By Gerry Foster
Hosting the Beaver Valley Nitehawks last Friday the Bruins desperately needed a win. Their lead for the final playoff spot had shrunk to three points over the Spokane Braves.
The Bears opened the game with a sense of purpose, dominating play for the first 20 minutes. They outshot the visitors 12-6 but were unable get the puck by Nitehawks goalie Liam Coulter. They continued applying pressure in the second frame, and finally, Rilee Poffenroth, with his ninth goal of the season, gave his team the lead.
The Bruins would tally twice later in the period, on goals by Riley Smoler, his first in a Bruins uniform, and Trey Mason. With a three-goal lead heading into the final stanza, Grand Forks was poised for the win they desperately needed.
However as Yogi Berra said during the 1973 baseball season, “it ain’t over till it’s over.” Musician Lenny Kravitz had a hit number with those words. For local hockey fans, this night would prove to be more exhilarating than the song, although they did not enjoy the melody of referee Dave McMahon’s whistle in the final two periods, as he flagged Grand Forks for seven minor penalties in a row, plus two misconducts. Needless to say a chorus of boos cascaded from the stands. Not the music you want to hear at a sporting event.
Beaver Valley scored three consecutive power-play goals to tie the game, the last one coming with just five minutes remaining in the match. The Bears were in shock as the momentum in this game shifted dramatically. Aiden Jenner of the visiting Nitehawks then added more anguish to the Bruins faithful notching his 12th goal of the season with only three minutes left on the clock.
For the Fruitvale faithful on hand, the cheering was short-lived; Trey Mason tied the game only 32 seconds after the Jenner goal. It was huge for his team but also an historic one personally. Mason’s 56th career goal broke the record held by Zachary Thompson, for most goals by a Bruins player. (Note that we do not have records from the earliest years).
The drama continued as penalty calls now went against Beaver Valley. The Bruins would finish the final period on the power play and then hold a five-on-three advantage early in the first overtime. Unable to score, the game went to a second sudden-death-overtime session.
A slashing penalty was called on the Nitehawks during the second minute of extra time. With the faceoff to the right of the Beaver Valley net, it took only four seconds for centre Riley Smoler to get the draw and score the winner. This most dramatic win of the season moved the Bruins five points up on Spokane for the final playoff spot. Quinn Yeager stopped 37 of 41 shots in the Bruins goal.
The next night the Nelson Leafs were the visitors, and the result was the same as the previous six games between these teams: a loss for the Bruins. All of the games have been low scoring including this 3-1 victory by Nelson. In their first meeting of the year back in late September the Bruins did salvage a point in a 3-2 overtime loss.
Smoler recorded the only Grand Forks goal and Ross King was solid in the net for the Bruins, keeping his team in the game by stopping 52 of 55 shots.
In speaking with Riley Smoler after the dramatic win on Friday night, he seemed pleased to be in Grand Forks, having played six games since being acquired from the Summerland Steam. I was quite impressed with his attitude and positive demeanour.
The Border Bruins have six games remaining, including a home game this Friday against the Castlegar Rebels at 7 p.m.
Apart from the spotlight being on the team where it should be, there are contributions made by others in the Bruins organization which are not fully realized. The team’s play-by-play announcer and producer of all the Grand Forks games on the internet is Kevin McKinnon. He is exceptional in providing an entertaining and informative evening for hockey fans, locally and far beyond, as these live internet telecasts are available anywhere in the world.
Recent feedback from a Nelson fan captures the excellence of Kevin and his support staff, including Les Johnson.
“Still one of the best, if not the best video broadcasts in junior hockey,” was one remark. Another comment stated, “These guys in Grand Forks set the standard.”