The beginning of the AAA Westcoast Elite hockey team's spring season has been an exciting one with many surprises.
"This is this age’s introduction to body checking in hockey, and we as coaches have spent a great amount of time teaching these young hockey players this new skill," a team spokesperson said. "It didn’t take our team long to become introduced to it in a real game situation."
In its first games of the year the squad went 4-0 in round robin play at the Mainland Cup tournament in Vancouver. There were 28 teams from Western Canada in their division.
Westcoast Elite moved to the highest tier to play for the championship against a talented team from the Victoria area. The opposition took the opening faceoff and scored 10 seconds into the first period. The local side worked hard but the score remained 1-0 after three hard-fought periods of.
"You know it was a great game when the parents of both teams are congratulating both teams as they are leaving on a great hockey game," the spokesperson for the silver-medal winning squad said.
Greg Fox of Port McNeill is back as head coach, and Norm Chapdelaine of Campbell River and Conrad Browne of Port McNeill are assistant coaches. Logan Nijhoff, Gabe Schovanek, Jackson Dyke and Mattihas Smith of Courtenay are participating on the team.
"The team is made up of players from Courtenay north as well as Powell River and Port McNeill and has some very talented young players."
Westcoast Elite will play a number of exhibition games and practices while preparing for its next tournament this weekend in Kelowna.
The team would like to thank sponsors Strategic and Steel Pacific.
– AAA Westcoast Elite hockey team