You can be sure that February 8th, 2013 was a date that the Brooks Bandits have had circled on their calendars for the past three months. After seeing their 20-game winning streak to start the AJHL season snapped in Grande Prairie on November 12th, the Bandits have been itching for another shot at the Storm.
Friday night, in a defensive struggle, the Bandits got their revenge. The home club scored twice in the opening ten minutes of the game and then held on to beat the Storm 2-0.
As he's been most of the season, Nick Kulmanovsky once again had a solid night between the pipes, blocking 25 of the 27 shots sent his way. Storm had 23 shots on Michael Fredrick, who picked up the shut out.
After scoring six powerplay goals in twelve chances two nights earlier in Olds, the Storm couldn't muster anything with the manpower advantage on this evening. The Bandits, meantime, went 1-for-4 on their powerplay.
Storm are now 1-1 on this three game trip. They play their final South Division opponent of the year Saturday night in Drumheller, as they take on the Dragons.
They return home to face the Fort McMurray Oil Barons next Saturday and Sunday nights at the Canada Games Arena, followed by a visit from the Drayton Valley Thunder on Tuesday, February 19th.
-Story submitted by Don Whiteford of www.PeaceCountrySports.com.