The Ice Demons lost their season opener 7-3 last Saturday in Terrace against the River Kings.
The game was tied 3-3 until the 8:58 mark in the third period, when the River Kings proceeded to net four.
In the losing effort, Perry Robinson scored twice for the Demons with Ian Coleman adding the third.
To go goal-for-goal with the trophy-winners until late showed the character of the team, according to head coach Donald Pacheco.
“To come back against a good team like Terrace, I thought it looked really good on the guys,” he said.
Bright spots continued to reveal themselves throughout the evening, none more than the stellar performance of Demons’ goaltender Thomas Mildenderger, who faced shots left, right and centre, according to Pacheco.
“Tommy was phenomenal, it was 0-0 after the first and they must have had at least twenty-five shots on him,” the coach said
Potentially affecting the chemistry of the Ice Demons was the changeover of players from last season.
“We lost a few really good skilled players. We’re not gonna be the most skilled team in the league, but I think if we work hard and the effort’s there, we can compete with anyone,” Pacheco said.
On the other side, the new additions were welcome young blood in the lineup, and once they can adapt to the system, they’ll be important pieces, Pacheco said.
“We had a lot of new guys that got their feet wet, which was obviously nice to see,” Pacheco said. “They’re only going to get better with experience.”
Simplicity is the name of the game for Pacheco. “We are the type of team that can’t have turnovers, if we do we’re going to be in trouble. So we just have to keep everything simple.”
Players to look out for this season include Tayden Fowler McNab who was previously the team MVP, Perry Robinson who is entering his sophomore season with the team and of course, goaltender Mildenderger.
“These are the guys we’re going to depend on this year,” Pacheco said.
The Ice Demons hit the ice again this Saturday for their home opener against the Prince Rupert Rampage at 7:30 p.m.
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