November ends with three games for Copperheads

Posted on December 1, 2022 by Sunny South News

By Cole Parkinson
Sunny South News

This weekend, the last games of November for the Coaldale Copperheads culminated in three games. With the Copperheads looking to get back into the thick of things in the Heritage Junior ‘B’ Hockey League Southern Division, the Snakes were looking to come out with some points.

On Friday night, the Snakes were on the road as they took on the Cubs in Medicine Hat. While Krishan Stocker would get the first goal of the game for the Snakes, the Cubs would answer right back and the teams would head into the second tied-up. Tyran Kiss would draw the lone assist on the Stocker goal.

In the second, it was all Medicine Hat as the Cubs would score six goals while the Copperheads would only answer with one. Rylan Bruns had the goal while Stocker and Rylen Kleist had the helpers.

With a 7-2 lead heading into the final frame, the Cubs would add three more and take the game 10-2. The Cubs would outshoot Coaldale 46-28 and Coaldale saw both goaltenders in the game. Cooper Price would make 17 saves on 22 shots while Aidan Low had 19 saves on 24 shots. The Copperheads were 1-5 on the power play and 5-5 on the penalty kill.

While the first game didn’t end the way they wanted, the Snakes were right back on the ice on Saturday night as the Airdrie Thunder were in town. Airdrie would find the back of the net first, but Sean Burns would answer back quickly as Tristan Miller and Caden Heins had the assists. Before the end of the period, Airdrie would score once again and take a 2-1 lead into the middle frame.

Coming out of the break, the Copperheads were able to find their offensive touch as Richard Loo, Bruns, and Heins scored three straight goals while Kleist and Bruns had an assist each. Before the end of the second, Airdrie would score again and Coaldale would carry a 4-3 lead into the third period.

Airdrie had a quick strike to tie the game early in the period, but the Copperheads answered back just under a minute later as Nolan Price found the back of the net with Kaden Booth drawing the assist. Five minutes later, Airdrie would tie the game again and this time, neither team was able to find a game-winner. After overtime solved nothing, the teams went into a shootout. Both teams had trouble scoring, but in the end, Airdrie would win the shootout 2-1 after seven rounds. Price was the only Copperhead able to score.

Airdrie outshot Coaldale 28-27 in the game and Nixon Ordway made 23 saves in the Coaldale net. Both teams were unable to score on the power play as Airdrie went 0-7 and Coaldale went 0-4.

In the final game of the weekend, the Snakes would hit the road to Cochrane to take on the Generals. In the first, Bruns would score a power play goal as Coaldale would take the first lead of the game while Nathan Verloop and Kleist had the assists. Right before the end of the period, the Generals would tie the game 1-1.

The second was all Generals as the home team scored three unanswered goals and they had a 4-1 lead going into the final frame. In the third, Coaldale would score two straight as Kleist had another power play goal while Loo scored a few minutes later. Price, Heins, Adam Kennedy, and Kiss would draw assists on the goals. While Cochrane would score a short handed goal to extend their lead back to two, the Copperheads would also score on the same power play. Heins had the goal while Price and Kennedy had the assists. Unfortunately for Coaldale, the Generals would score again and the lead would hold as the home team skated to a 6-4 win. Coaldale would go 3-5 on the power play and 3-4 on the penalty kill. Cochrane would outshoot Coaldale 39-29 and Low made 33 saves in the Copperhead net.

December sees six total games for the Copperheads and it starts next weekend with a pair of road games. On Friday night, Coaldale goes to Okotoks to take on the Bisons in an 8 p.m. game. The following night sees Coaldale takes on the Mountainview Colts with an 8 p.m. puck drop in Didsbury. Coaldale currently sits in fifth place in the Southern Division with a 6-12-3 record and 15 points.