Bandits go 1-3 since Dec. 28….
SANDRA M STANWAY
Brooks Bulletin
It was a slow start in the second half of the season for the BCHL Brooks Bandits as four new players had to quickly learn plays.
The team held first place in the league prior to the holidays but at the end of December four players left the team, including top goalie Johnny Hicks.
The Bandits were scrambling.
Griffin Wright a back up goalie in Brooks for the Dec. 28 game but he has not yet played. The 17-year-old played during the 2023-24 season with the South Side Athletic Club U17 of the Alberta Elite Hockey League.
In the meantime, the Bandits also signed Chris Quizi, 19, reportedly, at midnight on Dec. 28 and he was on the ice for that night’s game against West Kelowna Warriors.
Quizi had been playing with the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Oakville Blades.
The Warriors led the Bandits 4-1 in the second period. The Bandits were only able to score a couple of more goals handing the Warriors the win while the Bandits took their fifth regulation time loss of the season.
The Bandits lost their next two games in shootouts. The first SO loss was to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on New Year’s Day, 4-3. The second was in Cranbrook against the Bucks, 5-4, on Jan. 3.
The Bucks were in Brooks on Jan 4 where, in front of a hometown crowd, the Bandits won 6-1 as the new players have no doubt been learning the plays and working with coaches.
Michal Kiščinský and Davide Patella each had a power play goal. Patella scored the final goal of the third period while Nathan Brown and Parker Lalonde each had a goal.
At 7:45 of the final period players from each team had been sent to the bench for penalties and the Bucks decided to pull their goalie to have a one man advantage.
However, it didn’t work. Bandits Cooper Pierson quickly found the back of the empty net for his first BCHL goal.
As of Sunday, the Bandits were in second place in the league so they will have work to do in hopes of returning to the top.
During the Bandits ‘slump” the Penticton Vees took over first place and have since lost one game but they are ahead of the Bandits by two points and have played two additional games.
The Bandits hopefully will continue to win when they host the 10th place Vernon Vipers on Friday.
