Photo Credit Owen Norman-Laver
The previous weekend saw the Sockeyes pull out a narrow 3-2 win over the White Rock Whalers that saw a rematch set up on home ice the following Thursday which was officially put on hold due to inclement weather in the area.
Weather delays are not a regular occurrence, but in this case both teams felt it was in the best interest of the teams, the players, volunteers and officials to postpone the game until a later date.
In addition to this game being postponed the league also postponed the game between Mission and Surrey as was the game the previous night that would have seen Ridge Meadows travel to Aldergrove.
While the league is focused on overall development they place the safety of everyone above a league game, which can be made up at a later date, which everyone understands.
As the Sockeyes moved forward they had their sights set on a re-match against the Trailblazers they can afford to take any team lightly considering that their last loss was October 19th against Delta.
There is no question that the trek to Port Coquitlam was long and arduous with a difficult task of fighting the snowy conditions to the rink, but they made it and put on an impressive display pulling out a 14-3 win.
Full credit to the Trail Blazers who were down early only to rebound and pull even in just over three minutes forcing Sockeyes Captain Mathew Stewart to add his 7th of the season taking a 3-2 lead to the dressing room after one.
The old cliche of “never say never” comes to mind at the start of the second with Ferraro-Howling getting his first of the season evening up the score at three.
From there it was a collection of the Sockeyes scoring machine with Jonathan Soares starting the ball rolling at 7:51 on the power play followed by the second of the game from Stewart at 9:30 also on the powerplay.
The remainder of the second saw six from William Huo, Noah Gibbons, Justin Grant, Bryce Strandt, Gavin Bains and Teo Lin that saw six goals in three minutes and fifty eight seconds, which has to be a record of some sort.
The first and second saw the Sockeyes take command in the shot department outshooting the Trailblazers 36-15 which would continue in the third.
Try as they might, the third saw the Sockeyes continue to dominate in the goal department with William Huo starting the scoring off at 7:21 and a second at 7;$1 off the stick of Justin Grant.
The final goal in the game saw Nicholas Noren get his 30th of the season at 13:31 handing the Trailblazers a 14-3 defeat.
Overall the Sockeyes outshot PoCo by a 54-16 margin with Oliver Read getting the win stopping 13 of the 16 shots he faced while PoCo’s Gregory Sichitiu played 35:30 facing 30 shots stopping 22.
He was relieved by Nick Mayne who stopped 18 of the 24 shots, playing a total time of 24:30 in a game that saw total dominance by the Sockeyes.
Three Stars in the game saw Gavin Bains (1G/3A) named first star, Justin Grant (3G/1A) named second star and Trailblazer’s Matias Fisher (2G/0A in a contest that saw nine minor’s assessed by the officials.
The Sockeyes returned home that featured a “fun night” as they hosted their Annual Alumni game that saw the current team pull out a 9-5 win.
The Tunnel Series resumes Tuesday January 23rd at the Ladner Leisure Centre with the face-off set for 7:35 pm followed be a home game against North Van Thursday January 25th at 7 pm
Stop in at the and enjoy the fast paced action as the Sockeyes have their sights set on a Championship Season.
