The Ghostriders just finished a weekend of three games in three days and will play another three in three this weekend. The reason for this pretty much stupid scheduling is because the KIJHL insists on having a 52 game schedule instead of a lighter one at around 48.And the Creston game is a rescheduled game. Also, some teams like, say, Fernie, don’t want weekday games because they get bigger crowds on the weekend. Friday is the premier night of choice for the Ghostrider schedulers, you always get the biggest thirstiest (for both Blood and Beer) crowds. Plus players get to sleep in their own beds at a regular time, then go out on the road well rested on Saturday.
The Ghostriders will start their playoffs somewhere around the 25 of February and it will be against the hated Kimberley Dynamiters. The two teams are neck and neck in the standings so it will be a roll of the dice as to who gets home ice. The Riders play two games in Kimberley on the 15 and 22nd and it probably will come down to who wins those games for the home ice P/O advantage.
Anyway this is the ideal match-up for the bean counters of both teams, history says the games will attract an average of 7-800 with over 1000 a possibility and that could put a team in the black.
A few notes…
Travis Thomsen scored his first KIJHL goal in Nelson, the defensive defenseman does not get into the offence very much but is pretty good in his own end and is a lot stronger than he looks, he has had a couple of interesting fights and hits throughout the season. The Riders were without Aiden Geiger, Spencer Bender Colby Burns and Dylan Robertson for the Nelson and Beaver Valley games. Both Geiger and Bender had the flu and are likely the last of the players who have not gone through that. Dylan Robertson has been convicted of more than three head shots and now misses 2 games for each new hit, he is available for Saturday and Sunday. Colby Burns is still day to day with his injury. Star acquisition D Brett Perrine 93 was injured in Nelson.When this was written we did not know how bad he was injured.
