Simon says he ‘loves hockey’

CASTOR — With dressing rooms named after the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, the Castor Arena paints a pro-like atmosphere in the tiny and timeless community rink.

But it’s the small-town setup for which the “Beaver Dome” is known and that makes it a memorable stop for Albertans from near and far.

“It’s a great rink to play in,” hometown goaltender Simon Thieleman said after his Stettler Lightning lost 4-2 to the Coaldale Copperheads on Friday night in a guest appearance at Castor Arena.

“The fans are great. They always fill the rink. It’s a great hockey town. Everybody loves hockey here.”

And few Castor residents are as enthusiastic about hockey as Thieleman, the 18-year-old goaltender who has backstopped the Lightning through tough times this winter in the Heritage Junior Hockey League.

Going into last night’s home game against his former team, the Three Hills Thrashers, Thieleman and the Lightning had won three of their past four games, including a 5-4 road victory Saturday night over the Cochrane Generals.

“We’re finally turning it around, but it’s a little late in the season,” Thieleman said. “Whatever … we’re making a statement for next year.”

Coaldale scored an empty-net goal Friday to seal the deal in front of a Castor audience that included family and friends of players from the region. Despite the loss, it was a memorable homecoming for the likes of Thieleman.

“Oh, it was awesome,” he said. “It brings back a lot of memories. I played a lot of years of hockey here, and I just love it. I miss it.”

More minor hockey memories were carved at the “Beaver Dome” on the weekend as all of the local teams played home games Saturday in celebration of Hockey Day in Castor.

It seems every day is a “hockey day” for Thieleman, who played rec hockey Sunday night in Castor after playing junior B games the previous two nights.

He’s making the most of the waning season, especially with the Lightning finishing out of the playoff picture.

Thieleman even picked up an assist in Saturday’s win at Cochrane, as he set up Mitch Finkbiner’s power-play goal in the second period.

“Every game, as much as I can, I tell my forwards, ‘When they (opponents) dump the puck down, when they’re on the PK and they’re going off for a change, one guy stay at the far blue-line, because I’m going to be shooting it down as soon as I get it,’ and Mitch stayed down there,” Thieleman replayed. “I shot it down and it went right onto the stick, and he went in and made a great move and scored.”

It was Thieleman’s second point of the season.

“I’m beating a few guys,” he said with a laugh. “I’m going to try to go for the scoring title.”

Thieleman, who has aspirations of playing junior A next season, is grooming himself with a busy workload this season. He’s the Lightning’s main man and plays every game.

“I’ve played almost 30 games now,” he said. “Early in the season, I had to have a short memory (during a prolonged stretch of Lightning losses). Of course, it was frustrating, because we had a really good team and we knew we could do something with it, but for some reason, we couldn’t do anything.

“Lately, I don’t know why, it’s gotten a lot easier, because I’ve got a lot more confidence in myself that I’m going to stop the next (shot). I think it’s just from practices, and not worrying about it — we’re just having fun.”

Thieleman made 39 saves Saturday in beating Cochrane. Stettler received power-play goals from Finkbiner and rookie Lyle Wooden, who had a two-goal night. Brett Ouellette and Jacob Schwarzenberger had the other Stettler goals.

Ouellette and captain Tyson Glazier were the Lightning marksmen Friday in Castor, as Thieleman blocked 35 shots.

Stettler’s final home game is this Friday at 8 p.m. against the Strathmore Wheatland Kings.

The Lightning finish their season a week later, Feb. 3, against the host Airdrie Thunder.