The Sea to Sky Bears showed a lot of grit in provincial playoff competition and earned some hardware for their effort.
The U15 A1 team rocked their first game against Cranbrook. In the Capital News Centre in Kelowna, the team beat the Cranbrook Bucks 7 to 3 on March 20.
This came a day after arriving in Kelowna, with each team member dying their hair bleach blonde for good luck. Turns out the hair may have worked.
In the afternoon on March 21, the U15 A1 team tied the Fort St. John, 2 to 2. But on March 22, the team played impressively as they topped the Peninsula Eagles, 7 to 3, and later beat the hometown Kelowna, 6 to 3.
In the semi-final game, the squad took a commanding lead into the third period against Greater Trail, 2 to 0, and then held them scoreless with a final score of 3 to 0 to head to the championship game against Port Coquitlam.
They faced off against Port Coquitlam late on March 23 for a shot at the gold medal. Port Coquitlam had not lost or tied in the tournament and only had four goals scored against them.
In the championship game, the Bears put up a huge fight going toe-to-toe with Port Coquitlam. Unfortunately, Port Coquitlam outlasted the Bears by a score of 5 to 4.
The Bears, however, put up the biggest fight against them that they had seen in the tournament and earned the silver medal in the competition.
U18 A1 Team
The U18 A1 team got off to a quick start in the 2023 U18 Tier 2 Championship in the Ladner Leisure Centre in Delta.
On March 19, they took on Penticton and handily beat them 5 to 1. The next day, they took on the Peninsula Eagles and won 5 to 2. On March 21, the Bears narrowly edged out the Cranbrook Bucks, 6 to 5, to move on to the semi-final game on March 22.
In the semi-final game, the Bears faced Cloverdale, who just barely beat the Bears by a score of 3 to 1.
Despite the loss, the Bears bounced back in the bronze medal game against Penticton. The team wasted no time and eventually shut out Penticton, 7 to 0.
Mason Fieldhouse earned player of the game honours in the first win, whereas Brad Hunter and Dan Moses shared the honour after the second victory, according to the team’s Facebook page. Sam Molinaro earned the honour after the game-tying goal and go-ahead goal in the win versus the Cranbrook Bucks. Kieran Rice earned the honours in the semi-final game.
Forward Jaxon Kearns earned fourth place point earner in the tournament with nine points over five games. Forwards Daunte Glover and Dan Moses each tied for 10th with six points.
“What a way for our graduating players — Brady Reed, Kieran Rice, Tyler Friesen, Daunte Glover, Joel Mazzotti, Ben Cooper, Noel Harper and Charlie McLatchie — to finish off their minor hockey careers!” reads a Facebook post congratulating the team.
U18 A2 Team
Although the U18 A2 squad did not qualify for the provincial playoffs, they finished their season strong with a huge push in the playoffs.
Highlights for the team included a comeback four-point series win against South Delta. After losing the first game, the team dominated its next two games, with final scores of 4 to 1 and 8 to 1, to move on to the next round.
For more information about the Sea to Sky Bears, check out its website at SeaToSkyBears.com or its Facebook page. You can also view stats and scores from the provincial tournaments at BCHockey.net.
