The North Island Silvertips made an early season statement with a double-digit victory.
Nanaimo’s B.C. Major Midget League hockey team swept the Kootenay Ice on the first weekend of the regular season at the Nanaimo Ice Centre, winning Saturday 3-1 and then crushing the Ice in the rematch Sunday, 10-3.
“It was really good that we got the two wins,” said Will McNamara, alternate captain of the Silvertips. “The first game we were really physical, we didn’t get the puck in the net but we still came out with the win. This [second] game shows that we are a really good team.”
The two wins were the first behind the bench for new coach Dan Lemmon. He said he stressed communication in between games.
“That was the difference [Sunday],” he said. “Everyone knew where pucks were, where guys were coming from and it made our decisions easier.”
McNamara said the Silvertips also increased their net presence in Sunday’s contest, crashing the net and whacking at pucks in close. And the goals sure added up.
“It’s nice getting goals early and often,” Lemmon said. “It gives them confidence when they’re shooting and making plays.”
Jordan Levesque scored the first goal of the season for the Silvertips on Saturday and Garrett Dunlop and Chase Lang had Nanaimo’s other tallies. Riley Medves earned the win in net.
On Saturday, Dunlop, Lang and Hobin Zinck each had two-goal games and other scorers were David Osborne, Curtis McCarrick, Corey Renwick and McNamara. Michael Herringer got the ‘W’ in net.
Next action for the Silvertips is Saturday (Oct. 1) and Sunday against the Greater Vancouver Canadians in showcase games at the University of British Columbia’s Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre.
The coach said he will stress with his players not to get too high on themselves after their blowout win.
“We have leaders on this team, we have veterans on the team and I expect them to lead the way and make sure our work ethic’s hard and make sure we’re getting better every day at practice.”
sports@nanaimobulletin.com