Taking on the two best teams in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League last weekend, the Kerry Park Islanders were already in tough.
It didn’t help that they were missing six regulars for each game, including half of their usual defence corps.
Over two games, the Isles mustered just a single goal, losing 6-0 to the North Division-leading Campbell River Storm on Friday and 5-1 to the South Division-leading Victoria Cougars on Saturday.
Campbell River had just lost to the Nanaimo Buccaneers, and the Storm players were skating for their lives on Friday.
“I heard an interview with their coach, and he said it was the best 60 minutes of hockey they had played all year,” Islanders owner Mark Osmond said.
The Storm scored twice in the first period, once in the second, and three times in the third. Chris Smith earned the shutout with 19 saves, while Rett Rook made 47 stops in the Kerry Park net.
Osmond was satisfied with the way his team played in the first two periods on Saturday, but the Cougars got away from them in the third.
“[Penalty] calls that go against us sometimes change the flow of the game,” he noted. “I felt that happened again.”
Brandon Wilson scored the Isles’ lone goal against Victoria on Saturday, potting a shorthanded marker to cut the Cougars’ lead to 2-1 with eight minutes left in the second. The Cougars added three unanswered goals in the third.
Chase Anderson made 48 saves in the loss.
The Isles lost forward Samson McLean to a concussion on Saturday, further extending their list of injuries.
“We’re not getting any help on that front,” Osmond said. “We haven’t had our full team together since the first few games of the year.”
The team will also have to cut a player before next week’s roster deadline. Exceptions can’t be made for injured players unless they are out for the rest of the season.
The Isles will visit the Saanich Braves this Friday. On Saturday they will play host to the Peninsula Panthers as they honour Nick Collins, the Kerry Park Minor Hockey goalie and Islanders volunteer who died tragically at the age of 15 on Nov. 22, 2007. The game begins at 7:30 p.m.