“If you weren’t here last Tuesday,” arena announcer Gerry Foster said over the speaker system at Jack Goddard Memorial Arena on Friday, “then you missed the best game of the season. The best game by far.”
Foster was talking about Jan. 14’s game, which pitted the Nelson Leafs against the Grand Forks Border Bruins. The game had everything: a come back, a hat trick and nearly 10 extra minutes of hockey, lasting until Border Bruins newcomer Anthony Williams scored his first for the team in double overtime.
Unfortunately, it was also the peak of Grand Forks’ four-game week in which they went 1-3.
By Sunday night’s rematch against Nelson, legs looked tired and the Border Bruins fell back into past habits, dropping the game by a score of 10-4. Foster, who has followed the league for years, warned of Sunday’s outcome days earlier, noting that Nelson “wouldn’t be in a very good mood” for the rematch, where they got revenge.
The one highlight in a week of three defeats in four games was the Border Bruins’ scoring. Kyle Bailey, who scored the hat trick against Nelson on Jan. 14, notched three more goals before the end of Sunday’s game, and the team as a whole scored at least four goals in every game played.
The Border Bruins’ next game is away to the Spokane Braves on Jan. 25.