A Âé¶čAV team came out on top against British Columbiaâs best minor hockey teams this week.
B.C. Hockeyâs U18 Tier 1 provincial championships were held Monday through Thursday, March 18-21, at the Nanaimo Ice Centre, bringing together eight teams from around the province for pool play and playoffs.
Âé¶čAVâs Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association Rockets are this yearâs provincial champs, as they went undefeated at the tourney, ending with a 6-2 victory over Fort St. Johnâs North East Trackers in the gold-medal game.
The final was the second game of the day for both teams, which factored into game-planning.
âWe knew that if we just kept skating hard we could probably tire them out a bit in the third and I think a little bit of that happened,â said Tim Nikolai, coach of the Rockets.
He said his team got some good bounces, but earned those bounces with their skating.
Brogan Wood, Rockets captain, said it was hard to describe the feeling when the final buzzer sounded.
âIt made it all worth it ⊠we worked so hard the whole year,â he said. âIt was really enjoyable and a lot of happy feelings.â
The coach said the players showed a lot of buy-in all season long and listened and learned.
âEverything that we tried to implement, they would listen and they would do it. Itâs a really cohesive group that way,â Nikolai said. âItâs really fun group to coach â I tell them that all the time.â
Wood said this yearâs Rockets team had a lot of chemistry, helped by having a core of players returning from the previous season.
âWeâve got a really good group of boys here and we were motivated to get the job doneâŠâ he said. âOur commitment to the team allowed us to get the gold medal.â
In the final, Christopher Kilduff led the Rockets with two goals, and Wyatt Fuhrmann, Ryder Kinjerski-Nielsen, Jayden Mackie and Dylan Toews also scored. Matthew Sowinski was the winning goalie. For the Trackers, Mason McGinnis and Brody Mickey scored.
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