Monday, October 22, 2007

Best Island Trip in History

With three wins and six points, out of a possible eight, the Salmon Arm Silverbacks have set a franchise record for most points on the road in one season against Vancouver Island based teams. Perennially the Silverbacks have struggled on the Island and what makes the task even more impressive is the fact that all four games came in consecutive days and in the span of 92 hours.

On Thursday night the road trip started in Victoria against the Grizzlies and although Salmon Arm leads the league in goals for per game at 5.9 their first period was truly impressive. The Silverbacks came out firing with an early 3-0 lead and went into the dressing room after 20 minutes of play with a 5-1 advantage. One of the reasons for the great start may have been the fact the team came down a day early and took away the "bus legs" factor. Not only did this help gain the big lead in Victoria but it also helped get the road trip off on the right foot. Give the Grizzlies and Garry Nunn credit as they battled back and made a game of it but Evan Pighin, Derek Lee, and Kelly Zajac were just too much to handle with their five, four, and three point nights respectively. Not to be forgotten was three of the biggest saves of the season in the first period by goaltender Jason Horstman to keep his team in control and on their way to the 8-5 victory.

The next night the game did not start as well for the 'Backs in Duncan against the Cowichan Valley Capitals. The Capitals came out hot and quickly took a 2-0 lead but a innocent looking shot from Sam Mitchell changed the complexion of the game. Just over a minute after going down two goals Mitchell skated in over the blue line and right when it looked like he was going to take the defensemen wide he quickly fired a snap shot towards Cowichan Valley goalie Kiefer Smiley who was caught off guard and unable to make the save on what looked to be a stoppable puck. From their Salmon Arm got a great individual effort by Colin Lidster and two goals from Randy Hanagan for a 4-2 lead after one period of play. The Caps' came right back to tie the game in the middle frame but Derek Lee scored late in the second and mid way through the third period to give Salmon Arm enough insurance and a 6-5 win.

On Saturday night in Port Alberni against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs the Silverbacks fell behind 1-0 but Evan Pighin responded with a natural hat trick for a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. In the third period and for the seventh time in the last 11 games Salmon Arm had a multi goal lead turn into a one goal game. However this time the 'Backs could not hold on for the win like they had in all but one of those games as the Bulldogs scored four unanswered goals and captured a 5-3 victory. Credit goes to the Alberni Valley team has they capitalized on their quality opportunities and worked hard all night.

Finally on Sunday afternoon it was a tough task for the Silverbacks against the Coastal Conference leading Nanaimo Clippers in a match-up of the two best records in the B.C.H.L. After winning the first two games of the road trip the team was in danger of heading home with a .500 record. With an early third period goal the Clippers went up 3-1 and it would have been very easy for Salmon Arm to just mail in the two points at that point. However the squad showed tremendous character with a power-play goal from Jeff Smith and then Pighin's second of the night, from his knees, to tie the game and send it into overtime. In the extra frame Ronnie Smith sprung Jeff Smith in alone but he was hauled down and a penalty shot was awarded. Jeff then promptly came in and deposited the puck in the back of the net for the come from behind win and happy bus ride home with a 3-1 road trip. After turning 19 years old the day before the two goals and assist were a great belated birthday present for Smith. Graeme Gordon really kept his team in the game and made the comeback possible turning aside 30 shots.

The Silverbacks now turn their attention to the Quesnel Millionaires and the Vernon Vipers who they will host on Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 PM at the Sunwave Center.

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