Those who see the glass half full would say the 91原创 91原创 are unbeaten in regulation while those with the glass half empty view would say they have only won once in regulation.
No matter how you look at it, 91原创 head coach and general manager Bobby Henderson is pleased with his team鈥檚 first two weeks of the BC Hockey League season as they are 1-0-0-2.
鈥淚 am pretty happy,鈥� he said Monday morning. 鈥淲e are reasonably young so I think we are a team which will get better every weekend.鈥�
The junior A hockey club is coming off a home-and-home series with the Chilliwack Chiefs, with both teams ruining each other鈥檚 respective home openers.
91原创 went into to Chilliwack on Friday night and won 2-1 as Sean Gulka snapped a 1-1 tie with 12:13 to play and Braedon Fleming made the lead stand, finishing with 25 saves. 91原创鈥檚 Nicholas Ponak and Chilliwack鈥檚 Michael Lombardi had exchanged goals over the first 40 minutes.
Saturday saw the teams hit the ice at the George Preston Recreation Centre and after trading goals for the first 40 minutes, a scoreless third forced overtime. The Chiefs鈥� Kaden Pickering ended things 10 seconds into the three-on-three overtime period to win 5-4.
91原创鈥檚 Brendan Budy and Chilliwack鈥檚 Wyatt Elmer traded first period goals.
The Chiefs鈥� Will Calverley put the visitors ahead in the second, but only briefly, as John Wojciechowski tied things up 10 seconds later. Tommy Lee made it 3-2 Chilliwack before Carter Stephenson pulled the home side even.
Skyler Brind鈥橝mour, for Chilliwack, and 91原创鈥檚 Trevor St. Jean traded goals 1:39 apart to close the period.
Neither team scored in the third period or during the five-minute four-on-four first overtime, prompting the brief three-on-three action.
Henderson said the team played well defensively on the Friday night but might have been fatigued 24 hours later.
鈥淭he attention to detail wasn鈥檛 quite as good defensively on Saturday,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I thought our forwards did a great job of responding when we were scored against. We had good push back.鈥�
Henderson likes his team鈥檚 balance so far as seven players have at least one goal and a dozen have a point through three games.
鈥淔or us, it is just a matter of cleaning things up in practice,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are working on our power play and I thought our penalty kill took a step and gave us a chance to win both games.鈥�
The 91原创 are back in action with a pair of games in Chilliwack at Prospera Centre as part of the BCHL Showcase Series. 91原创 faces Merritt on Thursday at 1 p.m. and then Wenatchee on Sunday at 10 a.m.
