“I think anytime you’re playing your rival games around the holidays, I always find that kids and family have come home for Christmas and it feels like the hockey rink is a place to congregate. It’s a place where people go and they see lots of people, especially people they know and connect with over hockey,” said Beaver Valley Nitehawks head coach-general manager Terry Jones, of what he likes about facing the Nelson Leafs, a Neil Murdoch division rival on New Year’s Eve.
This week’s KIJHL Notebook is about that game and the Christmas Classic between the Kimberley Dynamiters and Fernie Ghostriders, Dec. 27 & 28 as the league resumes action after the Christmas break. The FloHockey broadcast of the Ghostriders and Dynamiters on Dec. 28 will be rebroadcast on Rogers TV on New Year’s Day.
Last season when the Nitehawks and Leafs faced off at the Nelson Community Complex, the game attracted 925 spectators. The Christmas Classics in the East Kootenays draw large crowds – 1,140 in Fernie and between 1,500 to 1,751 last season in Kimberley. Ghostriders captain Taylor Haggerty said, “fans really make it intense. There’s people lined up outside the Fernie building at 4:45 p.m. when we’re rolling into the rinks. Nothing really compares to these games.”
Dynamiters head coach-general manager Derek Stuart looks forward to them.
“The atmosphere is what it’s all about,” said Stuart, who experienced his first Christmas Classic in 2016.
His first one is unforgettable.
“There was a full on line brawl in Fernie,” he laughs. “Again, just the atmosphere. Both rinks are sold out before the warm up starts and it’s just pretty cool for all the players to experience.”
Stuart is expecting a tough matchup.
“They’re one of the best teams in the league, they’re the defending Eddie Mountain Division and Conference Champions and they’ve got a very strong team again,” he said. “It’s good for the rivalry. I think that just makes it even better.”
Stuart added that “fans in both towns do an amazing job of supporting their teams and things get a little rowdy in the crowd, but it’s all in good fun.”
“It’s all just to support the guys,” he continued. “It’s the most exciting time apart from playoffs for our players.”
Dynamiters captain Trey Stephenson is playing in his third Christmas Classic.
“We get a 1,000 fans, it’s pretty cool. The atmosphere, the rivalry, other than the playoffs, it’s definitely the game we’re looking forward to the most,” he said.
Stephenson has found the games to be really close regardless of where each team is in the standings.
“It’s usually super physical games with energy from the crowd.”
Stephenson said the crowd helps, especially at home, giving them a big boost.
“Then when you’re a villain on the road, it fires you up just as much. We don’t really get to experience it that often, so sometimes you just gotta look around and take it all in. It’s that loud, that intense. It definitely pushes you.”
Haggerty also gets a sense of pride from playing the villain in Kimberley.
“It gets us equally amped up,” said Haggerty, who is playing in his third Christmas Classic and enjoys the crowds.
“They’re sold out rinks and this is the big one for both,” added Haggerty, who has two goals and three assists in four Christmas Classic games. “It’s the one you look forward to every year.”
Haggerty, who is 10 points shy of hitting 150 in his KIJHL career, said the intensity comes close to matching a playoff game.
“As we get into the regular season, nobody wants to lose those games. It feels a lot like a Game 7 do-or-die situation.”
Ghosriders head coach-GM Chad Scharff will experience it for the first time and has heard a lot about the games.
“I hear it’s ramped up even more, so as a coaching staff, we’re excited for it,” he said. “It’s always a good game when we play Kimberley. I think the games just amplified that much more due to the crowds and excitement of what they call the Christmas Classic.”
Scheduling a New Year’s Eve game with the Leafs is keeping with tradition to Jones.
“It’s pretty unreal,” he said of the atmosphere. “I want to say a few years ago we had a game in Nelson and they came out and were just flying. They took a three-goal lead on us, but it was really snowing at night and the power went out in the arena. That ended the game (he laughs). The atmosphere before that was pretty unbelievable.”
Nitehawks captain Liam Ray said it’s an exciting game.
“It’s very loud, the fans are cheering and the boys are buzzing.”
Leafs captain Leighton Partington said the matchup ramps up the teams.
“Both teams bring more, I’m sure it will be the same this year, it will be a good game,” he said. “In our division, the games can be physical, and in their rink too it’s a little bit smaller, so pucks are bouncing.”
Leafs defenceman Carsyn Crawford says lots of family and friends want to be there watching.
“It’s always a good battle,” he said. “The games almost feel like a playoff game and are intense. The New Year’s Eve games always have a different level of competition to them.”
