The Williams Lake Peewee Timberwolves claimed a silver medal during the weekend at the Penticton Tier 2 Hockey Tournament.
Williams Lake opened up its round robin Friday evening with a 6-1 thumping of Chilliwack, before edging a tough Salmon Arm squad, 7-3. In its final round robin game, the Timberwolves downed Seattle, 10-4.
“On Friday night we were without our captain, Declan Pocock, who was up sick the night before so he wasn’t able to play and the boys came out with a big win,” Peewee T-wolves head coach Todd Isnardy said. “Every player realized we were without a big piece of our team and really stepped up their game, and it was amazing to see.”
Another highlight from the round robin came when the Timberwolves, tied 3-3 with Seattle, rallied to score seven goals in the third period in the 10-4 victory.
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“Heading into the third I just said it’s [the effort’s] got to come from your hearts,” Isnardy said. “Aiden Fulton stepped up and came out of the gate and started it for the team, and everybody responded and stepped up to that level.”
The perfect 3-0 record set the T-wolves up for a date with Greater Trail — a very strong team, Isnardy said — in the semifinal, where Williams Lake skated to a 5-2 victory to advance to the tournament championship.
In the gold-medal game Williams Lake ran into a tough Kelowna team, falling 8-0.
“They were something else, and just a really, really good hockey team,” Isnardy said. “But the guys never gave up, and kept going.”
Isnardy pointed to T-wolves goaltender Darian Louie between the pipes, along with players Carter Boomer, Blake Pigeon, Ian Forster and Eli Schwaller — who chipped in with the team’s first hat trick of the season — as having outstanding tournaments.
“They were rocks for us all weekend,” he said.
Isnardy added the result is due to the hard work of his players since they formed as a team to start the 2018/19 campaign.
“When we went down to West Kelowna earlier this season, we weren’t a team yet,” he said. “But we’ve been really putting the miles on in practice and, as a coaching staff, have been pushing the players, and the players have been pushing themselves.
“Teams that finished well ahead of us in West Kelowna were in our rear view mirror, and it’s great to see the team come together to play a real team game.”
The Williams Lake Peewee Timberwolves next action will be their home tournament coming up Nov. 16-18 at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.
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Visiting teams will include Prince George, Smithers and Quesnel.
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