Kitimat is used to shoveling through 10 feet or more of snow each winter. But the way Burnaby Winter Club A3 team ploughed through the opposition at the B.C. peewee Tier 3 hockey championships in the Northwest corner of the province was something else altogether.
The winter club A3s were a perfect 5-0 at the B.C. minor peewee championships, winning its first provincial banner for head coach Ernie Bone following a 10-2 victory over Vancouver Island’s Tri Port club on March 18.
“I was surprised to be honest,” said Bone, who had won a single bronze medal at four previous trips to the provincials.
With only two lines and 11 skaters, and playing longer 20-minute periods at the provincials, Bone can be excused for being a trifle shocked that his boys appeared to play much of their best hockey in the later periods.
“It was a flawless tournament,” Bone said, while giving kudos to the Burnaby Winter Club’s total embrace, following Canada’s development structure of teaching skating, passing and shooting skills.
“Hats off to the winter club, its system is second to none,” Bone said.
In 10 playoff games, including provincials, the A3 team outscored its combined opposition 98-16, including 58-11 at the B.C. championships in Terrace.
Gagandeep Manhas and Depkaran Hans shared top spot in scoring at the provincials with 26 points apiece. Manhas led the team with 18 goals, while Hans had nine goals and 17 assists.
In the championship final, Manhas had five goals and one assist, while Hans had two goals and four helpers. Isiah Colina also chipped in with a goal and Nicolas Ardanaz, who was a late addition to the team, gave a strong two-way effort on defence.
Starter Brandon Zetina Naidu and Damian Perozic, who came in for the final period, shared the goalkeeping duties for the club.
Burnaby Winter Club defeated Lower Mainland rival Arbutus Club 5-1 in the semifinal. Ryan Favaro got the game-winner for Burnaby on the line with Tyler Schweitzer and Marshall McDonald. Joey Craddock had an outstanding semifinal game on defence.
“It was pretty emotional even from a coaching standpoint,” said Bone.“I’ve coached for 25 years – it’s the ultimate goal for every season. It doesn’t matter if you’re A1 to A4, it’s hard to win. … But our players made the coaches look good. They played lights out.”
Burnaby Winter Club’s A1 peewee team was equally dominant, piling up a 37-10 goals for and against total, including a 9-0 victory over Juan de Fuca in the banner final, to win gold at the Tier 1 provincials in Semiahmoo.
Trevor Wong, Johnny Evans and Kyler Kovich led the way with two goals apiece, while Kaelen Szeto, Justin Sourdif and Ryan Helliwell chipped in with single markers. Dante Giannuzzi recorded the shutout in the gold-medal final.
“This group has done well since atoms,” said peewee A1 manager and club president Steve Fabbro. “It is a very deep team – three solid lines, defence and goaltending – just unstoppable.”
The A1s were easy winners over Prince George, host Semiahmoo and the North Shore Winter Club in round-robin play. They also doubled Juan de Fuca 10-5 earlier in the tournament. Burnaby’s toughest game was a 4-3 win over 2-2-1 Kelowna in the morning game prior to the final.
Burnaby Winter Club’s A2 peewee team just missed a third club gold medal at the provincials in Prince George.
Burnaby went undefeated in pool play and then knocked off Port Moody 7-5 in the crossover semifinal before falling 8-5 in the Tier 2 gold-medal final.
The A2s placed fourth overall in the regular season in the Pacific Coast Flight 1 league. As the only A2 team in the top flight, Burnaby posted a 9-9-2 record.
The winter club opened with a 7-1 win over Greater Trail, before dumping Campbell River 13-2 and Penticton 8-0.
In the bantam division, Burnaby Winter Club finished with an overall record of 3-2 at the Tier 1 provincials in Kelowna.
“It’s been a very successful year at the winter club as a whole. It shows we’re going in the right direction,” said Fabbro.
The winter club’s atom A1 and A2 teams also went as far as they could, winning the Final Four final and Flight 1 President’s League banners, respectively.
“Our ’02-03 group is very deep right now. Atom and peewees are very strong at the winter club. When you mix high-end kids with good coaching, you get good results,” Fabbro added.
The club’s second-year Elite 15s academy team was unlucky at the Canadian Sport School Hockey League finals in Penticton last week, falling 3-2 to Yale following a two-goal, third-period comeback by the Abbotsford academy team.
The comeback win was a second consecutive victory for Yale in the midget academy provincial final.
Logan Bromhead and Angus Crookshank scored single goals for Burnaby.
The academy under-18 team also had a competitive first season in the prep division earning a top-eight finish and a spot in the playoffs, Fabbro added.
