Williams Lake Stamps stretch league lead but skeptics still reserving respect for now It has been a tough month or two for the rejuvenated Williams Lake Stampeders who finished a lengthy cross-division road trip to the Hazelton Wolverines with four points to maintain their perfect 10-0 record with 20 points atop the eastern division on the CIHL. The Stamps, after demonstrating their power with a relatively easy Saturday night 7-1 win against the Wolverines, survived a first period scare Sunday after they fell behind 4-0. Wolves, however, could not maintain the momentum when the embarrassed Stamps came out in the second to right the wrong and scored at will before they returned to the locker room with a 6-4 lead. The see-saw game continued into the third and the Wolverines perhaps exposed some weakness in the eastern division team by stemming the goal flow and adding one to their own total. But it was too little too late again, as the Stamps lasted the period and although they didn’t score, the mid-game goal barrage in the second carried them to the 6-5 win, severely disappointing Wolverines’ fans desperately in need of the boost from a second win. Meanwhile in Houston, the Luckies, with only five games under their belt were needing some playing time and came out in a snarly mood, pounding out the Terrace River Kings 5-2 in a hard-fought (on all fronts) game. The Luckies showed some toughness and goal scoring, and the River Kings were on the receiving end in a fight-filled third period, marked by four fights including a double-header. Sunday’s game was a more muted affair, but the Luckies again took both points with a 4-1 win to lift themselves to 10 points in the standings, three behind the idle Smithers Steelheads and Kitimat Ice Demons, with the Luckies still with two games in hand. River Kings, with 12 games played (the most in the league) have only seven points to show for their efforts and will need to salt away some points before year-end if they expect to make the playoffs. In 100 Mile House, the Mackenzie Moose were Bear-hunting and took all four points from the weekend, overpowering the last-place Bears 6-2 on Saturday and compounding the pain with a 10-4 win on Sunday. With only four teams in action this upcoming November 25-26 weekend, one in the western division and the second an inter-division meeting, some changes can be expected in the standings. The Smithers Steelheads will be looking to break the tie atop the west division with the Kitimat Ice Demons when they take on the Hazelton Wolverines in a double-header in the friendlier confines of the Smithers barn. Smithers Steelheads earlier scheduled games in Hazelton were postponed because of bad road travel weather. The Houston Luckies will make up their two games in hand on the idle Demons when they take on the Omenica Ice at Vanderhoof, Saturday and Fraser Lake, Sunday. These will be prominent match-ups and could tell the story if the Ice can challenge the Stamps in the east. Two wins for the Luckies will drop the Demons to third place in the west, while two wins for the Ice will still leave them 10 points behind the surging Stamps. A split won’t do much for either team, so these could be tough battles for points. Seasoned CIHL skeptics are still reserving respect for the emergent Stampeders until they see them play some more prominent competition. With Mackenzie Moose seeming to find their legs and four games between the Stamps and the Ice still on the schedule, the Stampeders may wait a while before being afforded the accolades a perfect season to date should bring. In the eastern division December will feature some great hockey with Smithers and Houston scheduled to tangle Dec. 2 and the Luckies in Kitimat Dec. 9-10.