Central Interior Hockey League starts its 2009-10 season with some surprises, snafus and high scores

The Central Interior Hockey League lurched into its 2009-10 season this past weekend with the usual round of snafus, missing score sheets, a power outage, an OT period instead of a shoot-out, a couple of high scores, some expected wins and some unexpected losses. But there was no lack of passion and drama as referees exercised their authority;, a raft of players were ejected from games for fighting and other major infractions and the league injected Pointstreak scoring and statistics-keeping system to some muted applause. The weekend saw the return of the Burns Lake Braves to action after a few years away -- but it wasn't the triumphant return the team wanted as it dropped the only game of their weekend schedule 7-1 to regional arch-rivals, the Houston Luckies. Coy Cup champions, the Williams Lake Stampeders had bus trouble en-route to Smithers, but made it in time for an exciting wide open game Saturday that resulted in a tie, that was broken by an overtime period and won by the Steelheads 6-5. Sunday's game saw the Stampeders in the lead, but lose momentum with players ejected and finally lose 5-4 as the Steelheads took advantage of their manpower. In Terrace, the newly re-vamped organization had a rocky start, losing their first and opening game of the season 6-0 to perennial champs, the Kitimat Ice Demons, in a scrambly and chippy game. The Ice Demons were not quite so dominant Saturday night in Kitimat, as Terrace put on a more determined effort, but still wound up on the losing end of a 6-4 score. In Prince Rupert the visiting Hazelton Wolverines were pummeled by the confident Prince Rupert Rampage, 10-3, before another full house. But, despite a delayed start, due to a power outage, the Wolverines showed they had the staying power and comeback spirit, edging the Rampage 4-3 in a shoot win, to go home with a split in the points. The Burns Lake Braves took their new team into the unfriendly confines of rivals the Houston Luckies and found the return not to their liking as Houston administered a 7-1 beating. It was the only game of the weekend for both teams. Look for all the results, scorers, assists, goalie performances on the Pointstreak feature, else where on this site. This coming weekend, the Kitimat Ice Demons will face the hungry Williams Lake Stampeders for two games in Williams Lake, Hazelton will travel to Smithers, Prince Rupert Rampage will be in Terrace for a single-game showdown with the River Kings and the Omenica Ice will see its first league action with a game in Burns Lake, which will see both teams looking for points to get the season officially underway for all teams.