It was another small crowd and a small player turnout for the South Island Knights’ Senior Men’s AA hockey game against the North Island Capitals Saturday at Fuller Lake Arena.
It’s all very mystifying to Knights’ player and team organizer Jon Hollett.
“The fan base was good last year, especially on Saturdays,” he noted.
With a limited number of games on the schedule, it’s also hard for Hollett to fathom why the player commitment has diminished.
“Guys have said they’re coming for a month and all of a sudden, they’re not coming,” he pointed out.
The Knights had just 12 skaters with two goaltenders in their 8-5 loss to the Capitals. The Capitals travelled with 13 skaters.
“We were down early,” Hollett indicated, and the Knights couldn’t close the gap on the Capitals.
The two Bens - Ben Woywitka and Ben Hollett - each had a goal and an assist for the Knights while Nick Hui chipped in with a pair of assists. Eric Philp, Jeremy Wiese and newcomer Brady Dew added single goals.
Rob McNutt started in goal for the Knights and Riley Medves played the last half of the game.
The Knights face the Capitals again in a two-game playoff series on the road Feb. 17-18. Another regional series pits the Powell River Regals against Kelowna.
“One of the four of us gets to go to the Coy Cup this year,” noted Jon Hollett.
The Coy Cup championships take place in Williams Lake March 27-31.