Hockey teams love going to out-of-town tournaments because they get to play teams they have never faced before. That’s why it was a little strange when two Comox Valley Peewee teams, the Anco Motel Biters and the Western One Gladiators, travelled the dark and twisty road to the Jan. 7-9 Gold River Hockey Tournament only to face each other in their first game.
Backed by the stellar goaltending of Wilson Beebe, the Gladiators got out to a quick start and were ahead of the division leading Biters 2-0 by the half-way point of the second period before the Biters were able to shake off the effects of the long drive and sneak one past Beebe.
The rest of the game was a closely fought affair with dramatic saves at both ends of the ice, so it was only fitting that the two local clubs ended the game in a 3-3 tie. The MVP for the Gladiators was Beebe while his opposing netminder Shane Lapp picked up the well-deserved award for the Biters.
The next game for the Biters was against the Port Alberni Rebels. The Biters once again staked the opponents to a two-goal lead before waking up and taking control of the game. A hat trick by Kane O’Brian and goals by Liam Janzen and Noah Pellat for the locals were enough to take the “W”. Final score 5-2.
Meanwhile, the Gladiators were busy taking care of their opponents, the Campbell River Bears. Goals by Zak Kozier, Danny Yeo, Alex Jones, and two by Liam Chaba made the 5-2 end result never in doubt.
These two games by the Comox Valley clubs left them tied atop their pool. They had the exact same win/loss/tie record, and the exact same goal differential. Only the fact that the Biters had one fewer penalty than the Gladiators gave them the nudge into first place. Next up was the playoff round.
The Biters next faced the Nanaimo Spitfires, a team that had scored 16 goals in their previous game, but solid play by the Biter D-men, Merin Pearce, Wiley Campbell, and Quinn Ehrler ensured that all Nanaimo attackers were kept in check.
Nevertheless, the Biters once again saw the opposition score first. Most teams would have been discouraged, but the Biters knew they had Nanaimo right where they wanted them. Four goals by Kane O’Brian, three by Liam Janzen, and one by Merin Pearce on a gorgeous run up the ice resulted in an 8-3 Biters’ win. The Biters would face the winner of the game between the Gladiators and their Oceanside opponents in the tournament final.
The game between the Gladiators and the Oceanside Generals was a nail-biter right to the end.
The Comox Valley squad was ahead at the end of the first period on a sweet goal by Alex Jones. He added another one in the second, but the Generals stormed back to tie it up.
In the third period it looked like the Gladiators had it all sewn up after Liam Chaba gave the locals the lead, but once again the Generals came back to tie things up. This meant a shoot-out to determine the winner. Both goalies were perfect in turning away all shooters until Zak Kozier roofed it backhand for the win.
As a result, the two Comox Valley teams faced each other in the final. In one of the most exciting and closely matched games any of the parents watching had ever seen, the teams went into the third period with the Biters leading 2-1 on tip-ins by Liam Janzen and Noah Pellat.
Danny Yeo had the lone goal for the Gladiators to that point, but with five minutes left he scored again to tie it at 2-2. Both teams were preparing for a shoot-out when Biter captain Kane O’Brian made a run up the ice with 10 seconds left on the clock and scored to give the Biters the title.
