Right-winger gets three assists, fights in
5-0 win over Blades
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| Kole Lind, left, celebrates the Rockets win with goalie James Porter. |
Kole Lind is living two different lives on and off the ice
in the immediate aftermath of being cut from Canada’s world junior team.
The 19-year-old Shaunavon, Sask., product was cut from the
Canadian team on Thursday. The skilled right-winger departed from the Canadian
training camp in St. Catharines, Ont., to reunite with his WHL squad, the
Kelowna Rockets, for their final two contests on their six-game road trip
through the WHL’s East Division.
Lind rejoined the Rockets on Friday night in Prince Albert
and scored three goals in a 7-3 romp over the host Raiders. On Saturday, Lind
had three assists, a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department and engaged
in a fight to help the Rockets blank the host Saskatoon Blades 5-0 before 3,263
spectators at the SaskTel Centre.
 |
| Kole Lind jets up ice for the Rockets. |
“It has definitely been an emotional roller-coaster for me
going from heartbreak and trying to bounce back and play two games right away,”
said Lind, who has 16 goals and 26 assists in 25 games with the Rockets this
season. “It was definitely a difference for me traveling and everything.
“Something that I have been through a lot is trying to stay
mentally tough and just staying with the game. Hockey has been something that
just takes my mind off everything it seems like. It has definitely helped me
get through it.”
Lind said he has been extra motivated to show that he
shouldn’t have been cut from Canada’s world junior team. He is trying to
emulate what Regina Pats star centre Sam Steel did last season after being cut
from Canada’s world junior team. Steel made Canada’s world junior squad this season.
“Sam Steel did the same thing last year, a late cut and he
ended up winning WHL player of the year,” said Lind, who stands 6-foot-1 and
weighs 173 pounds. “I want to go out there and try and prove something and just
try to play my best game.”
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| Rockets RW Kole Lind looks to get past Blades D Seth Bafaro. |
While Lind was playing well, the Rockets went ahead 1-0 at
the 8:44 mark of the first period, when he wasn’t on the ice. Working in close
on the Saskatoon goal, Rockets left-winger Ted Brennan fed a beauty backhand
pass across the face the Blades net to linemate Jack Cowell, who popped the
puck home past a sprawled Kubic.
With 22.9 seconds to play in the first, Lind picked up his
first assist on the night on a positive bounce power-play goal from left-winger
Carsen Twarynski to give the Rockets a 2-0 edge.
In the second, Lind picked up his second and third assists
of the night in almost identical fashion to each other on two-on-one chances. Coming
down the right wing, Lind feather passes on both rushes across the front of the
Saskatoon net to linemate Kyle Topping, and Topping buried both of those
chances to give the Rockets a 4-0 edge.
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| Blades LW Tyler Lees fights Rockets RW Kole Lind. |
“I’ve always been kind of a playmaker, finding holes through
guys’ skates and their sticks and bodies. I just try to look for that. My guys
got open.
“It made it easy playing with the guys I did tonight.”
At the 3:52 mark of the third, Lind, who is in his third
full season with the Rockets, took part in his fifth career fight in the WHL
taking on Blades 17-year-old left-winger Tyler Lees. Both players received fighting
majors, while Lind received an extra minor penalty for roughing.
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| Goalie James Porter made 40 saves to earn the shutout win for the Rockets. |
Right-winger Liam Kindree scored the Rockets final goal of
the contest netting a short-handed marker with 39.1 seconds remaining in the
third period.
James Porter, who is a 17-year-old rookie, made 40 saves to
post his first career WHL shutout playing goal for the Rockets. Kubic turned
away 20 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades.
The Rockets improved to 20-11-2-1 to sit in a tie for first
in the B.C. Division with the 20-13-3 Victoria Royals with 43 points in the
standings. Kelowna has two games in hand on Victoria.
 |
| The Rockets celebrate a short-handed goal from Liam Kindree, far right. |
On Sunday, the
Blades return to action hosting the Regina Pats (16-16-3) at 4 p.m. at the
SaskTel Centre in their Secret Santa game. Fans are invited to bring a new
unwrapped toy to the contest as a donation to the Secret Santa Foundation. The
Pats will host the Memorial Cup this coming May.
The Rockets embark
on their Christmas break and return to action on Dec. 27, when they host the
Kamloops Blazers (16-17-0-1). Lind was pleased his team heads into the break on
a high note.
“We had two big wins carrying a lot of momentum into the
break,” said Lind. “I think that is something that you always look for.
“Now we are just going to try and carry it on and have our
rest here and go into the second half on a positive side.”
Stars’ Parker moves into second in SFMAAAHL
career scoring
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| Mackenna Parker is the SFMAAAHL's second all-time career scorer. |
The Wildcats took a
3-0 lead in the second period of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey
League regular season clash at the Fairview Arena on a single tally from
Crystal Wale and a pair of goals from Taylor Lind. Stars forward Chase Sperling
scored in the final seconds of the second to cut the Wildcats lead to 3-1, and Stars
forward Joelle Fiala scored with 5:16 to play in the third to further trim
Swift Current’s edge to 3-2.
With under 30
seconds to play in the third, Parker picked up her first point of the night
setting up a goal by Grace Shirley to force a 3-3 tie and send the contest to
overtime.
In overtime, Parker
setup with winning goal from 17-year-old veteran forward Jordan Holmes to
deliver the Stars to a miraculous 4-3 victory.
With her two
assists, Parker moved alone into second place on the SFMAAAHL’s all-time career
regular season scoring list. In 95 career regular season games, Parker, who is
in her final campaign of midget AAA eligibility, has 72 goals and 71 assists
for 143 points.
The 17-year-old
jumped ahead of former Notre Dame Hounds star forward Alyssa Wiebe by a point
for second on the SFMAAAHL’s career scoring list. Wiebe, who is a Saskatoon
product, piled up 74 goals and 68 assists for 142 points playing 55 regular
season games for the Hounds from 2006 to 2008, which were the first two
campaigns in the history of the SFMAAAHL.
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| Mackenna Parker set up the Stars OT winner on Saturday. |
Howe, who is from Moose Jaw, played forward for the Hounds
from 2008 to 2012 and piled up 107 goals and 100 assists for 207 points in 106
career regular season games. She is the SFMAAAHL’s career leader in goals,
assists and points and was a consistent high point producer in each season she
played in the league.
Parker also achieved
another milestone in Saturday’s overtime win becoming the fifth player in the
history of the SFMAAAHL to surpass 70 career assists.
Besides accomplishing huge milestones with the Stars, Parker
will play for Canada’s women’s team at the International Ice Hockey
Federation’s Under-18 Women’s World Championships, which runs this coming
January 6-13 in Dmitrov, Russia.
In Saturday’s clash with the Wildcats, Arden Kliewer went
the distance in goal for Saskatoon making 17 stops to help the Stars improve to
14-0. Harper Davey turned away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the
Wildcats, who saw their record move to 6-6-0-3.
The Stars and Wildcats will go at it again on Sunday in
Swift Current.
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to stankssports@gmail.com.
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