The Ghostriders defeated Invermere 4 games to 2 and will now face the Golden Rockets in another best of seven. The Rockets defeated the Nitros in 4 straight and haven’t played since Monday February 25. They have had lots of rest.The series starts Tuesday here in Fernie so the Riders get two days off before going at it again.
Between a Rockies and a hard Place
The Riders defeated Invermere 4-2 but in the first three games the Riders had trouble scoring and found them selves down 2 games to 1. However, by then they had started to realize that they had to really go after and cover Rockies top scorer Brendan Burge. Josh Kluck eventually got that assignment early in the series and when Burge was controlled a little bit the Riders won. Actually all the Riders went after him when Kluck wasn’t around and they had to because Burge can score like no one else in the league this year and I believe he was the Eddie Mountain MVP, but the idiot KIJHL is still hiding their Year End Awards. Anyway, Kluck was picked by the Coaches as one of their Unsung Hero’s of the series. The other Unsung Hero is next.
Santa’s Reindeer ?
If Santa Clause was in the movie Slapshot two of his Reindeer would have been named Slash and Spear, and Rudolph would be played by Rockies forward Mitchell Rosco who slashed Rider forward (and the other Ghostrider Unsung hero) Josh McKissock in the head area a couple of times when he was down on the ice early in the series then speared him in game five hard enough that he picked up a match penalty. Riders fans hate Rosco… but would welcome him with open arms, or keyboards in my case if he were ever traded to Fernie.
D is 4 dummies
When the aforementioned Burge was here in Fernie his linemate most of the time was Braeden Monk, for a while they were top scorers in the league. Monk cooled off a bit and Burge asked for and got a trade. His new team allowed him to really go for it and just concentrate on scoring (thus the title of this section) and he finished second in KIJHL scoring. In the playoffs Monk had to play both ends, and in the end, he outscored Burge by 2 points. Go figure.
MVP
The Ghostriders outshot Invermere in their series by a wide margin, but the Rockies had several outstanding scoring chances especially in the series clinching game, Goalie Chris Solecki, who was picked by the Coaches as the series MVP, stood tall when he had to and got the 4 wins.
Goals
Connor Lowe- Wylde scored both goals in a 2-1 overtime win in game two. The Riders were down 1-0 in the series and were on their way to Invermere down 2-0 if Lowe Wylde doesn’t get the winner in OT. It was a series changer and the Coaches picked his goal as the Goal of the series.
Notes
RT Rice went back on defense when Jeff Rayman and Simon Horlick went down with injuries… he has reach likes to hit and a big shot, he belongs there..Jake MacLachlan is a Red Deer draft pick and their GM Brent Sutter was in Invermere in game 4 to watch him…Ben Primeau scored what turned out to be the game winner in game 6 and had 6 points in the 5 games…Pat Webb had 2 assists in game 6 and had 7 points on the blue line..Tyler Gonzales had a goal in the final game and scored 4 in the series…Dylan Robertson, Aaron Neufeld and Josh McKissok and Matt Carr also scored in the final game.
Final Rider scoring click here in the Rockies series
Expecting Jeff Rayman and Derek Georgopoulos back in the lineup for the Golden series, Dylan Rota is doubtful and Simon Horlick is out almost for sure. It was pretty good of the Riders to win a tough playoff series without these players in the lineup.
Fernie Golden series game dates
Game 1: Golden @ Fernie Tuesday March 5 7:30 PM MST
Game 2: Golden @ Fernie Wednesday March 6 7:30 PM MST
Game 3: Fernie @ Golden Friday March 8 7:30 MST
Game 4: Fernie @ Golden Saturday March 9 7:30 MST
Game 5: Golden @ Fernie Monday March 11 7:30 MST
Game 6: Fernie @ Golden Tuesday March 12 7:30 MST
Game 7: Golden @Fernie Wednesday March 13 7:30 MST
