Three teams got off to a winning start on day one of the B.C. Midget Tier 1 minor hockey championships.
Action got underway Sunday at the seven-team event, which runs March 15-19 with Happy's Source for Sports Chiefs the host team.
Vancouver Island champs Happy's played the feature game Sunday night after the opening ceremonies and were thumped 8-0 by Prince George. The teams were scoreless after one period with P.G. potting four goals in each of the second and third periods.
Chris Metcalfe and Markus Plamondon paced Prince George with two goals each while Jamie Ferguson earned the 16-save shutout. Chiefs' netminder Jared Leblanc made 28 saves.
Action got underway at 10:30 a.m. Sunday with PCAHA champion Seafair blanking North Central district reps Prince George 3-0, with all the scoring coming in the first period.
At 1:30 p.m. PCAHA runner-up North Vancouver and Vancouver Island runner-up Nanaimo skated to a 2-2 tie, with Nanaimo netting the equalizer midway through the third.
In the 4:30 p.m. tilt, Kelowna clipped the Northeast Trackers 6-2, building period leads of 3-0 and 2-1. Spencer Copan led Kelowna with two goals while D-man Shawn Emilio Guison contributed four assists.
The tourney continued Monday, with Comox Valley going up against North Vancouver. Scores were unavailable at press time.
Play resumes today with Comox Valley vs. Nanaimo at 8 a.m., Seafair vs. Northeast Trackers at 11 a.m., Prince George vs. North Vancouver at 2 p.m., Kelowna vs. Comox Valley at 5 p.m. and Nanaimo vs. Northeast Trackers at 8 p.m.
Wednesday's games go at 11 a.m. (Nanaimo vs. Seafair), 2 p.m. (Northeast Trackers vs. North Vancouver), 5 p.m. (Kelowna vs. Prince George) and 8 p.m. (Comox Valley vs. Seafair).
The round-robin portion of the championship concludes Thursday, with North Vancouver vs. Kelowna at 8 a.m., Nanaimo vs. Prince George at 11 a.m. and Northeast Trackers vs. Comox Valley at 2 p.m.
The top two teams meet at 8 p.m. for the B.C. championship. All games are Comox Valley Sports Centre Arena #1, with admission by donation.
Fans can follow the action at cvmha.goaline.ca, which has the schedule, scores and a link to watch all games live.
ICE CHIPS On Monday, Seafair (2-0) rallied from a 3-2 deficit to defeat North Vancouver (0-1-1) 4-3 in the 8 a.m. game while Kelowna (2-0) built a 4-1 lead then hung on to defeat Nanaimo (0-1-1) 4-3 in the 11 a.m. contest ...Courtenay mayor Larry Jangula was on hand to drop the ceremonial first puck at Sunday night's opening ceremonies …