In the words of coach Al Navrot, the Lac la Hache Tomahawks shed a monkey off their back with a 6-2 victory over the Quesnel Kangaroos on Oct. 12.
The win is the first in 14 games for the senior men's hockey team going back to last season.
“A lot of those games were one-goal games,” Navrot explains.
“We'd play well enough to win; we just had no luck. We were happy for sure to get a monkey off our back.”
Tied 2-2 midway through the third period, Lac la Hache's Ellery Brigham and Quesnel's Corey Petrie dropped their gloves for a fight and earned matching game misconduct penalties.
The fight seemed to energize the Tomahawks – or rattle that monkey some – and the goals started pouring in. Robin Gilbert, Kevin McNab, Donovan Nicholas and Wilfred Robbins all scored in the last 10 minutes of the third period putting the game out of reach for Quesnel.
“We just started pumping them in and Quesnel started taking penalties. We had Robin Gilbert back and had our top line together, and that made a big difference.”
Drew Rose scored first for Lac la Hache in the second period and Tyrell Dan scored the second goal shorthanded.
Navrot also applauded the “unbelievable” play of goaltender Willie Sellars, who made 30 saves on 32 shots throughout the game at the Rolf Zeis Memorial Arena in Lac la Hache.
“He gave us a chance to win. All through the first and second period he made some great saves.”
The Tomahawks travel to meet the Smithers Steelheads on Saturday (Oct. 19). Then they're off to play the Luckies in Houston the following day.
“We won't have our strongest team, but we'll have the numbers. It's good because the younger guys will get a chance to do deal with the pressure, which helps them develop.
“We want to build for the end of the year and the playoffs. That's what our goal is.”