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Stamps finish atop East Division

The Williams Lake Stampeders wrapped up their regular season Saturday finishing first in the Central Interior Hockey League’s East Division.
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Williams Lake Stampeders forward David Gore (left) fires a blast through traffic on Lac La Hache Tomahawks’ goaltender Willie Sellars during a meeting between the two teams at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex Friday night. The Stamps went on to win

The Williams Lake Stampeders wrapped up their regular season Saturday finishing first in the Central Interior Hockey League’s East Division.

Coming into the weekend the Stamps had already clinched the top spot in the division, finishing its campaign with a 12-5-1 record following its weekend game

Friday, Williams Lake hosted the Lac La Hache Tomahawks on home ice in front of 720 fans at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex, skating to a 6-4 win over the visitors.

Saturday, Williams Lake travelled to Quesnel for a date with the Kangaroos, dropping a hard-fought affair, 8-6, at the Twin Ice Arenas.

Friday, David Gore (2 G), Jassi Sangha, Matt Lees, Nathan Zurak and Jared Kohlen found the twine for the Stamps, while Anthony Sellars (2 G), Robin Gilbert and Wade Balbirnie lit the lamp for the Tomahawks.

Sangha finished the night with a goal and two assists, and Gore added an assist to his two-goal performance.

Stampeders netminder Justin Foote stopped 31 of 35 shots in the winning effort, while Tomahawks goaltender Willie Sellars was kept busy turning aside 40 of 46 shots.

Lac La Hache, who started the season with a 6-1-1 record, went on to lose its last 10 games to finish the year.

Saturday, it was another story for the Stampeders, who travelled into hostile territory versus a hot Quesnel Kangaroos squad, who were coming into the game with a four-game win streak. They’d go on to make it five wins in a row to cap off the season comfortably in second place in the CIHL’s East Division, four points behind the Stampeders following the 8-6 win.

Nick Tomassetti, Levon Johnson (3 G), Curtis Gassoff and Paul Girodat (2 G) scored for the ‘Roos, while Zurak (2 G), Dylan Richardson (3 G) and Brent McIsaac potted goals for the Stamps.

Quesnel netminder Ryan Manderson was awarded the win between the pipes, while Foote was handed the loss for Williams Lake.

Zurak’s four-point weekend, with just one week left of play in the regular season for other teams around the league, propelled him to second-place in the CIHL scoring race. Zurak, in 18 games this season, finished with 21 goals and 14 assists for a 35-point campaign.

Quesnel’s Justin Fulton, with 15 goals and 25 assists for 40 points, will finish the season with the league’s scoring title.

The Stampeders are now gearing up for the CIHL playoffs, which are slated to begin Saturday, Jan. 26. And depending on the outcome of this weekend’s games, Williams Lake will meet either the Lac La Hache Tomahawks or the Omineca Ice.

If Omineca wins one of its last two games this weekend, the Stampeders will play the Tomahawks in the first round of the playoffs. Game one for the Stamps, regardless, will be on the road, followed by game two and, if necessary, game three at home.

For more on the Stampeders visit www.wlstampeders.com.



Greg Sabatino

About the Author: Greg Sabatino

Greg Sabatino graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2008.
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