Big-Trav on the road. Rupert has a short bench. Going to need a big game from the key cogs in this one.

Smithers 2, Rupert 0.

Goals from #4 and I think #7. (Sorry I don't have a program)

Smithers #15 was injured two minutes in. Aaron Armstrong went down for Rupert with about three minutes to go in the period. Going to be a tough one for the road crew if they are down to three d-men.

2-0 Smithers.

Not a great period for the Rampage. Out shot 19 to 4 in the period (off he score clock). Still in this though, got find some legs in the third.

Also, Aaron is bck in the game for Rupert. Still an up hill battle, but at least our small bench hasn't gotten smaller.

Sounds like a decent game, will be interested to see the final score.

Also have to comment on how ironic it is that a Rupert fan is providing updates from Smithers, while there is still nothing from Hazelton or Houston...

Rupert had 15 players, including the two goalies so 13 skaters, make the trip to Smithers and the Steelheads peppered Movold with 55 shots (wow) compared to 23 for the Rampage. Not taking anything away from the Steelheads win, but obviously a short bench like that will have an impact on the results.

Personally, I'm really looking forward to seeing how things play out when the two teams meet here in Prince Rupert on Saturday and hoping the Steelheads can bring their best players and enough players for the game.

Welcome to senior hockey. That's pretty typical for a road team making a reasonably long trip. Stamps had 13 skaters aswell this weekend.

For the record, a short bench should never be an excuse for losing. Regardless of who Rupert brough, Smithers still had to go out there and put pucks in the net.

However, the short bench did play a factor in this one. What might not be clear from the game sheet to the casual fan is that Rupert travelled with only 2 d-men. Jared Meers and Aaron Armstrong not only had to fill in to position they don't normally play, but they had to log big minutes doing it. I for one, thought they did a good job and commend them for the effort.

I plan on writing a quick game summary tonight when I get home from work, so I'll keep it at that for now. (I would have done it this weekend Sat or Sun, but I left the laptop at home this trip)

I know it's a few days late and I appologize for that. Work and travel made it difficult to find time to write a recap.

As I've already said, Rupert (like a lot of road teams) travelled with a small bench. Regardless of the team, this leads to hurdles come game time. There's extra minutes to be worked around, goals out of the lineup and new lines to find chemistry. In Rupert's case, work and injuries meant that only half of Rupert's top two lines made the trip. Coupled with winger Jared Meers moving back to the blueline, Coach Pyde's top six was quickly reduced to Brett Stava and Rob Millar when the team took to the ice for warmup.

As the game started, things seemed pretty even in play for the first period. Rupert kept the shifts short and for the first twenty looked to be matching Smithers intensity. Dan Dykens openned the scoring on a beauty shorthanded goal. Big #4 picked up a loose puck just outside his own blueline and stormed down the right side, release a big shot that beat Rupert's Keith Movold. On the next shift, the Rampage found themselves seemingly down another defencemen when Aaron Armstrong was driven into the boards from behind by Matt Arnold. It took a few minutes, but Aaron eventually made his way to the dressing room under his own steam. The goal and the injury seemed to deflate the Rupert side, and the Steelheads seized the opportunity pressuring their opposition. They were quickly rewarded with another goal when Russell Blanchard's blast from the blueline found the back of the net.

While the score showed 2-0 for the homeside, it was in all regards a good road period for the Rampage. Short on bodies, they held their own, generated some chances and I hoped they would continue that trend would continue into the second. How wrong I was, as the Rupert appeared to have run out of gas. Smither's on the other hand had all kinds of jump and really put the game to the Rampage. The second was all Steelhead and quite frankly they were unlucky to have not extended their lead. Rupert's Keith Movold was incredible in the period, trying to rally his troops with 19 "official" shots. I say official, because on Smither's first powerplay, they definitely had a 3 shots that didn't register on the shot clock. The third was much of the same, at times Rupert looked ot be trying to get out of the game no further down. Smither's added a couple more, while Rupert found some legs late in the period and pushed hard to break the shutout bid. Much to the delight of our small group of fans, Johnny Hunt put the Rampage on the board with a powerplay marker late in the game.

With the back half of a home-and-home in Rupert this Saturday, I hope that Smtiher's can manage a good roster. While they skated circles around the Rampage this past Saturday, I think the result would be different with our full team. This last game, Smithers keeper Tyler Perrault gave up a lot of rebounds that Rupert just didn't have the legs to get to. I would expect a couple of those to find the back of the onion sack with Brlecic, Kendall, Davis, etc. in the game. It may not mean a win for Rupert, but it would make for an entertaining game.

Who knows, maybe the electric atmosphere of the "Jim" will be enough to push the Rupert over the top. Either way, it should be a good one. As an added bonus, local band Triple Bypass will be rocking the stands at the intermisions.

It looks almost certain that these two will meet in the first round. Has potential to be a great series. Rupert definately needs to show up at home and put forth a good effort though to try and gain some confidence against the Steelies and maybe send a message if what that first round might be like. This would clearly be the best series of the first round along with the 2 vs 3 series in the East. No matter who out of BL, WL or Houston plays each other... it's also gonna be close.