Squamish hockey players took fifth place during the 'Game On Adventure Series' tournament at the beginning of the month.
The event, which took place in Brennan Park Arena from Jan. 3 to 5, pitted locals against talent from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
Over the course of the tourney, the Squamish boys and girls from the Bantam C1 Eagles won three of the four games they played. They were also courteous enough to win four sportsmanship points.
Organizers say North Delta took bronze, Port Moody placed silver and Aldergrove snagged gold.
Squamish's performance started off with a slight hitch. The Eagles took a 2-6 loss against North Delta.
However, against the Langley team, which also happens to be named the Eagles, the Squamish players proved to be the pluckier birds of prey. Locals won 3-2 in that match.
Squamish again took the win against Victoria. The official results are missing for that match, presumably due to some last-minute time shifts, but organizer Lisa Turpin recalls that the local team beat the players from the capital city 5-3.
The final appears to have been a nail-biter.
Turpin says the Port Coquitlam players tied up the game at 2:19 in the third period.
"I thought I was going to get another overtime game," said Turpin.
"No sooner do I see, William Hughes fire the puck off to Michael Austen who blasted it to Brad Hunter and Squamish won with 17 seconds left on the clock."
The final score was 4-3.
There were other ways to win, though, as team spirit awards were given out for good behaviour.
The players from Comox took the win in that category, which meant they had a pizza party delivered to them, along with mini sticks to play on the ferry on the way home.
The runners-up for the award, Aldergrove and North Delta, were given post-game celebrations at Tim Hortons.
"I have tried to brand this new era of tournaments with a Focus on Fun and about being ambassadors for your home association while in our community, including our own teams too," said Turpin.
***This story has been updated as of Jan. 20. The Chief originally reported Squamish took silver, as at press time, that was the result, according to Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association records. Squamish organizers have since said the PCAHA results are not correct. They say the local team in fact placed fifth.
