The Rage hope to carry the energy and momentum from Wednesday night into this weekend when the Dawson Creek Jr. A hockey team meets the Quesnel Millionaires (tonight) and Prince George Spruce Kings (Saturday).

The Rage go into this weekend after learning from a 4-1 loss to the Storm in Grande Prairie Tuesday and narrowly losing 5-4 to the same team Wednesday at the EnCana Events Centre.

In that second loss, the Rage came back from a 3-0 deficit opposite what is traditionally one of the best Alberta Junior Hockey League teams. The Rage took a 4-3 lead before the Storm knotted the match by the end of the second and then picked up the winner late in the third.

A win would have been nice, but the comeback should bode well for the team’s confidence this weekend.
“We expect a lot of the same energy. This game (Wednesday night) prepared us for those two games,” said Rage forward Tyson McCallum.

The Rage players “on the bubble” will use this weekend’s games to prove themselves to coach Scott Robinson, while those committed players who are on the team will fine tune their skills for the opening of the regular season when the Alaska Avalanche visit for three games Sept. 23-25.

But there might be another reason some of these guys want to end up on the high side of the score. Perhaps they have something to prove to themselves and the visitors.

The exhibition season will be the only chance that the North American Hockey League’s Rage will get to meet teams from the Alberta Junior Hockey League or the B.C. Hockey League. Despite several years of trying, Dawson Creek was unable to land a franchise in either league so turned to the U.S.-based NAHL.

“We want to prove that we belong and could have been in either of those two leagues and we are a good Jr. A team,” explained McCallum.

In two weeks, the Rage will be on the road at the NAHL’s showcase tournament in Blaine, Minnesota.

The other Face-Off Fever 2 matches feature the Storm and Spruce Kings at 3 p.m. today and the Storm and Millionaires at 3 p.m. tomorrow.