Bruins prove their mettle despite continued losses in 2011
By Michael Wirischagin
It’s hard to always play the role of the comeback kids, just ask the Grand Forks Border Bruins.
Since the beginning of January the B’s have only held the lead in a game for a grand total of one minute and 32 seconds, which has made it very difficult to win hockey games.
And what makes it more difficult for the Bruins to comeback and win games are the leads that Bruins have spotted their five opponents this month.
Beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 4, the Bruins faced off against the Castlegar Rebels in Grand Forks, a game in which they fell behind 1-0. Castlegar won the game 3-1, with Bruin Joey Cormano scoring the lone goal.
The Bruins followed it up by falling behind 5-0 to the Kimberley Dynamiters on Thursday, Jan. 6, in Kimberly, before ultimately losing 8-4.
Zachary Thompson scored twice for the Bears, while Yan Kalashnikov scored once as did Dylan Sahara – part of his three point game with two assists.
Grand Forks gave up the first goal again, this time to the Sicamous Eagles, on Saturday, Jan. 8, before losing a third straight game to start the New Year, 4-3 in overtime. The saving grace for the Bruins? At least they got the single point for pushing the game to OT.
Gary Mahesh scored a goal for Grand Forks, as did Artsiom Kalashnikov and Thompson in the losing effort.
Nelson was next on the Border Bruins schedule, as the B’s took the trip over to take on the Leafs on Wednesday, Jan 12. Grand Forks spotted Nelson four goals to start the game and the losing trend continued as the Bears went down 5-4 to the hometown Leafs.
Cody Larson, Kale Erickson, Cody Robertson, and Mahesh all scored a single goal for the B’s in the loss.
In the Bruins fifth and final game to date in the month of January, Grand Forks welcomed the Spokane Braves to their home ice, on Thursday, Jan. 13. Grand Forks fell behind 3-0, before eventually losing 4-3 to their American counterparts.
Mahesh scored two and A. Kalashnikov scored one for GF.
Certainly this was not the start to 2011 that the Bruins were looking for as the team went 0-wins, 4-losses, with 1-overtime loss in five games, to begin the New Year.
If there is any good to come out of the Bruins rough spell it is this: the Bruins were outscored by their five opponents 14-4 combined in the first half (30 minutes) of their games, however in the second half (30 minutes plus overtime) the B’s outscored their opponents 12-10.
Now, if the Bruins were given win/losses for both the first and second halves individually, the Bears would have a 0-win, 4-loss, 1-tie record (good enough for 1 total point- the same as their actual record though the first five games of 2011), through the first halves, while the Bears would finish with a 2-win, 1-loss, 1-tie, and 1-ovetime loss (good enough for six points), if only the last 30 minutes of games were counted.
Ultimately what this says is that Grand Forks Border Bruins seal their fate early in games and if they were not always playing from behind, or as the comeback kids, their overall record would be exponentially better.
With the season coming to an end shortly, the Border Bruins take to the ice this Tuesday, Jan. 18 in Castlegar against the Rebels before welcoming the Nelson Leafs to GF Arena on Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. The Bruins then don’t play again until Jan. 20, in GF when they take on the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, also at 7:30 p.m.
The Bruins record now stands at 7-wins, 31-loss, 0-ties, 1-overtime loss, which is good enough for 15 points.
Michael Wirischagin is the play-by-play voice of the Grand Forks Border Bruins on KIJHL.ca and playfullscreen.com
