Cranbrook Bucks fans had plenty to celebrate on New Year’s Eve.
The Bucks have pushed their winning streak to nine games following Saturday’s 5-2 win at home over the Trail Smoke Eaters, putting a definitive end to 2022 in front of more than 2,800 fans at Western Financial Place who were taking in the New Year’s Eve edition of the BCHL’s Kootenay rivalry.
It didn’t take long for the Bucks to get the party going, Jeremey Tremblay opened the scoring just fifty-three seconds into the first period when he converted a setup from Blake Cotton to go up 1-0. Bucks forward Nick Peluso made it a 2-0 lead at the 1:44 mark when he tallied on a 2-on-1 rush. Cranbrook carried their 2-0 lead into intermission.
The second period was more of a defensive battle, and both goalies were looking sharp – particularly Cranbrook’s Carter Capton who was starting his third game in a row. The Bucks outshot Trail 11-9 in the middle frame, the score remained a 2-0 Cranbrook lead after forty minutes.
Trail started to bite back early in the third period. A savvy deflection from Nic Remmissong beat Capton at 0:55 to cut Cranbrook’s lead to 2-1. The Bucks got one back via Luke Pfoh at 4:01 to restore their two-goal lead at 3-1. The Smoke Eaters drew closer again, another deflection goal – this time from Adam Marshall – made it a 3-2 game at 8:07. Cranbrook managed to fend off Trail’s comeback attempt thanks to goals from Bauer Morrissey and Jeremey Tremblay, and they took a 5-2 win to sweep their year-ending home-and-home with the Trail Smoke Eaters.
Saturday’s win pulls Cranbrook’s record to 21-8-1, the Bucks are 2nd in the Interior Conference with 43 points. Cranbrook outshot the Smokies 40-25, they lead the season series versus Trail 5-0.
The Bucks hit the ice for the first time in 2023 on Thursday in Merritt versus the Centennials.
Buck Tracks:
- 2 straight 2-goal games for Jeremey Tremblay.
- 99th career BCHL game for Jarrod Smith.
- 3 points through last 3 games for Bauer Morrissey.
- The Cranbrook Bucks wish you all the best in 2023!
Lead photo by Martin Ross
