Gameday: Rebels vs. Border Bruins

The Rebels look to go 3-0 on the young season tonight when the Grand Forks Border Bruins pay their first of 4 regular-season visits to the Complex. Castlegar swept a pre-season home-and-home series with the Bruins on September 3rd and 4th (4-1 and 12-2), but both teams dressed rosters that looked nothing like their current incarnations. Castlegar will look for another big performance from their top line of Ryan Aynsley, Spencer Brodt and Erik Wentzel. They combined for 5 of the team's 8 goals in the weekend sweep against Nelson.

I chatted with head coach Steve Junker about the weekend and his thoughts on tonight's game. Hear that interview here.

Our Opponent: Grand Forks comes into the season with 2 losses to show for their first two games, but circumstances could easily be different. A 3-2 lead against Beaver Valley Friday turned into a 4-3 home defeat, and a plucky effort against Spokane on Sunday afternoon crumbled when the team iced only 11 skaters in the third period. Watch for 25-goal man Zach Thompson up front for the Border Bruins. He's a threat every shift. Lucas Hildebrand anchors a young defense crew that has a few big bodies. Forward Joey Cormano, who was acquired from Campbell River of the VIJHL earlier this month, is out indefinitely with a concussion. He was checked hard into the boards by Spokane's Darcy Evans in the second period of Sunday's 5-2 loss.

Broadcast Info: We will have tonight's game available at kijhl.ca, beginning at 7:30 PM. The webcasts are free until September 24th.

Next 5:
Sat. 09/18 vs. Penticton, 7:30 PM
Sat. 09/25 vs. Beaver Valley, 7:30 PM
Sun. 09/26 @ Spokane, 2:00 PM
Tue. 09/28 vs. Grand Forks, 7:30 PM
Fri. 10/01 @ Beaver Valley, 7:30 PM

Out of Town: The Rebels/Border Bruins tilt is the only game on the KIJHL sked tonight.

Bits & Bites: Rebels defenceman Darren Tarasoff might want to remind the referees when he's deserving of a point. By my count, he's been robbed of two assists already this season. Former Rebel Corey Bulach scored the game-winner for Kelowna Sunday in Princeton. It was the first regular-season victory for the Chiefs since the move from Chase. Is the Todd Kennedy that had a goal and an assist for the Kamloops Storm over the weekend the same Todd Kennedy that suited up for Regina, Vancouver and Tri-City in the WHL over the past three years? As a former Giants season-ticket holder I've now got November 19th circled on the calendar. Stat of the day: Tanner Cochrane of Golden has 39 PIMs in 2 games.