Blizzard Split Home Opener weekend

By Jomar Cruz

Opaskwayak - Well, two home openers in one weekend might be a first in Blizzard history... maybe even history period. An ammonia leak in the GLMC was the reason for the cancellation. A decision was made by the Fire Chief to call the game after the severity of the leak was assessed. Both teams warmed up preparing for the game (both were unaware of the possibility of cancellation). With the decision made, and the boys (and fans I’m sure) deflated after all the hype of the opener, it was off to the races for the GLMC to get the facility ready for the "second" opener in as many days. Saturday morning came around and the boys came to the rink for check in. We received word that it was "Game On"! So we pregame skated and we still had some hop so it was good to see the boys ready to play, and that they were.

Right off the start it seemed we had some great energy. Physical play by Dan lind, a veteran in his sophomore year who has re-invented his game, gave the crowd some hard heavy hits along with the likes of speedy Eddie Lathlin. Buternowski was up to his usual with his steady puck handling and grinding in the corners.... even he was throwing his little frame around. Butters was able to ink the scoresheet with 2 goals and an assist. Some steady work the by the defensive core lead by co-captain Justin Watters helped to keep the Blues to just 2 goals and 22 shots overall. Watters also added to his scoring streak (5 games) with a goal and an assist. Center Matt Watson, defenceman Carl "Bomber" Bombardier (not to be confused with Jamie Smalley as I would not want to insult the kid!) Dale Warkentin, and rookie forward Jordan Hebert all added points in their first regular season home game at the GL. Local OCN product Jordan Sinclair also made it on the game sheet with 2 apples of his own.

Sterling Bear made a solid impression in his debut in OCN as he had a Gordie Howe Hatty. A beautiful setup on Matt Watson's opening goal going tick tack toe off a 3-2 rush gave Bear his first point of the game. After a few how'da'ya'do toe drag/highlight real/leave the dman's jockstrap on ice moves by Bear, he was able to notch OCN's third goal of the night which ultimately was the GWG. A scrum around the blues net just after the 10 min mark of the third gave Bear his Gordie Howe as he dropped the mitts with Blues player Nick Turnbull.

P.O. Lemieux was solid in the home opener stopping 20 of 22 shots he faced (.910). It was a great win for Lemieux, for the Blizzard, and the fans in OCN/The Pas. To boot, it was the first time we have reached .500 since the start of the 06-07 season!