KIMBERLEY, B.C. – The Kimberley Dynamiters survived the first block of the Western International Hockey League with a respectable 5-3-1 home record, mostly to the delight of the raucous home crowds at The Blast Zone. The story of the month, for the most part, was goaltending. Legendary Dynamiters coach Jimmie Walker remarked, “You gots to have goaltending. Gots to have it. You just can’t win in this league, with all of this offense, if your goalie doesn’t show up. And even if he does show up, sometimes you still don’t win!” Joe Pavelski (4-8-12), Logan Couture (8-3-11) and Patrick Marleau (3-8-11) were the standouts for the Boomers on offense during the 9 games at home during the block. Ryan Miller was hit-or-miss in the Dynamiter net with a 4-2-1 record, but with a 3.12 GAA and an ugly .888 save percentage.
Injuries:
10/3 – Kesler (NML) – December 6
10/12 – Henrique (KIM) – November 13
10/30 – Boyle (KIM) – November 1
Oct. 3: Nelson 5, KIMBERLEY 7
The Kimberley Dynamiters won a wild-and-woolly WIHL home-opener by staving off a late Nelson Maple Leafs rally to win at The Blast Zone, 7-5. Kyle ‘The Bear’ Brodziak scored the first Boomers goal of the season at 7:40 of the 1st Period with assists by Burns and Boyle. But the lead didn’t last the stanza as Dan Hamhuis got Nelson on the board to tie the game at 1-1. The Dynamiters erupted for four big goals in a row in the 2nd Period as Parise, Couture, Pavelski and Green tallied for the homers. But Ryan Getzlaf’s goal at 12:59 of the second prevented the rout and kept Nelson within reach at 5-2 after 2. Curtis Glencross and Logan Couture traded goals to start the 3rd Period as the Dynamiter crowd began to get a bit antsy. The Loaf’s Bobby Ryan then took advantage of a 5-minute boarding call to Kimberley’s Devin Setoguchi with a power play goal to make the game 6-4 halfway through the 3rd. The Boomers killed off the remainder of Setoguchi’s miscue and an additional minor for too many men on the ice. However, Mason Raymond scored with 1:08 to play as the Maple Leafs flooded the ice to cut the lead to 6-5. Jason Pominville scored an empty netter to seal the victory and send the crowd home happy.
Oct. 5: Spokane 4, KIMBERLEY 1
Spokane netminder Cam Ward was the story of this game as the Jets’ designated stopper came through with 37 saves en route to a 4-1 victory at The Blast Zone. Max Pacioretty got the visitors off on the right skate as he scored on the first shot of the game only 14 seconds into the tilt. The game would remain 1-0 bad guys until the 3rd Period when Josh Gorges beat Ryan Miller high and tight to make the score 2-0 Jets. Adam Henrique finally broke the seal on the Spokane net at 14:24 mark of the third stanza, but Eric Staal answered less than a minute later for the visitors to regain the 2 goal lead. Pacioretty’s second goal of the game, an empty-netter with :14 remaining capped the score at 4-1 Jets. And yes, MaxiPac scored 14 seconds into the game and also with 14 seconds remaining. Ugh.
Oct. 9: Cranbrook 3, KIMBERLEY 2
The Stamkos and St. Louis show was too much for the Kimberley Dynamiters to handle as the home team dropped the second home game in a row by a 3-2 score to the visiting Cranbrook Royals. Marty St. Louis got the scoring started for the Royals with a 1st Period goal. Ryan Suter evened the score at 1-1, but James van Riemsdyk pushed the Royals back into the lead with 18 seconds remaining in the 1st. The teams traded goals in the 2nd Period with Marleau tallying for the Boomers and Stamkos countering for the Royals. The Royals’ goaltender James Reimer earned the 3rd star of the game with 37 saves. St. Louis and Stamkos garnered the 2nd and 1st stars, respectively, with 1 G, 2 A, +2 lines each. Darcy Kuemper continued the Dynamiters’ struggles in goal with a less-than-stellar 18 save, .857 save percentage effort.
Oct. 12: Drumheller 2, KIMBERLEY 5
Power plays were the story of this game as the homestanding Dynamiters took advantage of 3 of 7 man advantages to score a key 5-2 over the strong Drumheller Miners squad. Logan ‘Airport 77’ Couture scored the first two goals of the game with a power play goal in the 1st and an even-strength tally 54 seconds into the 2nd stanza. ‘The Mayor’ Jason Pominville pushed the Boomers to a 3-0 lead less than a minute later and Patrick Marleau extended the lead to 4-0 at 7:16 of the 2nd. Drumheller finally broke the seal at 8:39 of the 2nd as Antoine Vermette scored a short-handed goal during a 5-minute major to the Miners’ ‘The Real Deal’ James Neal. Neal’s even-strength goal 1:17 into the 3rd Period cut the Kimberley lead to 4-2, but Brent ‘Mountain Man’ Burns scored an empty-netter with 41 seconds remaining to ice the victory. Legendary Dynamiter coach Jimmie Walker remarked after the game, “Finally. Some #$%^* goaltending. It’s nice to play the $^*&^% second minute of a game and not be down one-to-nothing.”
Oct. 23: Trail 1, KIMBERLEY 6
TOO MUCH SETOGUCHI!! Although the home crowd at The Blast zone would argue you can never have too much, Kimberley Dynamiter Devin Setoguchi’s hat trick propelled the home team to a large 6-1 victory over the talented visiting Trail Smoke Eaters. ‘The Mayor’ Jason Pominville opened the scoring at 6:11 of the initial stanza but then home team fireworks were provided by back-to-back Setoguchi goals only 19 seconds apart in the 9th minute of the period. Andrew Ladd scored the lone Smoke Eater goal late in the 1st to make the score 3-1 after 1. The 2nd Period was all Dynamiters as Burns and Cullen sandwiched goals around the hat trick marker by Setoguchi. Ryan Miller had his second consecutive strong game in the nets for Kimberley by stopping 23 of 24 Trail shots en route to the victory.
Oct. 24: Elk Valley 4, KIMBERLEY 5 (OT)
Patrick Marleau’s goal in overtime propelled the Kimberley Dynamiters to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Elk Valley Blazers, much to the delight of the home crowd at The Blast Zone. The Boomers started slowly in this match… Slowly? The Blazers outshot the homers 20-13 in the 1st Period as Tavares and Cizkikas scored power play goals for the visitors as the Dynamiters failed to kill off a 5 minute major penalty to Wingels and a Burns minor. Kimberley rebounded to tie the game with goals by Jared Spurgeon in the 2nd and Devin Setoguchi to start the 3rd. Then the teams traded goals in a wild-and-wooly 3rd Period that featured a total of 5 goals and ended deadlocked at 4-4 to set up Marleau’s OT heroics. Ryan Suter provided 2 assists for the Boomers and a +3 on the score sheet. Tavares and Boyes suffered through -4 nights for the Blazers.
Oct. 28: Drumheller 3, KIMBERLEY 3 (OT – Tie)
Martin Letestu’s goal with 17 seconds remaining in the game gave the visiting Drumheller Miners a 3-3 tie versus the Dynamiters. The Miners’ Sidney Crosby started the scoring in the 1st Period with an assist from Paul Martin. ‘The Big Pavelski’ tied the game for the Boomers early in the 2nd Period with a power play goal. The score remained tied until the end of the 2nd when fireworks occurred with 3 goals in the span of one minute. Kimberley notched markers by Stajan and Pominville with the Miners’ Letestu getting the final goal of the period. The 3rd stanza was quiet until Letestu’s game-tying goal in the final minute. Drumheller’s penalty kill was critical as the visitors limited the Dynamiters to 1 goal in 7 PP opportunities.
Oct. 30: Edmonton 6, KIMBERLEY 2
Goaltending. Some times it all comes down to the men in the heavy equipment. And on this night at The Blast Zone, the Dynamiters’ Ryan Miller couldn’t stop a beach ball. Althought the visiting Oil Kings were even in the number of shots with the home team at 31-31, Jonathan Quick’s .957 save percentage certainly out-dueled Miller’s pitiful .806. Edmonton struck oil on 3 of 9 power plays as the Dynamiters spent a third of game in the penalty box. Downtown Dustin Brown was the #1 star with 2 goals and a helper. Moulson, Couturier, Giroux, and Simmonds had the other goals for Edmonton. ‘Airport 77’ and Matt Stajan kept the Dynamiters from being shutout.
Oct. 31: Spokane 2, KIMBERLEY 6
A game after coming out on the wrong side of a bad goaltending experience, the homestanding Dynamiters wrapped up the first block of the season with a strong 6-2 victory over division rival Spokane. Ryan Miller rebounded from a shaky performance vs. Edmonton with a significantly better game vs. the visiting Jets by stopping 23-of-25 shots en route to the victory. Logan ‘Airport 77’ Couture and ‘The Big Pavelski’ provided enough offense for the Boomers with a 2 goal evening and goal and 2 assists night, respectively. Jets’ goals were notched by Subban and Jamie Benn but Travis ‘T-Bone’ Hamonic suffered through a -3 night for the fly-by-nighters.
Western International Hockey League 