The Whalers had a busy weekend with a game against the Nanaimo Islanders on Friday in Nanaimo and a game against Port Alberni on Saturday and the Sports Centre.
Friday night the Whalers welcomed two new players to their full time roster: Nancy Shields (goalie) and Denise Davidson (centre/wing). Davidson had been filling in from the beginning of the season and has been giving the team an extra boost up front. Shields, who is recovering from a broken wrist, is a great addition giving the Whalers a second goaltender and is a strong presence in between the posts.
The Friday night game against the Nanaimo Islanders was challenging for the Whalers. The Whalers were the underdogs but fought hard to stay in the game. After a disastrous first period (5-0 for Nanaimo), the Whalers came out strong and played physical for the rest of the game which made it much more difficult for the Islanders to keep up their high scoring streak. Shields did her best saving a good majority of the shots taken on net. Tera Kasubuchi (Ecofish Research Ltd), Sky Zimmerman (Brain McLean) and Allison Abraham played particularly physical games and had the bruises to show for it. Sky Niskasari, Jan Dafoe (Canadian Western Bank) and Shirlee Carver held strong on defense. Kelly Roloff, Jain Banham, Lindsay “Robin” Neufeld and Denise Davidson didn’t let up and pressured the Islanders well in the neutral zone. Although the Whalers had their chances they were unable to capitalize and the Islanders walked away with the win. The Whalers decided that the game was a great way to initiate their new goalie and hoped that the game didn’t scare her from coming back!
Saturday night was a much better night for the Whalers when they played Port Alberni. Shields came back for more punishment and may have still been warmed up from the night before. The Whalers came out strong but underestimated the Port Alberni team’s ability to put the puck in the net. After three pucks dribbled past Shields in the first, the Whalers put on the pressure. The second period saw great chances by Jenn Novelli, Kasubuchi and Lee McGeorge. Zimmerman and Roberta Churchill backchecked aggressively and Sky Niskasari was nothing short of a defensive force. Late in the second Abraham scored one from the high slot assisted by Davidson bringing down Port Alberni’s lead to 3-1. Davidson put one more in for the Whalers assisted by Roloff to finish of the second period. The game ended in a 3-2 for Port Alberni but it was an all-around better game for the Whalers.
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