Might be a league record. Probably should be a league record.
North Okanagan Knights goalie Jake Dubinsky put his name into talks for most saves by a goalie in a Kootenay International Junior Hockey League regular-season game.
The New Denver netminder made 67 saves Saturday, Jan. 8, in a 4-3 overtime loss at the Nor-Val Sports Centre in Armstrong to the Bill Ohlhausen Division-leading Osoyoos Chiefs.
The KIJHL record book on the league’s website does not have any listing for such a record.
Coupled with a 28-save performance in a 3-1 Knights win over the 100 Mile House Wranglers Friday, Jan. 7, at Nor-Val, Dubinsky stopped 95 of 102 weekend shots. His efforts earned the Knights three out of four weekend points, and the league named Dubinksy its Third Star of the Week.
Luke Rishaug got the point for North Okanagan with a powerplay goal at 8:09 of the final period. The game came after the Coyotes scored twice in less than two minutes to take a 3-2 lead.
Tyler Badger got the winner for Osoyoos at 2:29 of the first overtime.
Newly acquired Paison Butler opened the scoring with his third goal for the Knights coming at 10:47 of the first period.
After Osoyoos tied the contest, newly named North Okanagan captain Kyle Bax gave the home team a 2-1 lead heading into the final frame. Bax was named captain after a season-ending injury to Bryan Brew.
Butler did it for the Knights Friday, in the win over the Wranglers.
Picked up earlier in the week in a deal with the Sicamous Eagles, Butler scored twice in his Knights debut, and joined fellow former Eagle Ty McNaughton in setting up Tyler Jamieson for the insurance marker midway through the third period on a powerplay.
Butler was acquired from Sicamous in exchange for the playing rights of Owen Spannier and Jesse Lee. The Eagles then dealt both Spannier and Lee on the league’s Trade Deadline Day, Monday, Jan. 10.
Spannier, from Lake Country, was shipped to the Kelowna Chiefs for future considerations, and Lee was dealt to the Princeton Posse for futures.
North Okanagan made a couple of moves.
They acquired defenceman Easton Gauthier, 20, from the Eagles for futures. The Knights sent defenceman Nicholas Rogalsky to the Columbia Valley Rockies for future consideration.
The Knights are slated to hit the road for their next two games Friday, Jan. 14, in Princeton, and Sunday, Jan. 6, in Osoyoos.
North Okanagan (8-13-4-1) have a four-point lead on the Posse (7-18-3-0) for fourth place in the division, and hold two games in hand on Princeton.
Former Knights’ sniper Kevin-Thomas Walters of Vernon finds himself back in the B.C. Hockey League (BCHL).
The 19-year-old forward was traded to the Cowichan Valley Capitals from the Battlefords North Stars of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League on Tuesday, Jan. 4.
Walters spent two seasons with the North Okanagan Knights from 2018 to 2020, scoring 66 points in 94 KIJHL games.
He first appeared in the BCHL in 2019-20, dressing for six games with the Coquitlam Express and notching a goal and an assist.
Editor’s note: This story was updated Tuesday, Jan. 11, at 11:20 a.m. to include Dubinsky’s Third Star status and trades made by the Knights at the deadline
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