Submitted to The Record
The TD Wealth Atom A Chiefs won the Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association (VIAHA) Division 2 championship last weekend in Kerry Park.
The weekend started out with a semifinal game vs Sooke that went back and forth until the end of the third period where the Chiefs scored three goals in five minutes. The Chiefs ended up taking the win with a score of 8-5 putting them into the finals against the Campbell River Tyees.
Comox started off with a bang and buried the puck 10 seconds after it dropped. Campbell River answered with a quick goal after that but the Chiefs went up 6-2 by the end of the second period. When the third period started the Tyes began a rally with two quick goals, but the Chiefs held on for a 7-4 victory and came home with a banner to hang proudly in their home rink.
Comox Valley Chiefs’ head coach, Ivan Lee, now has back-to-back VIAHA Atom Division 2 banners. Of course, a team doesn’t run on one superstar player or just one coach.
The Chiefs were successful this season because every single player had equal ice time and were supported by a huge coaching staff. Cody King, Josh Oakley, Stu Carmichael, James Harvie were on the roster as assistant coaches but the kids were lucky to also have a great lineup of dads who came out to help as well. Skills coach Cameron Knox of High Calibre put many hours into coaching the team this season and the hard work paid off. Many thanks to Cam and High Calibre coaches.
Managers Heidi Grootendorst and Vicky Sawchuck are thankful to have had great safety people like Regan Jamieson and Barb Rea who were always willing to help in the change room and out. Also, a big thank you to Tracy Kindrachuck for being our go-to timekeeper - the job that nobody wants to do! And to Jeremy Grootendorst for being the best 50/50 guy and #1 fan.