Five former Cowichan Valley Capitals and a couple of Cowichan-born players represented their universities at the NCAA Div. 1 men’s ice hockey national tournament, which began March 23.
Former Caps David Melaragni (Canisius), Luc Wilson (Minnesota State), Zach Borgiel (Merrimack), Sean Driscoll (Boston University), and Hugh Larkin (Western Michigan), were among the 104 BCHL alumni taking part in college hockey’s premier event, along with Chemainus-born goalie John Hawthorne (Canisius) and Duncan product Ben Berard (Cornell).
The first round of NCAA Div. 1 men’s ice hockey national tournament games were held March 23-24.
On March 23, Melaragni’s and Hawthorne’s Canisius fell 9-2 to No. 1-ranked Minnesota, knocking them out of the event.
A blueliner, Melaragni had played a year with the Nanaimo Clippers before suiting up for Cowichan in 2018-19, where he tallied 57 regular season and 12 playoff appearances for Duncan’s BCHL team.
Hawthorne spent his BCHL days with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, playing in 102 regular and postseason games.
On March 23, Wilson’s Minnesota State fell 4-0 to St. Cloud State, ousting them from the tournament in the first round as well.
Born in Duncan, Wilson had a stint with the Caps during the 2017-18 season, playing seven games that year. The forward went on to play two more full seasons (116 games, including playoffs) with Cowichan before moving to the Penticton Vees for his final 89 BCHL games.
On March 23 Borgiel’s Merrimack University met Quinnipiac. The latter team won 5-0, making Borgiel’s tournament appearance a short one.
Borgiel had played with Wilson on the Capitals during the 2019-20 season, amassing 30 wins in 49 games for Cowichan, including a 4-1 record in the playoffs.
Driscoll’s and Larkin’s teams met in the first round of the tournament on March 23.
Though they both played for the Caps, Driscoll was a defender who played 57 games with Cowichan in the 2016-17 season, while forward Larkin skated in 48 games in the 2017-18 season.
Driscoll’s Boston University took the game 5-1 over Larkin’s Western Michigan, though it appears Driscoll didn’t dress for the game.
And finally, Berard, a senior with Cornell, faced Driscoll and Boston University in the regional finals on March 25 after beating Denver to advance.
Boston won 2-1 leaving Driscoll as the last remaining Cowichan connection in the tournament.
Berard had played his junior A hockey with the Powell River Kings.
Next up, Boston plays Minnesota on April 6 for a chance to play against either Michigan or Quinnipiac in the championship game April 8.
