Bruins score four but remain winless after 5-4 loss to Osoyoos
GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Border Bruins came within a goal of their first British Columbia Hockey Conference victory Saturday, falling 5-4 to the Osoyoos Coyotes at Jack Goddard Memorial Arena.
The four-goal performance marked a change from the Bruins’ first three regular-season games, when Grand Forks scored three goals combined. The Bruins remain winless through four games in their first BCHC season and have scored seven goals while allowing 21.
Saturday’s loss followed a 5-2 defeat against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks on Tuesday. Grand Forks had opened the regular season with a 4-0 loss to Fernie on Sept. 18 before Kimberley defeated the Bruins 7-1 the following night. Fernie goaltender Leo den Besten stopped all 18 Grand Forks shots in the season opener.
The progression from no goals against Fernie to one against Kimberley, two against Beaver Valley and four against Osoyoos gives Grand Forks its clearest sign of offensive improvement so far, although the Bruins have also allowed at least four goals in each of their first four regular-season games.
Beaver Valley and Grand Forks are both part of the BCHC’s six-team Kootenay Division, along with Columbia Valley, Fernie, Kimberley and Nelson. Osoyoos, another former Kootenay International Junior Hockey League club, now competes in the five-team Valley Division.
The BCHC is in its inaugural season after BC Hockey approved the new sanctioned Junior A league earlier this year. Its 22 clubs include 14 former KIJHL teams and eight former Pacific Junior Hockey League teams, and each team will play a 50-game regular-season schedule split between 25 home and 25 road games. The top four teams in each division will qualify for the playoffs.
For Grand Forks, the opening stretch has also followed a disrupted preseason. A fire at Jack Goddard Memorial Arena in August forced the Bruins to move some main-camp ice sessions to Osoyoos and Castlegar before the team returned home for the regular season.
The Bruins are scheduled to remain at Jack Goddard Memorial Arena for their next game, when the Williams Lake Mustangs visit Grand Forks on Friday, Oct. 2.
The Grand Forks Border Bruins came within a goal of their first British Columbia Hockey Conference victory Saturday, falling 5-4 to the Osoyoos Coyotes at Jack Goddard Memorial Arena.