The maiden voyage

THE STORM FIZZLE IN SEASON OPENER

On paper it looked promising. The Storm, playing in their first real game since early March, would kick off the season just down the highway from Rod Brind'Amour arena. You knew many fans would make the short trek to Courtenay to cheer on the boys after a solid off-season of recruiting by Coach Jim Revenberg and an intense training camp.

There were signs pointing to a great season opener. The Storm, led by new Captain Jesse Bachmeier, winner of last year's League Unsung Hero award, would have some help up front with Steven Schmidt, who finished second in league scoring last year and was named the All-Star game MVP. Another returnee in Corey MacLachlan would provide some hustle and grit.

The blueline would be anchored by smooth skating Jordan Suzuki and second year stalwart Dylan Budgell, while in net, it would be the same pair that led the Storm in last year's stretch run. Tyler Bachmeier had an impressive 91 save percentage, among the best in the league last year and would be backed up by rangy netminder Ryan Fairgray, who got in a handful of games to end the regular season.

KIngs' Stuart Lee against CR's Wade Bartlett
Picture courtesy of Emily Bryant

The optimism was dampened just 35 seconds into the first period, when Micheal Graham of the Kings was credited with the opening marker off of a mad goal-line scramble in front of Tyler. It gave the home side a lead they would never relinquish, leading 2-0 after the first period and 6-1 after the second in a 9-2 win for the Yeti.

The Storm had their chances. Jesse Bachmeier hit a post shorthanded in the first period, Jesse Spooner hit a post a few minutes later. One of the big differences in the game was the Storm's inability to convert their chances, while the Kings could have written a manual about it.
Jordan Suzuki scored the first goal for the Storm this year, on the powerplay. Steven Schmidt got the other and finished with 2 points.



The Storm rookies often looked overwhelmed, especially on the blueline against the more experienced Kings' attack. Hopefully they can chalk this up to a learning experience, find a way to glean some positives from this drubbing and have a stronger outing friday, when the Westshore Stingers roll into Rod Brind'Amour arena.
It hasn't been a kind preseason to the Hive. They were thumped 9-0 and 9-2 by the Victoria Cougars in a pair of exhibition games. They feature much the same line-up as the one that won just once in 48 games last season.

They'll face the Saanich Braves tonight at home, and it's the first game for the Braves under new coach Robin Gomez. He'll have former Storm player Ryan Preston in the lineup, who was traded in the offseason and scored a whopping 12 of his 18 goals against the Stingers last year, including 5 in one game alone.

If the Stingers have a rough game tonight, it might be another long season in Juan de Fuca. All that matters for Revvy's boys is that the Stingers have a long game friday night.
Hope to see you there.