Riders win at home 5-2

The Heartbreak of Psoriasis
Well the votes are in and this blog and twitter are back on the air. A couple of active players responded and   former All-Star goaltender Jason Greenwell spoke up for the alumni via DM askin me to carry on. In other words, if you want feel good stories read the newspaper or get a Dr Phil book.  For those players who are pissed that this is back on... you're in good company, here is a partial list of those who were hoping that I was in a plane crash, the KIJHL, the KIJHL President and the VP's the BC Amateur Hockey Association, Hockey Canada, some, but not all of the referees, Rockie Zinger, R Vopat, the Kimberley Dynamiters and their fans & players and our newest detractors, the Columbia Valley Rockies and their president Barry Petrachenko plus their top scorer Mr Burge.. (like I'm ever going to #growup,... isn't twitter fun) . So your thinkin, where did the Heartbreak of Psoriasis come from, well it's just something I heard on TV, I don't even know what Psoriasis is, unless it's on New Year's AM when your head hurts so bad even your eyes hurt. My detractors can google psoriasis to find out how to pronounce it.

The Young and the Restless
The Ghostriders have a comparatively young defense core this year but on Sunday night against the Nitro's a couple of them aged a bit. Both 16 year old Jeff Rayman (photo) and 17 year old Anthony Gardner  were kicked out for fighting, it was their first junior fights. Gardner won his unanimously and the younger Rayman did pretty good for his first time. Rayman probably needed to add that to his game and as a confidence booster.... it will help when he moves up a level next season, ditto for the smooth skating Gardner. I also saw a little more off the glass clearing of the puck Sunday by the Rider "D". Believe it or not the scouts don't care how you get it out, the red flags go up when you don't get it out.

What 1140 Really Wanted to See
When we weren't watching the usual shenanigans in the stands we were treated to what was a KIJHL heavy weight bout when Rider Dylan Robertson and Nitro tough guy Dallin Wolff squared off almost at center ice in the third. It was a pretty even fight with the two combatants slappin each other in the back when it was over. It was kinda like Wolff was welcoming Robertson into the heavyweight division. It took a season and a half, but Robertson is now in a class like another Robertson I used to know a hundred years ago.

Sunday night
All of the Ghostriders came out to play on Sunday night. For that matter they also did in Kimberley and deserved a better fate than a 5-3 loss. Some glaring defensive positioning cost them that game and prompted me to start the shit storm with the the tweet--- The Riders D were caught more times than Tiger Woods . Quickly switch to another web site if that bothers you... Anyway on Sunday the Rider players played a near perfect defensive game (you can never really be perfect) and they got a 5-2 win vs Kimberley. Chris Solecki got the win, he had to be good at times but as a team the Riders kept the great scoring chances down to a minimum and made his job easier.Tyler Gonzales was the third star proving that when you don't get lots of points you can still standout with hard work checking etc. There are lot's of little things that go into a win.
Here is the game summary

A Few Notes
Ben Primeau had an assist and played well in both ends of the ice, he was named as the first star... Braeden Monk had 3 assists plus created some other chances that could have resulted in even more points... Dylan Rota the Nitro killer was the second star with 3 goals... and was passing the puck more than usual, that has been a complaint by some of the fans, me I almost always think he's the best forward on the ice... Connor Lowe Wylde had a spirited fight and scored a goal on the road in Kimberley...The unheralded Simon Horlick was his usual self on the Rider line, the fans thank him... Pat Webb made some things happen as well... Nice to see warrior Derek Chudyk score a goal and Josh McKissock also got back on the score sheet, I still don't get it when guys like McKissock get crosschecked in the back in front of the net, sometimes even after the whistle, and there is no call, it was just part of the game..... in the 1980's ..... aren't they trying to stop the neck injuries? Joel Burgess, RT Rice and Josh Kluck are all out with injuries, the team will be even better when these team first players return.

And Finally
Like him or hate him (we don't use the word love here, it could cause psoriasis) Graham Waugh was the referee on Sunday night, in talking to him before the game I found out he is starting a job at one of the mines as an electrician , that means  he will probably go on shift work and that will make it so he is not available for a month at a time. In this area we don't have nearly enough referees and he has been doing twice as many games per month as he should.... but now he won't be available. You can hate the refs all you want but you can't play without them and we don't have enough of em. Good luck to the Riders in Creston and Happy New Year... don't expect much writing tomorrow, I may have psoriasis....