Saturday’s Opponent
After winning 8-3 at home against the slumping Spokane Braves last Sunday the Castlegar Rebels with 34 points were tied with the Nelson Leafs for second just two points behind the first place Braves. The Rebels are 8-2 in their last ten games and they play in the Neil Murdoch Division that features four of the best teams in the KIJHL, Nelson, Beaver Valley, Spokane and Castlegar. Ryan Aynsley with 22 goals in 25 games and 42 points is not only the Rebels’ top scorer he is now the KIJHL’s top dog. Andrew Walton is their # 1 goalie with a 13-7 record and their Captain is former Ghostrider Gilbert Bilodeau who was traded there in September because Fernie had too many twenty year old players. The Rebels GM and Head Coach is Brent Heaven.
For the record
The Murdoch Division’s first place Spokane Braves are 4-5-0-1 in their last ten games and their top scorer Joel Stewart who was leading the KIJHL for weeks is slipping in the standings, just like his team. They lost here in Fernie by a 9-1 score on Nov. 6. See the standings here
What some of the fans are thinking.
It’s about f*&*#* time we had a team from that division here. To many times the games here in Fernie are all but over after two periods. (see And Finally) That’s not good for the fans and it’s especially not good for players who need to play more playoff style of games where they go into the third with lots of pressure and the game still on the line.
Notebook
Fernie only plays Castlegar twice this season, the Ghostriders lost 3-0 in Castlegar October 10th… We should see #10 Jesse Niemi -photo- and Head Coach Will Verner back on the bench this weekend, they are back after serving three game suspensions for incidents at the end of the game November 14 vs Kimberley…The Ghostriders added Evan Burgess’ older brother Brett (90) to help out on the blueline…. And in net eighteen year old Joel Miller is now a Ghostrider goalie…So far he has played two games vs Invermere winning 7-1 and 8-2…. The Rebels play in Invermere on Friday while Fernie plays in Creston… Advantage Rebels.
And Finally
The Ghostriders played in Invermere Monday night and won convincingly, the score was 8-2 and # 17 James Werner -photo- lead the way racking up four goals and an assist…James was also the Coaches’ pick as the Tim Hortons Player of the Week….So far the Riders have out scored the Rockies 57-10 in the six games they have played….Huge weekend coming up next week for our boys, they play in Nelson on Friday night, suffer the long bus ride home, then will host the Kamloops Storm on Saturday December 5th.
