The Castlegar Rebels beat the Nelson Leafs 4-0 on home ice Sept. 25.

“It was definitely our worst game so far,” said Simon Wheeldon, head coach for the Leafs.

“We out shot them, but we weren’t playing very well and that’s why we lost.”

The Leafs had played Castlegar once in regular season and twice in exhibition games, never letting more than one goal in.

It was a real departure from their earlier games to see them miss so many shots.

Castlegar had two unanswered goals in the first period, and the second period ticked past without any scoring, despite many attempts by both sides.

In the final minutes of the third period, Castlegar slid two more past Leafs goalie Matt Larose.

But Wheeldon wasn’t discouraged by the poor showing.

“We’re a young team and it takes a while to learn the consistency we need to get ahead,” said Wheeldon.

“That’s something we’re going to work on.”

The Leafs were able to rebound from their loss with a successful road game against the Spokane Braves. Leafs won 2-1 against the Braves on Sunday, Sept 27.

Leafs goalie Billy Faust stopped all but one of the 22 shots against him. He let a lone goal past at the end of the first period.

Goals on the Leafs side came from Jeff Mobley in the second period and Scott Jago in the third.

“It was one of our best games of the year. We deserved to win,” said Wheeldon.

“We were in their end almost the whole night. It was a great recovery.”

With that win, the Leafs are tied with the Braves in the top spot in the Neil Murdoch Division with nine points.

In the entire Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, the Leafs are tied three ways for fourth.

“We’ve still got a lot of things to touch up on,” said Wheeldon.

“Our power play needs to get better and our consistency is key. But I think it’s all coming together. We have a great team.”

The Leafs next home game is Oct. 2 against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks.