The puck dropped on the 2006-2007 BCHL season for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Saturday night at the Powell River Recreation Complex. If the game was any indication of the season to come, there?s some exciting hockey in store. The Dogs came flying out of the gate building a 2-0 lead before the first period was half over and it was the Kings who looked like the team playing their first game of the season, not the Bulldogs. Andrew Ella scored the first goal of the season firing home a rebound off a Harry Zolnierczyk shorthanded rush. Zolnierczyk got the initial shot away that Nick Olynyk stopped, but he couldn?t control the rebound and it was 1-0 Dogs 6:24 in. The Bulldogs would lead 2-0 with Brayden Melrose using his size and strength to his advantage, walking out from behind the net to set up Jordan Kremyr for a one timer in front at the 9:07 mark. The Kings would get on the board late in the first to trim the Dogs lead to 2-1. And here?s where it gets interesting. Going off the BCHL box score, the goal was a power play marker, but not a 5 on 3 goal. Going off of my memory, this was a 5 on 3 chance. Chalk it up to working the kinks out in the scorekeepers booth or the entering of the information into the BCHL website but I?m sure that a small error has been made. Brandon Cummings walked out of the right hand corner from behind the net, cut out front, and banked it in off Ryan Lafferty at the 16:00 mark assisted by Anthony Gorenszach and Joe Tolles. I would report here on first period shots and power plays, but as I mentioned regarding the Kings power plays I think something is amiss. Shots- at least from what I was told in the press box from the public address announcer, are backwards. Final official game shots on the box score are 36 to 22 Powell River. I was given the opposite, Bulldogs 36 shots, Powell River 22. So I think I won?t comment much about the shots in this report because I?m not sure exactly what is right. To the second period- The Bulldogs retook their two goal lead with a power play marker just 37 seconds into the frame. Jordan Kremyr threw the puck back to the point where Maury Edwards quickly put a shot on goal. Brayden Melrose was in front providing the screen, and he re-directed the shot past Nick Olynyk for his first goal of the campaign and a 3-1 Bulldogs lead. The Kings again clawed back to within one when Lindsay Walker snapped a wrist shot through a scramble to beat Lafferty to make it 3-2 Dogs 4:51 into the second, with an assist going to Andrew Gurba. Less than a minute later with the Bulldogs shorthanded Harry Zolnierczyk scored a highlight reel goal, splitting the Kings defence with speed and coming in alone on Nick Olynyk. Zolnierczyk roofed a backhand from the doorstep, glove hand on the south-pawed Olynyk for a 4-2 Dogs lead, their second two-goal advantage of the night. That two goal lead was short-lived though, as Brandon Cummings scored his second of the night and second of the season less than a minute later again off a scramble as his quick wrist shot his something in front of the net and seemed to surprise Dogs net minder Lafferty. Assists on the play went to Adam Presizniuk and Clay Harvey and the Dogs lead was again trimmed to 1. The Kings pulled even for the first time in the hockey game just past the halfway mark with Clay Harvey joining the rush after taking a big hit to take a cross ice pass to come in alone on Lafferty. The Kings took their first lead of the hockey game 6:21 into the third with Brandon Cummings completing the hat trick, assisted by Harvey and Tolles on the power play. The Dogs didn?t quit though as they battled back just over five minutes later to tie it 5-5 with rookie Daniel Hope out of
Dogs drop Season Opener in a Heartbreaker
