The Rice Toyota Atom A Chiefs scooped the silver medal at a Feb. 4-6 minor hockey Atom development tournament in Campbell River.
The Chiefs were the first to take on the Langley Eagles, a fast, tenacious group from the mainland. Affiliate player Carter Woods made his mark early with a seeing-eye wrist shot through a maze of legs. Gabe Schovanek and “Digger” Ryan Novecosky built the lead before Aleko Karamanis sealed the 4-2 win with a jaw-dropping, bar-down snap shot. Hard-charging Logan Nijhoff was named MVP.
In the first of two Saturday games, the Chiefs spotted the Saanich Braves an early score, but from then on goalies Evan Barker and Isaac L’Arrivee were unbeatable as the Chiefs rolled to an 8-1 win, led by MVP Keenan Toal’s hat trick. Kevin Franceschini’s handy defence earned him the Digger award.
Although they were into the medal round, the Chiefs did not ease up for their second game of the day against the hometown Campbell River Tyees, who were inspired by a boisterous crowd. The Comox Valley boys built a 4-0 lead on the strength of fluid two-way play and relentless checking, but had to hold off a late Tyee charge to take the game 5-3. Digger Jackson Dyke’s forward/defence versatility and MVP Thomas Green’s weaving rushes were key.
The Sunday semifinal game pitted the Chiefs against the Peninsula Eagles, a team they had yet to beat in league play. It was a see-saw affair until Jordan Neufeld, Iain Gillard and Digger Andre Sutter forechecked hard and scored on successive shifts to put the Eagles away 8-4. Chiefs’ captain Karamanis earned MVP honours.
The gold medal game brought a strong opponent in the Powell River Kings, who have rarely lost this season. The Chiefs were able to hold back the tide until late in the second period when Powell River potted three quick goals to create an insurmountable lead on the way to a 7-2 win.
Reid Taylor’s fiery defence earned him the Digger with Novecosky claiming MVP.