Morning Star Staff
On paper, it appears Shawn Webb is running a hockey daycare.
On the ice, his young North Okanagan Knights are acting like full grown adults since being given the run of the rink a month or so ago.
The kiddie corps exploded Saturday night as the Knights ambushed the host Princeton Posse 10-3 in front of 175 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League fans.
Since losing veterans Tanner Cochrane, Mat Lambert and Anthony Ruggiero, Webb is now head coach of a team averaging 17.5 years. And the youth movement is working with the Knights winners in five of their last seven games.
“We scored on our very first shift (Ryan Kelm’s first of three) and it could have been way worse,” said Webb. “We deserved to win Friday (2-1 loss to Kelowna Chiefs) but we weren’t bearing down on our chances.”
Vernon Home Building Centre Midget Tier 1 call-ups Cole Woodliffe, Jeff Bochon and Layne Greene all received regular shifts in Princeton.
Woodliffe, 16, fit in nicely on a line with three-year veteran Brett Hawrys and 17-year-old rookie Dennon Leibel, scoring twice.
“Woody drove the net from the corner and was just getting beat up in front, but stuck in there, and from his back, used his backhand to move the puck and score,” said Webb. “It was a very smart play.”
The Knights enjoyed period leads of 5-1 and 7-2 and got 2+3 from Hawrys and a deuce from Blake Culbert. D-man Ryley Booth added a single, while Logan Geefs and Bochon each netted two assists.
“Hawrys is on fire right now,” said Webb, of the two-sport star (plays Junior A lacrosse for Nanaimo Timbermen). “He’s in a whole other zone and everybody is following. He’s going: ‘Let’s go boys.’”
Hawrys, who turns 20 in July, leads North Okanagan with 13 goals and 36 points in 43 games.
Kelm, a 17-year-old rookie from Victoria, is improving big time since coming off injured reserve, and has 10 goals in just 28 games. He completed his hatty into an empty net with six seconds left.
Dalton Dubetz, with a deuce, and Brandon Workun replied for the Posse (13-24-05). Red-hot Zach Dyment, 17, made 24 saves as the Knights improved to 21-21-0-1. They are fourth in the Okanagan Division and 11th overall out of 20 teams.
ICE CHIPS: Knights’ rookie Blaine Caton, 16, was up with the BCHL Vipers…The Knights are four points back of the Osoyoos Coyotes with eight games remaining…North Okanagan visits the second-place Summerland Steam Friday night and take on the Coyotes Saturday night at the Sun Bowl. The Steam are in Armstrong next Wednesday.
