Leafs back home for three-game stand; $5 admission Saturday to fans wearing pink
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Sometimes a hockey team needs a bit of a gift to right the ship.
The Nelson Leafs get an easy game on paper as the Green and White begin a three-game Kootenay International Junior Hockey League home stand Friday against the winless Golden Rockets at 7 p.m. in the NDCC Arena.
Golden is winless in eight starts and sits last in the Eddie Mountain Division.
The Rockets have allowed a league high 47 goals while scoring a league low 12 times.
The latter should be good news for a Leaf offence that has struggled most of the season to find its scoring touch.
The Leafs go from worst to one of the best Saturday when the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, losers of just one game all season, visit the NDCC Arena for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
The Nitehawks had its seven game winning streak snapped last week at home no less by the Spokane Braves.
Last week Beaver Valley defeated Nelson 7-3 in the first meeting of the season for the two Murdoch rivals.
The Leafs, riding a one-game winning streak, conclude the three-game stand Sunday against Summerland Steam. The three game home weekend is part of parent weekend when Leafs brass welcomes the players families in to watch Nelson in action.
Game time Sunday is 2:30 p.m.
Goal scoring remains a concern
Nelson ices one of the youngest teams in the entire KIJHL as head coach Dave McLellan decided at training camp to look for skill rather than experience.
The inexperience at the junior level has some players squeezing the stick around the net.
Nelson is currently only ahead of Golden Rockets in scoring with 17 goals in eight games.
Early in the season Nelson has relied on veterans Jordan Davie and Brendan Smith, two 20-year-olds on the roster, to carry the load.
Smith leads the team in scoring with six points while Davie has the most goals on the team with five.
In contract, Eric Buckley of Kimberley Dynamiters leads the KIJHL in scoring with 19 points while teammate Jason Richter tops the league in goals with 11.
Captain Miller back in lineup
The offence will be bolstered by the return of captain Rayce Miller to the lineup.
Miller sat out the past two games due to suspension for taking two goalie interference penalties during a game September 25 against Princeton.
Leafs salute Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
The Nelson Leafs helping the celebration of Canadian Breast Cancer Month by wearing pink laces and tape on the jerseys for the month of October.
Leafs are also inviting fans to help by offering $5 admission to Saturday’s game against Beaver Valley for people wearing pink to the game.
