Sunday, Oct 3rd: Port Alberni
The Whalers opened the 2010 – 2011 season on the road in Port Alberni versus the Panthers, one of the top teams in the North Island. They definitely lived up to their reputation as the final score was 7-1 in favour of the home team.
As it is early in the season, the Whalers are still working on their skills and gelling with new team-mates. They were happy to make the trip to Alberni as the game would provide valuable experience, despite the tough opponent. Within seconds of the first faceoff, Alberni buried their first shot behind Whalers goalie Jamie Banham. The pace of the game was quite a bit faster than normal practices and it took a few players on the ice by surprise. Despite the obvious difference in the skill and strength of the opposite team players, the Whalers managed to press the attack on more than one occasion and put a lot of pressure on the Alberni goalie. “We created a lot of scoring chances. We just need to finish them. It will come with time” says captain Tera Kasubuchi who moved up from defence to centre this year and made an instant impact on the offence. Well known for her ability to skate around players, she seems to always find an open team-mate in front of the net, creating many scoring opportunities.
Less than four minutes later, the Whalers were able to tie it up with a goal from no other than Kasubuchi. Knowing full well that they were the underdogs, the Whalers were a bit surprised at the even score. It didn’t last long as the Panthers were quick to take the lead again 35 seconds later and score one more time in the 13th minutes. The Whalers had a few mores chances late in the period, one from Josée Bureau who missed an open net from a beautiful set up from winger Chrissy Sine.
The second period saw a share of chances on both ends of the ice. Goalie Banham became stronger as the game went on and pretty much stood on her head with a flurry of shots from the Alberni team. Defender Lacey Mortensen continued her battling on defense, blocking her share of shots in front of the net. The Whalers missed the steady defender Allison Abraham who joined the full-time roster this year. Alberni was able to score two goals before the end of the second period bringing the score to a 5 to 1 lead over the Whalers.
Despite the lopsided score, the Whalers took on the third period with one goal in mind: NEVER STOP SKATING. The game was physical and rough but in a good, competitive way – some hooking, some slashing, some bumping. Jan Dafoe nearly scored on a well played pass from Sky Zimmerman, who had a great game in front of the Alberni net. The Whalers never gave up and continued to knock on the door without being able to capitalize. Alberni was able to score a couple more goals to clinch the victory with a score of 7 to 1.
The Whaler definitely will need to work on their defensive play as a team in order to compete better against these rivals. A few more goals will also help but there will not be a need for a speech about effort. Effort is definitely already in the recipe!
The Whalers will play next on Saturday the 9th in Parksville. Check out the Whalers blog for more information. http://courtenaywhalers.wordpress.com/
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