Copperheads see a win and a loss over the weekend

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Sunny South News

By Cole Parkinson
Sunny South News

The Coaldale Copperheads had a pair of games on tap this past week as the Heritage Junior ‘B’ league continued in January.

The Copperheads got their week of games started on Thursday when the Snakes hit the road for a huge matchup against the Medicine Hat Cubs. The Cubs were just ahead of the Copperheads in the Southern Division and Coaldale was hoping to gain some ground as the playoffs continue to creep near.

The Cubs were more than prepared to fend off the Snakes as they skated to a 4-0 win on home ice.

Ethan Barrows got the start in net for Coaldale and made 36 saves on 40 shots. The Copperheads would go 0-5 on the powerplay and 4-4 on the penalty kill.

With the Cubs extending their lead on second place in the division, the Copperheads had a chance to bounce back on Saturday night when the High River Flyers came to town.

On home ice, the Copperheads took care of business with a huge 15-2 victory. The Copperheads scored five straight goals in the first and didn’t let up from there as they potted four in the second and another six in the final frame.

Kolby James had a hat trick and an assist, Derrien Tonin had a pair of goals and assists, Brandon Creighton and Mason Sande had a goal and two assists, while Ryden Rempel had three assists. Brogan Booth had two goals, Krishan Stocker, Braiden Burke, James Halverson, and Tristan Miller all had a goal and an assist, Sean Burns and Tyran Kiss had two assists each, Kole Fujita had a single snipe, and Kale Amundrud and Kaden Booth had an assist.

Barrows was back between the pipes for the Snakes and made 17 saves on 19 shots en-route to the win.

Next weekend sees a rematch between the Flyers and Copperheads in a home and away. The teams hit the ice in High River on Friday night at 8 p.m. before returning to Coaldale on Saturday night for an 8:30 p.m. puck drop.

The Copperheads have a record of 19-10-0-3 and 41 points, which is good for third place in the Southern Division. Okotoks continue to lead the division with 57 points, followed by Medicine Hat with 49.

The Copperheads have a 15.3 per cent conversation rate on the powerplay, good for eighth in the league and an 89.3 per cent penalty kill rate, good for fifth in the league.