Home ice teams still dominant as Luckies, Steelheads beat divisional rivals in second round playoff tilts

The CIHL playoffs have been dominated by home teams so far – and it was no different Saturday as the two Division winners, the Kitimat Ice Demons and the Omenica Ice entered the playoffs – both losing to the second place finishers in their divisions. The Kitimat Ice Demons seemed most affected by the long four week layoff they experienced between their last league game, January 5 in Hazelton and last weekend, as they dropped the opener of the West Division finals, 7 - 2 to the surging Steelheads. In the East Division, the Omenica Ice showed some rust as well, losing 4 - 2 to the Houston Luckies. Both home teams got off to good starts, with Smithers emerging from the first period, with a well-deserved 3-0 lead, despite being out-shot 12 - 6 in the frame, while the Luckies got the lead 2 – 0, from goals by Blair LeFebvre and Blair Dinelle, but David Boon got one back before the first intermission, to allow the Luckies to take the rest, at 2 - 1. In Houston, Boon got a second goal to tie the game briefly, but goals by Spetch and LeFebvre restored the two goal margin at 4 – 2 and the Luckies allowed no more goals. In Smithers, goaltender Jamie Holden lived up to his hype billing stopping 40 of 42 Demons shots. At the other end, the league’s leading goaltender in the regular season, Jamie Moran, found his timing off, along with many other members of the Demons, as he let in three of only six shots by Smithers, in the first period. Scorers were Mitch Pederson and Tyler Pederson with the first two of his eventual hat trick, in the first. Tyler Pederson then victimized Brett Vilness, who took over from Jamie Moran, for his hat trick goal, with 12 minutes gone in the second period. The Ice Demons got one back from Doug Wilson on an unassisted foray down the middle. But Mike Verticcio got that one back and made it 5 – 1 with the goal adding to his previous two assists earlier in the game. Verticcio again closed out the scoring for Smithers in the third period after Casey Torbohlm made it 6 – 1 to close out the second. Demons got one back in the third, on a backhand spin-around by Colt Stavos, assisted by Jeff Mildenberger, but despite never giving up on the attack, the Demons seemed to sense that Holden would maintain the win for the Steelheads. Games two and three (if needed) go in Kitimat at 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday, while the Ice will host the Luckies for games two and three, if needed in Vanderhoof.