The Cold Lake Ice have jumped up to the fifth spot in NEAJBHL standings after picking up four out of a possible six points over last week.
Cold Lake was at home on Wednesday (Dec. 9) where they suffered a disheartening 4-3 loss to the Frog Lake T-Birds.
Heading down to Vermilion on Saturday, the Ice made a comeback beating the Tigers 5-4. Chase Brown grabbed three points in the victory, while Guillaume St-Gelais notched his first goal since becoming an Ice player.
The Ice kept their momentum going at the Energy Centre on Sunday afternoon, up against the Lloydminster Bandits. Forward Mike Harbich grabbed a hat trick in the Ice's 6-3 victory over the Bandits.
Despite the start to the week, overall head coach Scott Hood was pleased with the performance he saw over the weekend.
“Every win is huge for us. These were two good games. We battled hard Saturday in Vermilion, we worked hard and we stuck to our systems,” said Hood. “Today, we played pretty well, we controlled a lot of the play, we knew Lloydminster was coming to work hard and we matched their work ethic and got more goals then they did.”
Cold Lake falls to Frog Lake
It was a frustrating night for the Cold Lake Ice as they took on the Frog Lake T-Birds on Dec. 9.
The game started off well for the home team, getting on the board first with a goal from Nicholas Murrell 8:30 into the first period. Cold Lake didn't keep the lead for long, though. Exactly three-minutes later, T-Birds Sidney Gladue managed to get his team on the board.
Heading into the second tied at one apiece, both teams were fighting hard to gain the lead. It was Frog Lake who came out on top, just before the halfway mark in the game they sneaked the puck past Ice goalie Cody Janzen to lead 2-1.
“It's going to be a long year,” said Hood, following the game. “Nobody wants to work and battle. We've talked in the coaches room and said the games we've won, we've worked hard. We have to work hard.”
Only 30-seconds into the final frame, Ice forward Mike Harbich found the back of the net to tie up the game at two. Just over three minutes into the period, Frog Lake's Leon Cutknife got two goal in the span of two and a half minutes to bring the visiting team back up 4-2. The Ice tried to put together a comeback; Taylor Anshelm fired the puck in with less than two minutes left to bring Cold Lake back within one. Unable to grab that fourth goal, the final score was 4-3 for the Frog Lake T-Birds.
“We've worked ourselves into the basement...Nobody wants to buy in, but that's what it is. We're in eighth spot. I'm really at a loss right now. We believe in this group but they don't believe in themselves,” said Hood.
Ice tame the Tigers
Cold Lake was on the road to meet the Vermilion Tigers on Saturday.
The Ice took the first point on the board once again, thanks to a shorthanded goal from Harbich not even a minute into the game. At the 6:30 mark in the period, Chase Brown got his first of three points on the night, furthering the Ice's lead 2-0. Vermilion was ready to answer, grabbing two goals of their own less than two-minutes apart.
Tied at two to start the second period, Tiger's Spencer Ross got the team their first lead of the game just over two-minutes in. Cold Lake quickly stepped up; Harbich scored his second goal of the night to tie things up again. Just under six minutes into the second, Taylor Anshelm fired the puck in the back of the net to give the Ice back their lead. The score was 4-3 by the end of the second.
Vermilion wasn't giving their visitors any leeway. Half way through the third period, Evan Bardoel got the puck past Janzen to tie the game for a fourth time. With 6:44 left in the game, Guillaume St-Gelais nabbed the game winner and his first goal since joining the Ice just a couple weeks ago.
Cold Lake Ice jail the Bandits
Back at home on Sunday, the Ice were looking to carry over their momentum from their win against Vermilion as they took on the Lloydminster Bandits.
A little over three minutes into the game, the Bandits took an early lead with a goal from Calvin Koczka. That would be their only lead of the entire game, as the Ice quickly showed they were ready to work hard for a win. In keeping with his banner weekend, Harbich nabbed the first two goals of the game for the Ice at the 5:33 mark and again 11 minutes into the period.
Two minutes into the second frame, Mackenzie Zarowny furthered the Ice's lead with his first goal of the season. While not pleased it took so long, Zarowny was relieved to get the first goal out of the way.
“It's big to get that off my shoulders and now that I've got that that one out the window...It's good to get it over with and hopefully there's more to come,” said Zarowny.
While his usual position is back on defence, Zarowny has been up front for the Ice lately, taking a position on forward.
“It gives me a little more skating room than I had on defence and I think I'm adjusting well to it and hopefully I can keep playing forward and put up some more points for us,” Zarowny said.
For Hood, having players like Zarowny, as well as a number of his other defensive players, is a major benefit as the team has been dealing with a shortage of forwards.
“It's huge, we only had 13 skaters today. It's nice to have a guy that can play defence one night and then play forward tonight. They're good at, you're comfortable putting them out there and having them play; having injuries and suspensions and guys working it's nice to have those kinds of guys,” said Hood.
With exactly nine minutes left in the period, Dillon Kalinski made a pass to Curtis Witney who fired the puck in bringing the home team up 4-1. Two-minutes left in the second, the Bandits managed to find the back of the net to bring the score back within two goals at the end of the second.
Less than one minute into the final period, Murrell got the puck past the Lloydminster netminder putting the Ice up 5-2. While the Bandits tried to close the gap with a goal in the third, it was too little too late. Only 16 seconds left in the game, Harbich shot the puck in an empty net securing his hat trick and the Ice's 5-3 victory.
“I think it was more big for the team, we didn't have all our guys out there so I think it was a really good performance by all of us. There was some really good puck support out there,” said Harbich, adding that things have started to come together for the team. “We struggled at the beginning of the year and we're finally starting to click now.”
“I wish I knew the magic chemistry but just be positive and give them the confidence they need to keep battling and playing the way they can,” said Hood. “We'll just take these next few days of practice and try to be ready for Friday.”
The Ice will be back on the road on Friday, Dec. 18 as they head down to Onion Lake. They'll be back at home to take on the Lloydminster Bandits on Dec. 19 and the Killam Wheat Kings on Dec. 20.
