As soon as Logan Stankoven broke over the blue line, Kyle Allan knew it was over.

The head coach of the Kamloops Junior Blazers, Allan had already watched his star centre score three goals and notch two assists in the championship game of the Kamloops International Bantam Ice Hockey Tournament on Sunday afternoon.

So, with the game knotted at five and the Sherwood Park Flyers pressing in the Kamloops zone, as Stankoven picked up a pass from Jarrod Semchuk, turned on the jets to rush over the Flyers’ blue line on a breakaway, Allan knew his team was about to become only the third local club to win the city’s biggest minor hockey tournament.

Stankoven put a high wrist shot past Sherwood Park goaltender Brady Roblin, ending the final in double-overtime and giving Kamloops its first KIBIHT tier 1 title since 2011.

“Its pretty special,” Allan said, standing amidst his players’ sticks, helmets and mouthguards as the club mauled Stankoven in celebration nearby.

“This is the third time a Kamloops team has won it. To be in that group is pretty phenomenal.

“This is a great group of kids and they really battled hard. It’s pretty easy to give up when they come back in the third like that so this team showed a lot of heart.”

Kamloops led for the duration of Sunday’s game on McArthur Island, with the hometown club taking a 3-0 lead in the early moments of the first period, in front of a sellout crowd.

But the Flyers didn’t go away quietly. The visitors scored a shorthanded goal to head into the first intermission trailing 3-1. After Semchuk scored in the second to give Kamloops a 4-1 lead, Sherwood Park made it 4-2 to start the third period.

Stankoven added his hat trick goal with 15 minutes left in the final frame, before Sherwood Park tallied three goals in 12 minutes to send the game to overtime.

The Junior Blazers were forced to kill of a five-minute major penalty to Luke Bateman in extra time, the defender ejected from the game for checking from behind, which set the stage for Stankoven’s fourth goal and sixth point of the game in double overtime.

“It was awesome. My linemate Semchuk made a nice pass out of the zone, I came down and just put it over the goalie’s glove,” Stankoven said.

“I just tried to see what was open and I picked the corner.”

Stankoven and Junior Blazers’ goaltender Bailey Monteith were named the co-MVPs of the final, with Monteith stopping more than 40 saves in the victory.

Allan said that, to a man, Kamloops stuck together on Sunday, even when it seemed like the championship might be getting away from them.

And though Stankoven had six points in a 6-5 victory, the championship was about more than an individual effort in the 49th annual KIBIHT.

“He’s an exceptional hockey player,” Allan said of Stankoven.

“The nice thing for him, he’s got some pretty good hockey players around him.”

In tier 2 division action, both the tier 2 and tier 3 Kamloops Junior Blazers were bounced from playoff action on Saturday.

The tier 2 Junior Blazers lost to the Campbell River Tyees 3-2 in their final playoff game, while the tier 3 Junior Blazers fell 5-1 to the Prince George Cougars.

Pursuit of Excellence Varsity won the championship in tier 2 play.

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Ed Patterson doesn’t take the Kamloops Storm’s road record at face value.

The head coach of the Storm, Patterson guided his team to the holiday break as one of the KIJHL’s hottest, the club boasting an 8-2 record in its last 10 games and a mark of 17-10-1-4 overall.

But buried in the numbers that have the club ranked second in the Doug Birks Division is a below-.500 road record. Kamloops has lost nine of 15 games away from Memorial Arena this season — five in regulation and four more in extra time.

So, with the Storm set to play six of nine games in January away from Kamloops, should fans of the junior B club be worried?

“We were a little unlucky there,” Patterson said, blaming a handful of losses on shaky goaltending from netminders who are no longer with the club.

“Had Jason [Sandhu] been with us the whole time or Aris [Anagnostopoulos] been healthy, there’s no doubt in my mind we would be at least five or six wins better, which would put us right up in the top of the league.”

Full disclosure, the Storm’s road-heavy schedule in the new year was set at the team’s behest — ice time in the Tournament Capital is hard to come by in December and January.

But Patterson said it was more than scheduling that will drive Kamloops out of Memorial Arena for much of 2017’s first month.

“It’s good to — almost like the start of the season — be on the road a little bit so they can get out, get a little bit of adversity and have to bond really quickly together on road trips and stuff,” he said.

“We had a two-week break. They should be rejuvenated and energized, but also, a little bit rusty. So, it’s good to get rid of the rust away from home and that sort of pressure.”

The first game of 2017 will be played in Revelstoke tonight. Kamloops has only played in the Revelstoke Forum once this season, winning 4-2.

After returning to Kamloops on Sunday for a game against the 100 Mile House Wranglers, the Storm will play in some of the conference’s toughest buildings throughout the remainder of January, including Chase’s Art Holding Memorial Arena, the Osoyoos Sun Bowl and 100 Mile House’s South Cariboo Rec Centre.

Players aren’t bothered by the prospect of a month spent largely on the road.

“I like playing in an away barn just because you can break them down in front of their own crowd,” said Storm forward Dallas Otto.

“I find that works in our favour.”

Asked what has led to the stark difference between Kamloops’ results at home and on the road, the 19-year-old pointed to a young club having issues with focus.

“Sometimes we’ll have our heads totally in it — when we show up here [Memorial], we’re all ready to go, we’re all clean,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s just little setbacks, like our heads aren’t in it on the road. We’ve got to overcome that.”

Despite a mixed bag of results away from the Tournament Capital this season, the Storm remain confident they can resume a stretch of play that saw them win six of seven games in the month of December, including three games on the road.

The key will be to shake off the holiday season as quickly as possible.

“Just mentally, coming back from the break, we can’t be off topic,” said forward Hayden
Dick.

“We can’t be lazy like we were over the break, having two weeks of eating pizza, watching movies, messing around on the ice.

“It comes down to who’s more disciplined, who’s going to be in a little bit better condition.”

Storm report: Anagnostopoulos’ career with the Storm has come to an end. The 18-year-old has signed a contract with the B.C. Hockey League’s Prince George Spruce Kings and will remain with the junior A club for the remainder of the season. In 16 games in a Kamloops uniform this season, the goaltender had a 7-7-1 record, with a goals-against average of 2.63 and a save percentage of .916. . . . John Ludvig is expected to return to the Storm lineup in Revelstoke. The 2000-born defenceman was among the most highly touted roster additions entering the season, but struggled with injury in 2016. He last played on Nov. 20 and in five games this season has recorded a goal and five assists. . . . The Storm will have a new defenceman in the lineup on Friday, as the club signed 1998-born Liam Hovland earlier this week. The Saskatchewan product stands 6-foot-7 and weighs in at 216 pounds. He played both junior A and junior B in Saskatchewan this season.

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The Kamloops Storm are having a rough start to 2017.

The Storm lost a pair of contests against divisional rivals on the weekend, falling 2-1 in overtime against the Revelstoke Grizzlies on Friday, before falling 3-1 against the 100 Mile House Wranglers on Sunday.

Jason Sandhu was between the pipes for both losses, stopping 36 of 38 shots on Friday and 25 of 28 on Sunday.

In both games Kamloops surrendered a 1-0 lead in the third period, with the Grizzlies scoring the overtime winner on the power play and the Wranglers notching three straight in the final frame.

With the losses, Kamloops dropped to third place in the Doug Birks Division, seven points back of the first-place Chase Heat and four points back of the No. 2 Wranglers.

The Storm are back in action this weekend, on the road to face the Heat on Friday and the Grizzlies on Saturday.

The club next be at home on Jan. 25, facing off against the Heat.

KTW‘s Allen Douglas was on hand to catch some of Sunday’s action against the Wranglers.

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A pair of third-period goals were enough to sink the Kamloops Storm in Princeton on Friday night.

The Storm lost 2-1 to the hometown Posse, surrendering a 1-0 lead in the final period of play.

Kamloops led for much of the contest, with Mitch Friesen getting the Storm on the board just three minutes into the game.

But in the third, Princeton’s Linden Gove slipped the puck past Storm goaltender Kolby Pauwels to tie the game at one. A shorthanded goal would be the death knell for the Storm, with Tristyn Olson scoring the eventual game-winner midway through the final frame.

Pauwels turned aside 19 of 21 shots in the loss, while Posse goaltender Jason Mailhiot made 43 saves on 44 shots.

Kamloops (18-13-1-6) continues its road trip on Saturday night, in Osoyoos to face the hometown Coyotes (29-7-0-1).

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January has not been kind to the Kamloops Storm.

The junior B club lost a pair of road games on the weekend, falling 2-1 to the Posse in Princeton and 4-3 to the Coyotes in Osoyoos.

With the losses, the Storm fell to 1-5-0-1 in the first month of 2017, 7-8-0-5 on the road and 5-4-0-1 in their last 10 games.

The club will return to Memorial Arena on Wednesday, for a 7:35 p.m. game against the Chase Heat.

They will close out January with a home-and-home series against the 100 Mile House Wranglers on Friday and Saturday. Puck drop at Memorial Arena on Friday is 7:35 p.m.

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Junior hockey ownership groups in Quesnel and Williams Lake are down, but not out.

Governors of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League voted against league expansion on the weekend, rejecting bids from the two northern locales that would have expanded the league’s membership to 22 teams next season.

Despite the most recent hurdle, neither group has closed the door on acquiring franchises.

“We’re definitely going to be pursuing junior B hockey in Quesnel,” said Matt Kolle, the proponent of the bid for the Gold Pan City.  “We’re continuing on. We’re hoping that there are some off-spin opportunities that arise from going through this process.”

Kolle said his group is going to let the dust settle from the weekend vote before taking further steps. Maybe there will be a team Quesnel can buy and relocate, or perhaps bringing junior B hockey north for the 2018-2019 season is a more realistic goal.

“We’re obviously disappointed in the results. We do believe it was an uphill climb in that there’s not really a lot for the Kootenay [Conference teams] to vote us in for,” he said. “We really hoped that the ownership, governors in the KIJHL would see how important this was for our communities.”

Rob Sandrock, who championed the bid from Williams Lake, said his group is “disappointed, but not discouraged” by the league’s decision. His confidence that junior B hockey will come to The Puddle has not been shaken.

“We think it’s a good fit for the KI,” he said. “We actually restructured the Okanagan portion of the league into three divisions of four, which reduced the travel over the season of every team involved, which would, again, reduce costs. That alone shows that it would work.”

Kamloops Storm general manager Barry Dewar voted in favour of expansion. He said the debate at the board of governors meeting centred around the league’s current issues with inter-conference play and season length. Owners felt the KIJHL’s internal issues had to be worked out before bringing more franchises into the fold.

“I was a little disappointed in the fact that expansion did not proceed at this time, but I do think the window or the door is open for the future. It’s just whether or not the two groups that presented will still be available at the time,” Dewar said.

“I think if it was this time next year, I think there would be a far more receptive attitude to it. We are struggling right now with the crossover. There are some teams that really, really don’t want to cross over to the Kootenays, and vice-versa, and there are some teams that do.”

Dewar declined to comment on how other governors voted.

KTW later learned roughly 75 per cent of the KIJHL’s 20 franchises voted against expansion.

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Garrett Ewert scored the Kamloops Storm’s lone goal on Wednesday night, as the Chase Heat defeated the hometown club 2-1 at Memorial Arena.

Kamloops (18-15-1-5) outshot Chase (25-10-1-2) by a 59-36 margin, but Heat goaltender Nic Bruyere was the difference, making 58 saves. The Storm’s Jason Sandhu had 34 stops in the loss.

Kamloops was 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play.

The club returns to Memorial to start a home-and-home series with the 100 Mile House Wranglers (21-9-3-5) on Friday. Game time is 7:35 p.m.

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It’s looking a lot like a playoff preview.

The Kamloops Storm (18-15-1-5) and the 100 Mile House Wranglers (21-9-3-5) are set to clash in a home-and-home series this weekend and, with both clubs in the final stretch of the regular season, it’s starting to look a lot like a preview to a Doug Birks divisional semifinal.

“We’ve been looking at situations for the last month from that perspective,” head coach Ed Patterson told KTW.

“It’s just a matter of getting some guys back healthy and getting the right mentality in our dressing room. Sometimes, you win some games, you lose some games . . . we don’t care where we start, if it’s home, away, second, third or whatever, we’re just looking at the playoffs as [part of] our season.”

Puck drop at Memorial Arena on Friday is 7:35 p.m.

The Storm are third in the Doug Birks Division, eight points back of the Wranglers and 11 behind the division-leading Chase Heat (25-10-1-2).

With eight games remaining for Kamloops on the 2017-2018 season slate, it’s hard to imagine the club entering the playoffs as anything but the No. 3 seed.

The same goes for the fourth-place Revelstoke Grizzlies (16-21-0-1) who, nine points behind the Storm, seemed destined for a playoff battle against the eventual division leaders.

But much is still up for grabs between the Wranglers and the Heat.

Just three points separated the clubs in their fight for No. 1 heading into Friday.

The result will weigh heavily on the Storm’s fortunes. Against 100 Mile House this season, Kamloops has three wins and three losses, one of each result coming in overtime. Each club has scored 18 goals in the head-to-head matchup.

Against the Heat, however, the numbers aren’t quite as rosy.

Kamloops has won just twice in seven meetings against Chase this season and has been outscored 29 to 21.

They lost to the Heat on Wednesday night, 2-1.

Still, Patterson said he has no preference for opponent.

In the locker room, players are keeping an eye on the standings.

“You totally look at who’s in front of you and who you can expect to play,” said captain Keaton Gordon, before turning his attention to potential playoff series against the Wranglers or the Heat.

“I think either team is beatable if we stick to our game plan.”

The Storm have not put their best foot forward in 2017. Entering Friday’s action, they have lost six of their last 10 games and have just one win in the new year.

Part of the problem is the club’s abysmal road record — at 7-8-0-5, it hasn’t found much success away from Memorial Arena at any point this season and, with six of nine January games on the road, it has been a tough month.

“We just need to follow our game plan a little bit better and I think pucks will start going our way,” Gordon said.

“You’ve got to bear down in your defensive zone and stick to the gameplan on getting the puck out. Our breakouts need to be executed. Stuff like that needs to be perfected before playoffs.”

As has been the case all season, experience has factored into results. Gordon said last year’s Storm roster — which was in much the same position in January — was more consistent because of its veteran presence. This year’s group, on the other hand, might be more talented.

He’s hoping they can use this weekend to get a leg up on a potential post-season opponent.

“You look at the weaker players on teams and you try to expose them,” he said.

“If we can continue to play well together, I think we’ll go far in the playoffs.”

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Rudolfs Balcers’ second goal of the game on the power play sent the Kamloops Blazers to a 3-2 victory over the hometown Rockets in a key B.C. Division matchup at Prospera Place on Friday night.

The Rockets, who lead the Western Hockey League in penalty minutes (798), gave the Blazers nine power play opportunities, the last of which produced the decisive goal from Balcers at 12:23 of the third period.

Five of Kelowna’s infractions were of the unforced variety—three for delay of game and a pair of too-many-men on the ice penalties.

The win was the Blazers’ fifth over the Rockets in eight meetings this season and moved Kamloops (30-17-1-2) five points ahead of Kelowna (27-18-4-0) for second spot in the B.C. Division.
Lane Bauer also scored for Kamloops, his 27th of he season, just 1:26 into the first period.

WATCH GAME HIGHLIGHTS HERE

Lucas Johansen and Calvin Thurkauf scored for the Rockets, while Nick Merkley had a pair of assists.
Connor Ingram made 30 saves in the Blazers’ net, while Michael Herringer stopped 20 shots for Kelowna, including one on a clear-cut breakaway by Deven Sideroff in the third period.

The Blazers held a 1-0 lead after the first period, despite being outshot 13-5 in the period. The teams were tied 2-2 entering the final period.
The Blazers finished 1-for-9 on the power play and were 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.

Kamloops continues its road trip in Everett on Sunday night.

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Devin Leduc had two goals and Mitch Friesen added three assists as the Kamloops Storm defeated the visiting 100 Mile House Wranglers 6-4 at Memorial Arena on Friday night.

The win came on Evan Mutrie Family Fundraiser Night.
Mutrie, a former Kamloops Bronco junior football players, is paralyzed from the neck down after contracting the Enterovirus D68 virus. Mutrie, who has been the subject of numerous KTW stories, continues his recovery.

The win against 100 Mile House pulled the Storm to within six points of the Wranglers, who sit second in the Doug Birks Division of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Okanagan/Shuswap Conference.

Chase is atop the division with 54 points, followed by 100 Mile with 50, Kamloops with 44, Revelstoke with 34 and Sicamous with 19.

Seven of Friday night’s 10 goals came in the first period, with Kamloops leading 4-3 after 20 minutes of play.
The Storm scored twice in the second to extend their lead to 6-3, with the Wranglers scoring the lone goal in the final period.
John Ludvig, Hayden Dick, Brett Mero and Tre Sales also scored for Kamloops. 100 Mile House was led by Sam Bose’s two goals.
Kolby Pauwels secured the win in net for the Storm, stopping 31 of 35 shots. Wrangler netminders Clay Stevenson (16 saves on 20 shots) and Jakob Severson (22 saves on 24 shots) shared goaltending duties.

Kamloops was 2-for-4 on the power play, while 100 Mile House was 1-for-5.

In other divisional play on Friday night, Chase and Revelstoke played to a 3-3 tie.
Kamloops and 100 Mile House will meet again Saturday  in the Cariboo community. Faceoff is at 7 p.m. at the South Cariboo Recreation Centre.

After that, the Storm have six games remaining before the playoffs, with three at home: Feb. 4 vs. Chase, Feb. 11 vs. North Okanagan and Feb. 18 vs. Summerland.

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The Kamloops Storm shut out the 100 Mile House Wranglers 3-0 in the Cariboo on Saturday to complete a weekend sweep of their division rivals.

The 3-0 win in 100 Mile House, coupled with a 6-4 victory in Kamloops on Friday night, moved the Storm to within four points of the second-place Wranglers as the regular season winds down.
Kamloops has 46 points and six games remaining. 100 Mile House has 50 points and seven games left to play.

As of Sunday night, Chase sits atop the Doug Birks Division of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Okanagan/Shuswap Conference, with 56 points. Revelstoke is fourth with 35 points and Sicamous is in the cellar with 19 points.
The playoffs will see the top four teams from each of the league’s four divisions of five teams qualify for the playoffs, with 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3.

On Saturday in 100 Mile House, Storm goaltender Kolby Pauwels stopped 28 shots for the shutout.
Kamloops was paced by goals from Brett Olstad, Brandon Lawson and Tre Sales.

Of Kamloops’ six remaining regular-season games, three are at home: Feb. 4 vs. Chase, Feb. 11 vs. North Okanagan and Feb. 18 vs. Summerland.

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The Kamloops Blazers had a perfect weekend on the road, defeating Kelowna and Everett.

On Sunday night in Washington state, the Blazers beat Everett 5-1. Lane Bauer had two goals — his 28th and 29th of the season — and Nick Chyzowski, Quinn Benjafield and Deven Sideroff added singles in the win. Dylan Ferguson was stellar in net, stopping 37 of 38 shots in the win before 4,089 fans at the Xfinity Arena in Everett.

Kamloops recorded 29 shots on Silvertips’ goalies Mario Petit and Carter Hart.

WATCH KAMLOOPS-EVERETT GAME HIGHLIGHTS HERE

Rudolfs Balcers’ second goal of the game on the power play sent the Kamloops Blazers to a 3-2 victory over the hometown Rockets in a key B.C. Division matchup at Prospera Place on Friday night.

The Rockets, who lead the Western Hockey League in penalty minutes (798), gave the Blazers nine power play opportunities, the last of which produced the decisive goal from Balcers at 12:23 of the third period.

Five of Kelowna’s infractions were of the unforced variety—three for delay of game and a pair of too-many-men on the ice penalties.

The win was the Blazers’ fifth over the Rockets in eight meetings this season and moved Kamloops (30-17-1-2) five points ahead of Kelowna (27-18-4-0) for second spot in the B.C. Division.

Lane Bauer also scored for Kamloops just 1:26 into the first period.

WATCH KAMLOOPS-KELOWNA GAME HIGHLIGHTS HERE

Lucas Johansen and Calvin Thurkauf scored for the Rockets, while Nick Merkley had a pair of assists in the game before 5,620 fans.

Connor Ingram made 30 saves in the Blazers’ net, while Michael Herringer stopped 20 shots for Kelowna, including one on a clear-cut breakaway by Deven Sideroff in the third period.

The Blazers held a 1-0 lead after the first period, despite being outshot 13-5 in the period. The teams were tied 2-2 entering the final period.

The Blazers finished 1-for-9 on the power play and were 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.

Kamloops continues its long road trip Tuesday night in Kent, where they will play Seattle. The Blazers will then play in Portland on Wednesday, in Kent again on Friday and in Spokane on Saturday.

Kamloops returns home on Feb. 8 to host Kelowna, with faceoff at  7 p.m.

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The Kamloops Storm split a pair of games on the weekend, securing three of a possible four points as they prepare for the playoffs.

Kamloops dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the host Kelowna Chiefs on Friday night before rebounding on Saturday night for a 4-0 win at home over the Sicamous Eagles.

Kamloops has four games remaining in the regular season: Friday, Feb. 10, in Revelstoke, Saturday, Feb. 11 at home against North Okanagan, Monday, Feb. 13, in Chase, and Saturday, Feb. 18, at home to Summerland.

The KIJHL consists of two conferences, with each conference housing two divisions of five teams. The top four teams qualify for the playoffs, with first vs. fourth and second vs. third.

Kamloops is in the Doug Birks Division of the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference and will play 100 Mile House in the opening round of the playoffs, with the team with the better record getting home-ice advantage.

As of Sunday, Feb. 5, Chase sits first with 60 points, followed by 100 Mile House with 54 points, Kamloops with 49 points, Revelstoke with 35 points and Sicamous with 21 points.

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The Kamloops Blazers have finished an arduous stretch of seven games in 12 days, six of those contests being played in the United States — with a trip back to Kelowna for a game slotted in for good measure.

The Blazers finished the stretch of games with three wins, two losses and two overtime losses, collecting eight of a possible 14 points.

Kamloops lost twice to Portland in the Rose City in regulation and dropped both games in Seattle — both in extra time. The Blazers defeated Kelowna, Everett and Spokane.

Kamloops returns home on Wednesday, Feb. 8, to host Kelowna, before heading to Victoria for two games on Friday, Feb. 10, and Saturday, Feb. 11.

The Blazers will be a home on Family Day (Monday, Feb. 13) for Jermaine Loewen Bobblehead Day. The first 5,000 fans walking through the doors of Sandman Centre will receive a bobblehead of the popular forward, courtesy of Intact Insurance. Faceoff against Portland is at 2 p.m.

Kamloops remains in second place in the five-team B.C. Division, with 69 points. Kelowna and Victoria are five points back (64 points), but have two games in hand. Prince George sits atop the division with 75 points, while Vancouver is fifth with 39 points.

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The Kamloops Blazers’ lopsided 8-2 loss at home to Kelowna on Friday night wasn’t enough to wake them up for the next game in Everett, where the Blazers dropped a 3-1 decision on Saturday night.

The Silvertips built up a 3-0 lead on goals from Matt Fonteyn, Patrick Barkov and Eetu Tuulola before Kamloops responded in the final minute of the game with a marker from Lane Bauer, his 36th goal of the year.

Kamloops outshot Everett 36-27 before a large crowd of 6,377 at XFinity Arena. Both teams were 0-3 on the power play. In net, Carter Hart stopped 35 shots for the Silvertips, while Blazer Dylan Ferguson turned aside 24 shots.

With eight games left in the regular season, Kamloops sits second in the B.C. Division wth 80 points. Kamloops is five points back of Prince George, with both teams having played 64 games. Kelowna is third with 77 points and two games in hand on Kamloops, while Victoria is fourth with 73 points and two games in hand on the Blazers.

Kamloops’ next game is Wednesday, March 1, when they host the Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Blazers then travel to Prince George for two games on the weekend against the division-leading Cougars. Of Kamloops’ final eight games of the regular season, five are at home and three are on the road — all in Prince George.

Seven of the final eight games are against B.C. Division opponents: March 3 and 4 in Prince George, March 8 and 10 at home to Victoria, March 11 at home to Vancouver, March 17 at home to Prince George and March 18 in Prince George.

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The Kamloops Storm will return to Memorial Arena on Monday night for Game 3 of the opening-round playoff series against the 100 Mile Wranglers, with the series knotted at 1-1.

The first two games of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League Doug Birks Division series were played in 100 Mile House on Friday and Saturday nights. The Wranglers won the opener 4-1, with the Storm rebounding on Saturday night with a 5-2 victory.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be played Monday at 7:35 p.m. at Memorial. Game 4 will begin at the same time at Memorial on Tuesday.

On Saturday, the Storm fell behind 1-0 after the first period, then responded with four straight goals in the middle frame, with markers from Evan Walls (2), Bryce Mcdonald and John Ludvig.
Mitch Friesen added a fifth goal in the third period.
Jason Sandhu turned aside 40 of 42 shots in the Kamloops net, while Wranglers’ goaltender Jakob Severson stopped 27 of 32 shots.
The game was played before 619 fans at the South Cariboo Recreation Centre.

On Friday, Devin Leduc had the lone goal for Kamloops in a 4-1 loss before a crowd of 618. Sandhu stopped 32 of 35 shots, while Severson saved 36 of 37 shots.

AROUND THE LEAGUE — In the Okanagan-Shuswap Conference’s Doug Birks Division, Kamloops (3) and 100 Mile House (3) are tied at 1-1; Revelstoke (4) and Chase (1) are tied 1-1. In the Okanagan-Shuswap Conference’s Okanagan Division, Kelowna (3) and Summerland (2) are tied 1-1; Osoyoos (1) leads North Okanagan (4) 2-0. In the Kootenay Conference’s Neil Murdoch Division, Nelson (3) and Castlegar (2) are tied 1-1; Beaver Valley (1) leads Grand Forks (4) 2-0; In the Kootenay Conference’s Eddie Mountain Division, Fernie (3) and Kimberley (2) are tied 1-1; Creston Valley (1) leads Columbia Valley (4) 2-0.

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The Kamloops Storm will try again at home on Friday night (March 3) to finish off the 100 Mile Wranglers in the first round of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League playoffs.

With a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, Kamloops travelled to the South Cariboo Recreation Centre on Thursday night and fell 2-1 in overtime. Justin Bond scored the winning goal with three minutes left, sending 576 Wrangler fans home with hope for another game at the local rink.

Kamloops finished third in the Doug Birks Division in the regular season. 100 Mile House was second and are the defending league champions. The teams split the first two playoff games in the Cariboo and the Storm took games 3 and 4 at Memorial Arena.

Game 6 will be played Friday at 7:35 p.m. at Memorial.

Game 7, if necessary, will be played on Saturday at 7 p.m. in 100 Mile House.

The winner of the series will face the Chase Heat in the second round of the playoffs, which are division finals. Chase eliminated Revelstoke 4-1 in their opening-round series.

AROUND THE LEAGUE — The Okanagan Conference consists of two divisions: Doug Birks and Okanagan. In the latter division, first-seed Osoyoos swept fourth-seed North Okanagan 4-0, while second-seed Summerland is in Kelowna tonight to play the third-seed Chiefs, with Kelowna up 3-2 in the series . . . The Kootenay Conference consists of the Eddie Mountain and Neil Murdoch divisions. In the Eddie Mountain, top-seed Creston Valley swept fourth-seed Columbia Valley 4-0, while third-seed Kimberley is at second-seed Fernie on Friday, with Kimberley holding a 3-2 series lead. In the Neil Murdoch Division, top-seed Beaver Valley swept fourth-seed Grand Forks 4-0, while second-seed Castlegar visits third-seed Nelson on Friday, with Nelson leading the series 3-2.

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Devin Leduc scored the game-winning goal and assisted on three others to help the Kamloops Storm eliminate the defending Kootenay International Junior Hockey League champion 100 Mile House Wranglers from the opening round of the playoffs Friday night.

The Storm defeated the visiting Wranglers 5-2 at Memorial Arena to take the best-of-seven series 4-2.

Kamloops will now face the Chase Heat for the Doug Birks Division crown in a best-of-seven series, with the first two games to be played at Chase’s Art Holding Arena early next week. Chase eliminated Revelstoke 4-1 in the other division series.

In the regular season, Chase finished atop the division with 66 points, followed by 100 Mile House (62), Kamloops (53), Revelstoke (41) and Sicamous (21). Kamloops and Chase met eight times in the regular season, with Chase winning five of those games. Kamloops defeated Chase once at home and twice in the Shuswap community. Through those eight games, Chase outscored Kamloops 32-26.

Leduc’s four-point effort on Friday helped knock out the Wranglers, who stayed alive in the series with a 2-1 overtime win at home on Thursday night.

Also scoring in Friday’s 5-2 win were Evan Walls and Mitch Friesen, with two goals each. Walls also added two assists, while Friesen also tallied a helper. Justin Bond and Rob Raju replied for 100 Mile House.

Kamloops outshot its visitors 43-30, including a 20-10 margin the middle frame, in which the only goal was scored by the Wranglers. Jakob Severson stopped 38 shots in the 100 Mile House crease, while Jason Sandhu turned aside 28 for the Storm.

AROUND THE LEAGUE: While Kamloops will face Chase in the Doug Birks Division final, the Okanagan Conference’s other division, the Okanagan Division, has the Osoyoos Coyotes still waiting  to learn who they will play for the division title. Osoyoos long ago swept the North Okanagan Knights and will play the winner of the Summerland Steam-Kelowna Chiefs series. Kelowna prevailed 6-0 at home on Friday night to force a seventh and deciding game in Summerland on Saturday night . . . The Kootenay Conference’s two division finals are set, with all the top seeds advancing. In the Eddie Mountain Division, the Kimberley Dynamiters (2) will face the Creston Valley Thundercats (1). In the Neil Murdoch Division, the Nelson Leafs (2) will play the Beaver Valley Nitehawks (1) . . . The two division champions in each conference will then face each other for the conference title, with the winners playing for the league title. The KIJHL champion will then play for the Cyclone Taylor Cup, awarded to the provincial junior B champions. Champions from the KIJHL, the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League and the Lower Mainland-based Pacific Junior Hockey League will be joined by host Creston Valley in the April 6 to April 9 tourney.

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The Kamloops Blazers were seriously outscored and outshot in Prince George on the weekend, where the Cougars dominated in back to back games.

Prince George defeated Kamloops 8-4 on Friday night and 6-1 on Saturday night to retain top spot in the B.C. Division of the Western Hockey League as the playoffs loom.

The lopsided losses — Kamloops was outshot 50-31 on Friday and 57-23 on Saturday — all but erased any hope the Blazers had of catching the Cougars for first in the division.

Making matters worse was the fact the Kelowna Rockets swept their two weekend games to leapfrog the Blazers in the division standings.

Entering the week, Prince George sits atop the division with 89 points (five games remaining). Kelowna is second with 85 points (six games remaining), followed by Kamloops with 82 points (five games remaining) and Victoria with 79 points (seven games remaining). Vancouver sits in the cellar with 44 points.

If the playoffs were to begin today, Kamloops would face Kelowna, with the Rockets holding home-ice advantage, while Prince George would play Victoria, with the Cougars having home-ice advantage.

Kamloops has five games remaining in the regular season, four of those at home:

• Wednesday, March 8, vs. Victoria, 7 p.m.

• Friday, March 10, vs, Victoria, 7 p.m.

• Saturday, March 11, vs. Vancouver, 5 p.m.

• Friday, March 17, vs. Prince George, 7 p.m.

• Saturday, March 18, at Prince George, 7 p.m.

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It’s a best-of-five series now.

The Kamloops Storm and Chase Heat will resume their Doug Birks Division championship series tonight with a clash at Memorial Arena.

The playoff matchup is knotted at one win each, following Games 1 and 2 in Chase earlier this week.

But, as far as Storm head coach Ed Patterson is concerned, a new series will begin tonight in Kamloops, with both teams now racing to be the first to secure three more wins.

“It’s a best-of-five,” Patterson told KTW yesterday afternoon.

Game time tonight is 7:35 p.m.

“Even if we were up 2-0, we take every game like it’s 0-0, every period 0-0. We have a thing in our room, if we go to war and we win all the battles, we’re going to win the war. . . . If we do that more often than not, we’re going to be successful.”

It’s no small feat for Kamloops to have travelled to Chase for a pair of games and returned with the series tied 1-1. The Heat had a record of 17-5-1-1 at Art Holding Memorial Arena this season and finished atop the Doug Birks Division standings at the end of the season.

But the Storm should also heed the cautionary tale told by the Revelstoke Grizzlies. They, too, won Game 1 of their series against Chase in the first round, but went on to lose the next four and the series.

“We’ve got home-ice advantage — the next three of four games are in our barn,” Patterson said.

He went on to reference both Game 1 and Game 2, the former which the Storm rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 5-4 in overtime and the latter which Kamloops lost 4-1.

“Overall, I think it was positive that we grew as a group, knowing we could come back from anything, and we also realized that, hey, we got a little cocky there,” he said.

“You’re going to see a different team at home on Thursday night, that’s for sure.”

Kamloops is hoping to see a different sort of crowd tonight, too.

The club has bemoaned attendance throughout the year following its move to Memorial Arena and, despite drawing one of its best crowds of the season in Game 6 of its first-round series against the 100 Mile House Wranglers, viewership is still falling short of expectations.

What’s the hope from their first home playoff game against Chase?

“A full house. At least 1,000 fans,” Patterson said.

“That’s what I want to see. I want to see Kamloops get behind these guys. They’ve worked hard all season.”

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