosoff and Zachary Thompson finished the game with a goal apiece. This past Friday, the Border Bruins welcomed the Columbia Valley Rockies to Bruins’ Den in what was destined to be a good match-up with Grand Forks working their way up the scoring ladder, and score they did. Grand Forks put up two power-play goals, two even-strength goals, and one shorthanded goal, as they beat the team from Invermere 5-3. Netting the goals for the Grand Forks Border Bruins were Yan Kalashnikov, Joey Cormano, Cody Robertson, Mikel Brewer, and Kale Erickson. Grand Forks also outshot the Rockies, 50-29, in the victory. The Bruins looked to make it two in a row this past Saturday as they travelled to Nelson to take on the Leafs in another divisional showdown. The Bruins were unable to capitalize on their momentum and once again found themselves on the short end of the stick, losing 5-2. The Bruins powerplay continued to click in the loss with both Kalashnikov and Wong tallying goals with the man advantage. Looking forward, the Bruins play this Friday at home against the Spokane Braves, and then again on Saturday, also at home, this time against the Creston Valley Thundercats. Both Games are 7:30 p.m. starts, local time.
The Bruins record now stands at 2-wins and 14-losses. Good enough for 4 points on the season.
