There's now nowhere to go but up.
Grande Prairie Storm are now the 8th place team in a 8-team division. Storm falling 5-0 at home to the Spruce Grove Saints Saturday night, in front of 1616 fans, which included all the parents of this year's Storm players.
Combined with Drayton Valley's 2-0 win over Lloydminster, Grande Prairie is now one point back of the Thunder for the final playoff spot in the AJHL North. To make matters worse, the Thunder still enjoy three games in hand over the Storm.
Storm knew they were in tough against the top team in the league, but still managed to take Spruce Grove to a shoot out on Friday, where they fell 2-1. They started well in the second game too, outshooting their guests 12-9 in a scoreless opening period in this one. Saints finally broke through with a pair in the middle period, before putting it away with three more unanswered tallies in the third.
Storm coach Matt Hughes says the tide started to turn midway through the game.
“We came out hitting, which takes away from the Saints style of play. Unfortunately, we started to break down part way through the second and they made us pay.”
Storm now face a critical road trip this coming week. They travel to Whitecourt on Thursday, then head into Drayton Valley on Friday. With two wins, they are right back in the race…but two losses could spell the end of the line for their post season aspirations.
– Story by Don Whiteford of www.PeaceCountrySports.com.