During the pre-game show, first year coach Aaron Wilbur said that the expectation for this team is to always win. That is exactly what the Sockeyes did to kick off their 2012-13 season at Minoru Arena Thursday night.
The expectation was for the Sockeyes to come out energized for the first period after the opening night ceremony, but that was far from the truth. The Grandview Steelers were the aggressors in the opening period as they were the faster team, forechecked aggressively, and caused turnovers in the Sockeyes' zone. That's exactly what they'd do to find their first goal as the first period would end 1-0 for the away team.
Coach Wilbur got his team re-grouped in the locker room during that intermission as the Sockeyes came out with a different attitude in the second period. They drew penalties, found their legs, and it was them that were the aggressive forecheckers. Chichak scored the first goal for the Sockeyes to even it up. Richmond would not look back from that point. They would go on to dominate that period and score 4 unanswered goals in total to give them a 4-1 early in the third.
After trading goals in the first half of the third, the Sockeyes showed composure as they contained heavy pressure by Grandview in the second half of that period. They continued to create turnovers and even create scoring opportunities late in the game, taking any momentum away from the Steelers. The game ended at 5-3 for the home side.
Three Stars:
1. Justin Lachance
2. Scott Wessa
3. Kootney Alder
Next game: Saturday, September 15th at North Delta
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