I’ve been catching some of the Campbell River Storm games during this playoff run and I tell you it’s the hottest ticket in town.
It’s also blistering hockey! I arrived late for Tuesday’s Game Two against the Victoria Cougars, getting there between the first and second intermission. Victoria was already down 1-0 and at the beginning of the second period, they were determined to do something about that score. The pace of the hockey was unlike anything I’ve ever seen at The Brindy. Both teams were flying, with the Cougars pressing for an equalizer. The Storm held them off, weathering the proverbial storm, or should that be, the cat attack?
Crowds have been good with sellouts and near sellouts. The Storm are a big attraction these days and everybody’s talking about them. So, good on them for reviving junior hockey in town.
At Tuesday’s game, there was one fan from Victoria who had the loudest drum I’ve ever heard. I’m glad I wasn’t sitting right beside him. I wasn’t there for the first period so I wasn’t expecting him when he started pounding on the drum at the beginning of period two. I was so startled, I nearly dropped my camera.
Speaking of being dropped, I could have had the photo of the year from that game. I was on the players’ bench side of the ice shooting from the edge of the Plexiglas when a Storm player was dumped over the boards into the Cougars’ bench area. And I was right there!
Yep, photo of the year, except for the fact that I didn’t have a wide angle lens on my camera to capture close at hand action – I had a telephoto zoom to capture action out on the ice – and also because I, well, spun away and ducked back behind the glass to avoid getting whacked with a stick or gouged by flying skate blades. I don’t think I screamed. But you can never be sure of these things in times of chaos. LOL! Self preservation prevailed over photo reflexes.
Getting dumped over the boards into the opposition’s bench is always embarrassing for the player but it’s a pretty exciting piece of action. I didn’t note which player it was but he scrambled back onto the ice with a grin on his face.
The Cougars’ backup goaltender Anthony Ciurro was pretty pumped at that moment. After spending the game pumping his teammates tires (to use a goaltenders’ reference) and opening and closing the bench door on line changes, he finally got some action when the Storm player was dumped at his feet. He just started giving it to the Storm player laying on the floor at the bench area by, laughing, hooting and whoo-hooing!
Yep, fun times at the Brindy. Game four goes tonight after last night’s game three was held in Victoria.
- And speaking of instincts. I was covering the small protest of the federal Conservatives’ Bill C51 on Saturday at Spirit Square when I noticed these dark clouds looming over Campbell River.
Well, just when things were to get underway, the sky opened up and we were pelted by hail.
Everybody was urged to get up on the stage which had an awning type roof. I scrambled up there too when federal Liberal candidate Peter Schwarzhoff said I should get a picture of everybody huddling on the stage. He said he thought my reporters instincts would have had me scrambling for my camera. Nope, my instincts seem to have a preference for self-preservation as we’ve seen before.