REVELSTOKE, BC—In what could very well be a playoff preview, the Kamloops Storm went into Revelstoke and beat the Grizzlies 3-1 in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League play Tuesday night (Jan 23). The win moves the Storm into a tie with Revelstoke for second place in the KIJHL Doug Birks Division.
There is a saying that you want your captain to lead by example. Evan Clark (Kamloops, BC) certainly did that for the Storm. He scored once in each period as they beat the defending Cyclone Taylor Cup champions for the second time in five meetings this season.
Clark has 16 goals on the season and seven goals in his last seven outings. Ryan Larsen (Kamloops, BC) had two assists for Kamloops. Colton Phillips-Watts (Quesnel, BC) turned aside 49 shots in earning the victory. He was beaten by Nathan White (Calgary, AB) in the second period. Phillips-Watts has six wins in his last eight starts.
Kamloops led 1-0 after one period. The teams were tied at 1-1 after two periods.
Josef Kuchaslo (Mission, BC) was in goal for the Grizzlies and handled 35 pucks.
The Storm have won four of their last five games and are 9-2 in their last 11 outings. Revelstoke fell to 7-3-1 in their last 11. They have lost their last three contests.
Kamloops returns home to begin a two -games-in-two nights home and home series with the North Okanagan Knights. Game one is Friday (Jan 26) at McArthur Island Olympic ice surface. Puck drop is 7 PM. The teams then head to Armstrong to play a Saturday (Jan 27th) evening tilt at 7:15 PM.
The Grizzlies have their own “home and homer” this weekend meeting up with the Doug Birks Division cellar-dwellers, the Chase Heat. They face off at the Art Holding Memorial Arena in Chase on Friday night (Jan 26) before facing off at the Revelstoke Forum on Saturday night (Jan 27). Game time for both those contests is 7 PM.
All of those games can be seen on a pay-per-view basis on FloHockeyTV.
