The Kootenay Ice won three games in a row this past week with wins over Prince Albert, Lethbridge and Tri-City. The wins have moved the Ice into third place in the Central Division with a 11-12-1-0 record. The team has won six and tied one of their last ten games.

A month ago, Kootenay was mired in the Central basement with a .500 record a long way away; but what a difference a month and a few health bodies makes.

"For us our effort has been consistent all year," said coach Mark Holick. "We've worked hard and had good work ethic. We just need to stay healthy. We've lost key guys for long stretches."

In the past month, several of the Ice's top performers have missed time with injuries including Steele Boomer, Matt Fraser, Brayden McNabb and goalie Nathan Lieuwen. All but McNabb, who will be out at least another week, are back in the line-up.

"We got a good group of kids who've stepped in and played well," said Holick. "We've got some wins and it's certainly accelerated the learning curve of our young guys."

Kootenay's top scorer so far this season has been Boomer, who has scored 25 points in 23 games. Captain Dustin Sylvester is close behind with 10 goals and 24 points in 21 games. Left winger Kevin King is third in Ice scoring with 19 points in 24 games.

When healthy, the Ice have a strong balanced attack with Sylvester, Boomer, King, Fraser and Max Reinhart leading the way offensively.

"These guys have been consistent all year," said Holick.

With injuries to key forwards crippling the offensive output, the squad has relied on solid defence, hard checking and good goaltending to cue their turnaround.

"Defensively, aside from a few games, we've been strong," said Holick. "Our goals against has been really good. We've played good team defence and had good goaltending. In the back end, Ryan Molle has been physically strong. And 17-year-old rookie Joey Leach has done a great job."

In the goaltending department, Nathan Lieuwen came into the season as the starter and was solid through the first part of the season. However, an apparent concussion looked to have ended the 18-year-old's season. The injury, which sidelined Lieuwen for two weeks, turned out to be a neck injury and he returned to the Ice line-up in mid-November. With Lieuwen out, Todd Mathews stepped into the void and has played spectacularly. With a goal against average of 2.88 and a save percentage of 90.9%, Mathews has been a rock in net and looks to have claimed the starting goalie spot.

"We're really happy with Todd's play," said Holick. "When you get a goalie with a save percentage of over 90%, that gives us a chance to win every night."

"If we stay healthy - we'll be in control," said Holick.

ICE-CYCLES -The Ice re-assigned 18-year-old centreman Simon Skrudland to junior A. Skrudland appeared in 17 games this season, picking up one assists and garnering 17 penalty minutes. The move leaves the team with 23 players of their roster including 13 forwards, eight defencemen and two goalies.

The Ice will be taking part in the traditional A&W Teddy Bear and Mitten Toss on December 11 when the Calgary Hitmen are in town.

Fans are encouraged to bring new and unused (due to distribution in health care faciliities) stuffed toys, winter wear and clothing to the game to launch onto the ice after Kootenay scores their first goal.

The Ice will distribute the teddy bears to health care facilities and the Salvation Army in an effort to bring holiday cheer to those less fortunate.

The team is encouraging fans to bring winter wear and clothing so we can help keep the young and old warm during the winter months.