The Cowichan Valley Capitals kicked off their BCHL exhibition season with a road win Friday, Sept. 6 against the Nanaimo Clippers. Cowichan found themselves down 2-1 after the first period of play but battled back to a 4-3 lead after two periods of play, and ultimately a 6-3 victory.
Forward Hayden Fechner scored a pair for the Caps while forwards Cole Keen, Kent Moors, Jordan Bax, and Brayden Krawczyk each potted singles.
All told, 12 of the team's 19 skaters earned at least one point in the contest while goalie Dylan Krick played all 60 minutes between the pipes for the win, making 18 saves on 21 shots.
The Caps rolled that momentum into their home game the following night, Sept. 7, when they hosted the Victoria Grizzlies.
The lineup was a little different as the coaching staff evaluated players, but the result was the same, the team powered to four goals in the first period alone.
Victoria got one back in the second but the Caps pulled out two more and one in the third, sandwiched between a pair of goals by the Grizz, to end the night on top 7-3.
Returning star Darius Bachler netted two while defender Frederic Dechenes and forward Caden Bell added the other two first-period markers. Centres Luca Primerano and Bax both scored in the second and D-man Andoni Fimis netted the Caps' lone goal in the third.
Alexei Noskov got the call in goal, casting aside 44 of 47 shots faced for the win.
Through the two games, 10 different players scored at least one goal.
Cowichan head coach Cam Keith said this year fans can expect to see a high-octane, offensive, attacking team in a positionless five-player system.
"If we are playing our best hockey you won't be able to tell who the D-men are," he said. "The skating and skill-sets that our D-men are showing is fun to watch," Keith added. "We are seeing a lot of early chemistry from our forward group as well. We have some hard decisions to make with the depth."
The Capitals wrap up their pre-season this weekend, playing in Port Alberni against the Bulldogs on Friday night at 7 p.m. and at home versus the Powell River Kings on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Prior to that, the annual Bill Dellebuur intersquad game took place on Sunday, Sept. 8., raising money for the Cowichan District Hospital Foundation. It was a close contest but Team Red won 10-9 over Team White.
