The coaching staff of the Squamish Pee Wee Rep Eagles have been losing their hair lately over the team's play. And that's a good sign.
The Pee Wees went on an eight game winning streak and won the league banner for their tier for the third year in a row."We were pretty excited," said Murray Thrower, the Eagles head coach. "Personally, I couldn't be prouder of them. Their backs were against the wall for a long time."
The season was looking less than promising. They lost the first two games after the Christmas break against Ridge/Meadows and Semiahmoo, and dropped to fourth place in the tier with a 6-5-1 record. There was only one thing left to do - win the next eight games in a row.
Thrower made his team a deal. If they won five games, Thrower would shave his head. If the team continued to win, there would be more head shavings. If they lost, the players would face the razor.
"It was for motivation, but it was in support as well," said Thrower, whose wife Melanie had lost her hair during chemotherapy.Squamish first faced Seafair, winning 6-2. Then the Eagles finished off Port Moody with an 8-0 victory. Then came the best game of the year: a 2-1 victory over Sechelt.
"We had to play our best game to beat them 2-1," Thrower said.
North Vancouver was taken care of with a 7-1 score.
"They played very well," Thrower said. "Once we started to score we blew it open."
Then the Eagles beat Coquitlam 6-1, and Thrower lost his hair.
By the time the home team took on Port Coquitlam, there were tied for first place in the tier.
"This was the pivotal game in our season. We played incredibly well in this particular game. We hit a lot of posts and we really out played the team."
Tanner Slee scored two goals during the match - and his father Andy Slee had his head shaved.
The Eagles hit a bit of a snag in the next match against the Vancouver Thunderbirds, the last-place team in the league.
"I think we got caught looking ahead to the Hollyburn game," Thrower said. "We knew we were tied with Hollyburn. I think we overlooked the last place team."
In the third period the Eagles were losing 1-0. But Logan Aldridge scored two goals, securing a 2-1 victory - and the shears for assistant coach Randy Peterson.
On Feb. 5, the Eagles came face to face with Hollyburn.
"It was a good game," Thrower said. "Everybody knew what was on the line."
The Squamish team came through with a 4-1 victory, outshooting their rivals to win the league.
"They earned it," Thrower said. "They showed up every game. Each player contributed."
The eight-game winning streak was a massive team effort.
"They all played well. They played as well as they could. Tanner Slee, Logan Aldridge, and Dylan Mooney, they were our top offensive line," Thrower said. "Logan was probably leading goal getter. Dylan Mooney started to score being on the line."Mooney wasn't the only one who started to score. Dalton Thrower, Ryan Olsen, Connor MacDougall, Trevor Leblanc and Jeremy Hay all had multi-goal games.
"Trevor Leblanc has been our most valuable player all season long," Thrower said.
Lori Knox, Dalton Thrower and Leblanc pulled together the defense, but the forward Jared Wilhelm broke his wrist in the game against Semiahmoo - the same game Knox returned from her broken arm.
And the team relied heavily on its goalies Corey Koop and Johann Peterson.
"Our goalies allowed the fewest number of goals in the league," Thrower said. During the eight game winning streak, they only allowed eight goals.
Thrower said Spencer Johnston, Matthew Johnston, Connor MacDougall, Trevor Halverson and Tanner Slee were diligent in their back check efforts as well.
The team will be playing next in the President's Cup series against Lower Mainland teams. The schedule has not yet been set.
