Junior ‘A’ Thunder entertain crowd in hard-fought opener

By Rob Vogt
Friday was hockey night in Claresholm as the Claresholm Junior “A” Thunder took to the ice for their first ever game.
In front of a crowd in excess of 300 people on Sept. 27 at Claresholm Arena, the Thunder did not look out of place battling the Vulcan Rampage down to the last whistle before losing by a score of 7-6.
Local product Travis Hinkle electrified the crowd with four goals, including the first in franchise history with nine minutes to go in the first period.
Joining the team earlier in the day, Hinkle was impressed with the hometown crowd.
“The atmosphere brings so much energy,” he said.
Having played his minor hockey in Claresholm, playing in front of a crowd of more than 300, and having kids standing at the glass calling his name and fist bumping him at intermission, was a first.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Hinkle said.
Yet he appreciates all the support.
“I wanted to play for them,” he said.
And Hinkle did.
He opened the scoring with a rush down the right side, beating the Vulcan goalie, after taking a pass from Markus Dixon and Nathan Johnstone.
Vulcan responded with three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead, and looked to runaway from the Thunder.
Then, with just 44 seconds left in the first period, Hinkle struck again.
Killing a penalty, he got in behind the defence and beat the Vulcan goalie again for a short-handed goal. With another assist from Dixon, Claresholm closed the gap to 3-2 Vulcan after 20 minutes.
The Thunder carried the play in the second period.
Just over three minutes in, Antonio Holloway tied the game, with an assist from Lane Plum.
Vulcan would go ahead 4-3 about three minutes later, then it was all Thunder.
Hinkle took the puck straight down the right side, cut to the net at the last second and beat the goalie high for an unassisted goal, his third of the game, tying the game 4-4.
He gave Claresholm the 5-4 lead just 41 seconds later with his fourth goal of the game, assisted by Tanner Fox, and that was how the score stood after two periods.
The Thunder came out strong again to start the third. Again killing a penalty, this time Holloway on the forecheck stole the puck in front of the Vulcan net and flipped it over the goalie to give Claresholm a 6-4 lead. He was assisted by Hayden Weaselhead.
Vulcan re-grouped and poured in three goals in just under six minutes to lead 7-6.
Claresholm pressed for the tie, pulling the goalie for an extra attacker, and hit the post but just could not score the tying goal.
Vulcan went on to win by that 7-6 score.
However, Coach Jeremy LeBlanc was impressed with his team’s effort.
“We came out strong, tried to stay on the forecheck,” he said. “We fed off the crowd.”
LeBlanc said the team executed the game plan well and, except for a few bad bounces, may have won the game.
Twice Claresholm hit iron, and Vulcan went right down and scored on the same play. A third Rampage goal came from a deflection off a skate that caught everybody going the other way.
Right now, LeBlanc said the goal is simple.
“It’s about building team chemistry,” he said.
LeBlanc also had high praise for Claresholm natives Hinkle and defenceman Vann Woodman in their Junior “A” debut.
He knew about Hinkle’s talent around the net.
“He proved it tonight,” the coach said.
Woodman logged close to 30 minutes of ice time and Leblanc said he could use the defenceman in any situation.
“It’s good to find some local talent,” he said.
The next home game for the Thunder is this Friday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. against the Crowsnest Pass Crush.