It was a silver lining for a local hockey team.
The Langley Eagles fell 2-1 last week to Prince Rupert in the gold-medal game at the bantam tier 4 provincial championships in Kitimat.
Langley went 3-2 overall at the five-team championships, with both losses coming at the hands of Prince Rupert.
The championships ran March 18 to 21.
“We had a hard time scoring all year (so) we were hoping to get into a close game,” admitted Langley coach Yan Savard.
“We did everything we could, we just couldn’t find that lucky bounce, that hero moment.”
In the championship final, Langley trailed 1-0 for much of the game but early in the third, the Eagles pulled even. The score stayed that way until just under nine minutes remained and Prince Rupert forged ahead once again.
Langley had some opportunities, including power-play chances and then a two-man advantage after pulling their goalie in the final moments, but could not force overtime.
“We pushed really hard (for the equalizer) but just didn’t have it,” Savard said.
The Eagles were thwarted on numerous chances by the Prince Rupert goalie, and when they did get the puck past him, were denied by the goal post.
“We are really proud of them … it is second place in our tier,” Savard said. “That’s pretty good.”
In Langley’s four round-robin games, they beat Kitimat 5-4, shut-out Windermere Valley 5-0, lost 4-1 to Prince Rupert and then beat 100 Mile House 3-1 to finish second in the pool and earn another shot at Prince Rupert.
The team is made up of: Van Dayton, Jack Euverman, Nolan Turner, Josh Henderson, Linden Perry, Bergen George, Jakub Brown, Nick Nolan, Cameron Furnell, Parker Gerhing, Lynden Savard, Nick Goyer, Gavin Collins, Emmet Fast, Brock Jeanotte, Brandon Toby, Logan Heales and Nick Thudhope.
The coaches are Yan Savard, Sean Heales and Don Gorge, the managers are Barbara Goyer and Stewart Brown.
Eagles fall in bronze-medal game
This was one of three Langley Minor Hockey teams competing at provincials last week.
At the peewee tier 3 championships in Summerland, Langley placed fourth.
The Eagles lost 6-5 to Dawson Creek in the bronze-medal game on Friday.
It was the second straight one-goal loss for the team in the playoff round as they fell 7-6 to Kelowna in the semifinals.
Langley was 4-0 in round robin, beating Summerland 8-3, Prince George 10-2, 6-2 over Whitehorse and 7-3 against Terrace.
And at the bantam tier 2 provincials hosted by Hollyburn, Langley was 1-5.
The Eagles edged Campbell Valley 2-1 but lost 7-5 to Port Moody, 6-1 to South Zone, 4-2 to Prince George, 5-2 to Fort St. John and 6-3 to Hollyburn.
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