THE WEEK THAT WAS

The week once again started early for the Summerland Steam, as they hit the road on Wednesday to play the Sicamous Eagles. Despite a great effort against a tough team, the Steam came up short in overtime by a score of 4-3. Braden Eliuk, Michael McEachern and Cole Woodliffe would all tally for the Steam while Spencer Huff was remarkable in the Summerland goal. Huff made 32 saves in defeat, but did earn his team a point with a highlight reel glove save with 1:26 to play in regulation time. Riley Cardinal scored the winner for Sicamous at 2:53 of the 2^nd overtime period, lifting his team to victory. Owen Rowsell, Carter Hansen and Justin Wilde all tallied for the Eagles while Patrick Kasper made 45 saves for the victory.

Summerland picked up a valuable point in Sicamous on Wednesday, and picked up 2 more on Friday with a 5-0 drubbing of the North Okanagan Knights. The Knights are in the midst of their toughest season in franchise history, and Summerland did not make anything easy for them on Friday. Adam Jones got the scoring started for Summerland while Coleton Fisher and Jack Mills each recorded 2 goals and an assist in the victory. Brett Huber recorded the shutout for Summerland in his return to the lineup from a lower body injury, making a tidy 19 saves for the visitors.

Having taken 3 of a possible 4 points, Summerland headed into Kelowna on Sunday night to take on the division rival Kelowna Chiefs. The Chiefs had been resurgent since the return of Nick Josephs from the Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the BCHL, but without him in the lineup on Sunday Summerland cruised to an easy 5-2 victory. Jack Mills recorded a hat trick for the Steam and added an assist while Kendell Wilson and Rylan Sideroff also collected goals. Michael McEachern added two assists and Brett Huber made 36 saves in the victory. Dylan Jamieson recorded both goals for the Chiefs in the loss. 

With the 5 of a possible 6 points collected in their games last week, Summerland sits comfortably in 2^nd place in the Okanagan Division with 57 points. They currently sit 17 points behind the league leading Osoyoos Coyotes and 16 points ahead of the 3^rd place Princeton Posse. Summerland has all but clinched home ice advantage heading into the playoffs, needing Princeton to lose their game in hand to seal it.

Summerland will host a midweek game against the Osoyoos Coyotes on Tuesday, January 27th. Family packs of tickets will be available for just $18, and we there will be silent auctions for jerseys as well as a raffle for a Summerland Steam mini-fridge! Make sure to come out and support local Jr. Hockey and watch one of the best rivalries in the valley unfold. 

 After their game on Tuesday, the Steam will travel to Revelstoke on Friday. They will host the division rival Princeton Posse on Super Bowl Sunday, February 1^st, at 2PM at the Summerland Arena.