The peewee T3 Cowichan Valley Capitals battled to a first-place finish in the Oceanside Winter Challenge hockey tournament in Parksville on Dec. 27-30
The Capitals trounced Port Alberni 9-2 in the tournament final, getting two goals from Callum Berard and a goal and two assists each from Cameron Papineau and Preston Meadmore. Marcus Parmar and Carson Scyrup each had a goal and one helper, and Caelan Smith-Richards and Porter Williamson also scored. Tucker Klassen earned the win in net as Cowichan outshot Alberni 52-19.
Cowichan’s first game of the tournament was also against Port Alberni, and ended in a similarly lopsided 12-4 victory for the Capitals. Eleven different players had multi-point games for Cowichan, including Shane Ritchie (2G, 2A), Smith-Richards (2G), Papineau (1G, 2A), Cohen Ayers (1G, 2A), Cole Byrne (1G, 1A), Scyrup (1G, 1A), Easton Jubenville (1G, 1A), Nicholas Dawson (3A), Parmar (2A), Blake Elzinga (2A) and Meadmore (2A), with Klassen getting the win.
Next up, Jubenville had a goal and two helpers to lead Cowichan to a 4-3 win over Tri-Port. Williamson, Scyrup and Ritchie also scored, while Gavin Clarahan made 43 saves for the win as Tri-Port outshot Cowichan 46-32.
The Capitals dropped their last round-robin game 3-1 to Oceanside, with their lone goal coming off the stick of Scyrup.
Cowichan then rolled past Tri-Port with a 6-2 win in the semifinal. Jubenville and Scyrup each sniped a pair, Williamson and Smith-Richards had singles, Adam Elzinga had two assists, and Clarahan had 31 saves for the win.
The peewee Capitals are led by head coach Clynton Burnett and assistants Landon Ritchie, Brent Scyrup and Jason Jubenville. Their manager is Jennifer Ritchie.