With Grand Forks Border Bruins head coach Nick Deschenes expecting his team to push for the postseason, the team lost to the Fernie Ghostriders and salvaged a point against the Sicamous Eagles.
The team squandered a 3-2 lead in an eventual 7-4 loss against Fernie on Saturday night but played tighter in a 3-2 OT loss to Sicamous on Sunday afternoon.
Grand Forks forward Connor Kidd, Sunday’s second star, scored a pair of goals against the Eagles while goalie Robert Dunsmuir earned third star honours on the strength of a 57-save performance.
“It’s definitely a sign of maturity for the group,” explained Deschenes when asked about Saturday’s result as compared to Sunday’s. “I don’t think the scoreboard showed how we played the night before but it’s always a good sign for a team to follow up a mediocre performance with something like that the next day. It’s a big step forward for our guys in the whole learning process.”
Deschenes was especially happy that Kidd netted a pair of goals.
“He hasn’t scored in a while so it’s definitely nice to see him contribute on the score sheet. He’s been working hard and he’s getting better just like everyone. Sometimes it’s tough, when you’re not rewarded on the score sheet, to see the hard work you are putting in is paying off. I hope this kick-starts his game a little bit.”
The team hosts the Castlegar Rebels tomorrow at Grand Forks Arena before travelling to Beaver Valley for a game against the Nitehawks Sunday afternoon.