CIHL playoffs gather momentum as both East and West division winners both win game one on the road

The CIHL divisional finals both produced excellent games as division winners Kitimat Ice Demons and Houston Luckies both pulled off late wins on the road in exciting and entertaining games. Home team fans, both looking for more from their team in overtime, were disappointed in Williams Lake with less than three minutes left in the game when Blair Dinelle notched his hat-trick goal for the game on a pass from Jon Marren. In Smithers, it was even more devastating after the Steelheads had pulled into a 2-2 tie, to see a defensive lapse allow Blaine Markwart to be sent into the clear by Terry Whelan and score a clean goal on Tyler Perreault with just 59 seconds left. Both games were very evenly played. In Williams Lake, Houston led three times and the Stampeders came back. Houston's goal tending had to handle 20 more shots in the game, but the offense was enough to take the game one lead on goals by Dinelle (3) and Lloyd and Dallas Anderson. Scoring for the Stamps was by Brent MacIsaac (2) - one the only power-play goal of the game - Robin Gilbert and Paul Girodat. In Smithers, the Steelheads took the lead on a power play goal early by Randall Groot, but that was answered before the firs intermission by Terry Whelan tipping in a Jeff Baker point shot, also on a power play. There was no scoring in the second, but Demons took a 2-1 lead in the third on a goal by Ian Coleman. That was tied by Smithers on a power play with four minutes left, but the late Markwart goal sent Kitimat home with the first game of the best of three in their pocket. Both series resume on Houston and Kitimat ice this Saturday.