The peewee A Cowichan Valley Capitals will represent Vancouver Island in the Tier 2 provincial championships after winning the zone playoffs last month.
The Capitals went undefeated in the North Island playoff round robin against Nanaimo, Comox and Campbell River, then won their crossover semifinal with the South Island, beating the Juan de Fuca Grizzlies 9-3.
The Island finals against the Victoria Admirals were a closer battle for the Capitals. Cowichan won 4-3 in the first game at the Big Stick on Feb. 22.
“We ran into penalty issues in the third period,” head coach Mike Ganter noted. “But we managed to hang on.”
The next day’s game in Victoria was a higher-scoring affair, but the Capitals again came out on top, prevailing 8-6.
“In general, we were happy with how everybody played,” Ganter said. “It was another team effort.”
The win gave Cowichan the right to play for a provincial title in Penticton on March 15-20. The Capitals have an impressive record at tournaments this year, going 12-2 to take first in Coquitlam, second at Hollyburn and third at Ridge Meadows, and many of the Cowichan players went to provincials last year as well. There will be several other strong teams at provincials, Ganter pointed out, including Burnaby Winter Club, Semiahmoo and Salmon Arm.
“The competition will be fairly stiff,” he said. “It should be really good.”