The Junior B season may be over, but that doesn’t mean Invermere doesn’t have any Rockies hockey teams left to cheer for.
The Windermere Valley Minor Hockey Association boys’ bantam team will be attending provincials in Vanderhoof from March 18 to 22, and head coach Brian Hoobanoff couldn’t be prouder.
“It’s really good, and for most of the boys it’s their second time,” Hoobanoff said. “It’s going to be a good experience and we’re really, really excited about it.”
The bantam team has performed extremely well this year, finishing in first place in their division. They suffered a bit of a setback last weekend when they lost to Cranbrook in the finals of a bantam tournament, but Hoobanoff is confident his team will have a good showing come provincials.
“For the size of Invermere, we do really well for ourselves,” he said. “We have a pretty good chance, although we are playing teams from bigger centres like Cranbrook, so really we’re playing above our calibre.”
The team is currently raising funds for the trip, which Hoobanoff estimates could cost as much as $10,000.
While he hopes that the team does come away with a winning experience, Hoobanoff says that merely attending the tournament is an accomplishment itself.
“I’m hoping they just have some team bonding, and have some fun, and just gain a little experience out of it ” he said.
“To travel that far and see so many other teams… it’s a very big tournament. Hopefully it will be a winning experience, but I mean we’re one of the top teams in the province. The team has worked hard all year for a chance to go, and it’s a great bunch of boys.”
