The peewee A2 Cowichan Valley Capitals won the silver medal at the Peewee Ice Breaker Tournament in Abbotsford over the Thanksgiving long weekend.
Capitals coach Mike Ganter was pleased with the performance, which saw the team finish with three wins, one tie and one loss.
“I thought they played well as a team,” he said. “We had a good goaltending performance from both goalies [Brendon Wilson and Ben Clark]. Overall, we had good defence, and we limited the amount of opposition scoring chances.
“I was really pleased with the effort level and disciplined hockey that they played. We had very few penalties. It was a good way to start the season.”
The Capitals opened the tournament by tying Kelowna A2 3-3 on goals by Richard Bergman, Carson Lesiuk and Evan Mayer, with Walker Smith providing two assists, while Anthony Wilson, Bryce Burnett and Trekker James had one helper apiece.
Next, Cowichan won 2-0 over Seattle-area Sno-King A1 behind Clark’s shutout goaltending. Bergman finished with a goal and an assist, while Walker Smith also scored, and Kyler Smith, Ryland Smith and Robert Christenson had helpers.
The Capitals edged Abbotsford’s A2 team 2-1 after that on goals by Bergman and Burnett, with Lesiuk, Anthony Wilson, Walker Smith and Isaiah Coyne providing assists.
In their last game before the final, the Capitals beat Chilliwack A2 3-2 in overtime. Burnett, Lesiuk and Kyler Smith scored the goals, on assists by Christenson and Walker Smith.
In the final game against Vancouver A1, Cowichan fell behind 3-0 in the first period, but battled back to tie it 4-4 with just under seven minutes left in the third before losing 6-4. Kyler Smith scored twice and Burnett had a goal and an assist, while Lesiuk also scored and Ryland Smith added another helper.
The Capitals carried their strong play from the tournament into the following weekend, beating Kerry Park 8-0 and Nanaimo’s Tier 1 team 5-3. The team’s next tournament will be in Port Moody on the Remembrance Day long weekend.
