Chase Thudium helps Kings ice Vikings

Brent Forster - RDC

Camrose, AB - The RDC Kings have gone about their business this season in a composed and focused manner, and that mindset has paid off. In back-to-back games on the road, the Kings stuck to the game plan and played their brand of hockey, defeating the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings 4 - 3. 

At 7:09 of the first period, Travis Mayan gave Augustana a 1 - 0 lead but around six minutes later Chase Thudium beat Vikings goaltender Zach deGraves for the equalizer. Lynnden Pastachak and Mike Statchuk recorded the assists. Before the end of the opening frame Chase Thudium struck again. The second-year Business Administration student tallied his second goal of the game, and third of the season, at 19:12. Dylan Thudium and Lynnden Pastachak had the helpers. 

At 5:34 of the second, Augustana's Jimmy Sheehan evened the contest on the man advantage. Then the Kings had their opportunity on the power play. With 4:29 left in the period, captain Tanner Butler fired one past deGraves with the extra skater. Dylan and Chase Thudium set up the go-ahead marker. 

The RDC Kings had a great start to the third period. Only 50 seconds into the period, the Thudium brothers set up Lynnden Pastachak for the Kings' fourth goal. This tally proved to be huge as Lukas Biensch of the Vikings narrowed the gap by a goal (4 - 3) with 3:42 remaining in the game. Troy Trombley stood tall and shut the door to help the Kings earn a 4 - 3 decision. The Sherwood Park netminder turned aside 31 out of 34 shots (0.912). Over 60 minutes, the Kings outshot the Vikings 39 - 34.

Kings Hockey Head Coach Trevor Keeper recognized a stronger Vikings' effort but liked his team's response. "It was a good game, a faster game and a tougher game tonight," he says. "The Vikings skated and forechecked harder than yesterday, but we drew the line and pushed back."

When the Vikings tried to shutdown one of Kings' lines, it opened up space for others. "Augustana tried to match lines against the Tyrell Mappin line but our depth was on display," says Keeper. "The line of Chase Thudium - Dylan Thudium - and Lynnden Pastachak combined for 10 points."

Many Kings played extremely well in the victory, but one forward was recognized for his effort. "Chase Thudium was our player-of-the-game and he was good tonight with two goals and two assists," says Keeper. "He was gritty and took the puck to the net."

Chase Thudium (Photo - Tony Hansen)

The Kings have full confidence in their goaltender who has a 0.915 save percentage, a 2.50 goals against average and an unbeaten record in net. "Troy Trombley was solid once again to go 4 - 0 to start the season," says Keeper. "He is steady back there and gives us a chance to use our skill." 

The RDC Kings will continue to remain in the present and look at the game at hand while playing their style. "We had a tough schedule to start the season but we are just focusing on one game at a time," says Keeper. "We want to focus on playing Kings hockey."

Next weekend, the Red Deer College Kings will challenge the Concordia University Thunder in a pair of games. On Friday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m., the Kings will entertain the Thunder at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre. Twenty-four hours later, the two teams will tangle in Edmonton.