A Kelowna team came out on top against British Columbiasa国际传媒檚 best minor hockey teams this week.
B.C. Hockeysa国际传媒檚 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.
Kelownasa国际传媒檚 Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association Rockets are this yearsa国际传媒檚 provincial champs, as they went undefeated at the tourney, ending with a 6-2 victory over Fort St. Johnsa国际传媒檚 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.
sa国际传媒淲e 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,sa国际传媒� 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.
sa国际传媒淚t made it all worth it sa国际传媒� we worked so hard the whole year,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚t was really enjoyable and a lot of happy feelings.sa国际传媒�
The coach said the players showed a lot of buy-in all season long and listened and learned.
sa国际传媒淓verything that we tried to implement, they would listen and they would do it. Itsa国际传媒檚 a really cohesive group that way,sa国际传媒� Nikolai said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 really fun group to coach sa国际传媒� I tell them that all the time.sa国际传媒�
Wood said this yearsa国际传媒檚 Rockets team had a lot of chemistry, helped by having a core of players returning from the previous season.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檝e got a really good group of boys here and we were motivated to get the job donesa国际传媒a国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淥ur commitment to the team allowed us to get the gold medal.sa国际传媒�
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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