Trevor Burnett scored the only goal for Powell River Regals in a 6-1 loss to Rossland Warriors at Hap Parker Arena on Saturday, December 2. The win was the fourth in a row over Powell River for Rossland, who posted an 8-2 victory the night before.
“Even though we didn’t get the result we were looking for we came away with some building blocks for the future with this young group,” said Regals’ forward Joe Calderone. “We had good compete level all weekend, especially in game one when it was quite physical.”
Coach Tod English said he was pleased with how the young Regals team responded to going up against an older and more experienced opponent.
“We showed Friday night how we can be physical and sustain pressure in the offensive zone,” added English. “Playing older hockey players was a good test and the 8-2 final was a 4-2 game with four bad mistakes that caused goals. We will learn as we get more games under our belt as a team and that will allow us to develop good habits.”
Cam Stevenson started Saturday’s game in goal; Lucas Dupuis had the start on Friday.
“Both goalies played well; most goals were good hockey plays by Rossland,” said English
A forward line including Burnett, James Southcott and Billy Walters, who played his first games as a Regal, stood out and was effective all weekend, according to the coach.
“Billy was a threat on most of his shifts,” said English.
Burnett tipped in a shot from the point in the second period on Saturday.
Calderone said the team needs to eliminate costly mistakes and that penalty killing and power play units have room for improvement.
“We did generate some chances around their net but lacked some finish and got unlucky with a couple of posts,” he added. “Overall it was a good weekend and we look forward to our next opponent in the coming week.”
Regals host VIU Mariners on Saturday, December 7. Game time is 8 pm.
