Double win for Smithers closes gap on Demons, while Omineca picks up steam in east with wins over Stamps

The Central Interior Hockey League's standings tightened up on top of both the East ad West Divisions in weekend play. The Kitimat Ice Demons with a 7-5 win over the Hazelton Wolverines edged up to 19 points to remain in the lead overall, while the Smithers Steelheads again leap-frogged the idle Prince Rupert Rampage to move back into second place in the West, with two hefty wins, 12- 1 and 9-5 over the last place and seemingly scuppered Terrace River Kings, who are now running out of recovery time for the playoffs. However they are still only two points behind the foundering Wolverines, who gave up 22 goals to the Ice Demons in home and away games. The Ice, at home had a fuller line up, while the Williams Lake Stampeders were missing some of their regulars (playing in a First Nations Tournament) and dropped the double header, 4-2 Saturday and 6-5 Sunday to tighten up the placing. Meanwhile the Houston Luckies improved their position with a 5-2 win over the Burns Lake Braves, in one Saturday game... As a result the Luckies have opened the door with two games in hand and a deficit of three points out of first place. In the West the Ice Demons suffered a bus breakdown out of cell phone communications range, but still made it into Hazelton to play a game that ended just before midnight. It was a hard hitting affair with the two teams tied at the end of the first and second periods, but Demons blew it apart in the third, despite a feisty comeback by the Wolverines. This weekend's schedule should shed some more light on potential playoff positions as the Ice Demons host the Rampage for a Saturday game, Houston and Smithers will clash twice, once in Houston in a rare Friday night joust and again in Smithers Saturday. The home and home is expected to show an attendance turn-around for both teams as the games have more meaning for playoff spots. A smarting Hazelton Wolverines, still needing points to advance will visit an even more desperate Terrace River Kings in what might be a hard fought affair, literally. The two teams meet again in Hazelton the following week. A Saturday-Sunday series will be very important for both Williams Lake Stampeders and Burns Lake Braves. The Braves will host a double-header, which where wins would help the Stampeders retain first place and losses could be catastrophic.