Four wins in five games at their own tournament on the weekend may be just a hint of things to come for the Central Zone Bantam Tier 1 Rockets.
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“In a very short time the boys have learned to play as a team — both positionally and as a group,” said Rockets head coach, Lee Hamilton, after his team’s only loss, a 4-2 decision to the North Vancouver Storm in the championship game on Sunday at the CNC. “They’re open and hungry for knowledge, and in turn execute what is being supplied to them. They are a great group of kids (with a great parent group) and I believe there will be a lot of success this year because of their attitude.”
Reeling off four straight wins in the eight-team event — three in round-robin play and one in a semifinal — the Rockets met North Van in the final having edged the same Storm team 3-2 in pool play.
Goals by Remy Spooner and Joel Partrick staked the Central Zone to a 2-0 lead by the first minute of the second period, but a pair of shorthanded goals by North Van proved to be the demise of the hosts.
The Storm added a third goal in the middle frame to take a 3-2 lead into the third and capped the come-from-behind victory with a breakaway tally with 8:05 remaining.
“Those two shorties certainly took the momentum away from us, but the boys never lost their competitive edge and North Van did a good job of keeping us boxed out in the second half of the game,” pointed out Hamilton, whose team, backstopped by goaltender Xander Stone, was outshot 33-19.
The Rockets had earned a berth in the championship game by edging a big and physical Abbotsford Hawks team 5-3 in semifinal play earlier on Sunday.
Second-period goals by Tenzin Bogardis, Spooner and Stavros Koutsantonis put the Central Zone up 3-2 going into the final 20 minutes, but Abby pulled into a tie 5:19 of the third.
Just over three minutes later, the Rockets’ Cameron Hicklin responded with what would stand up as the winning goal. Koutsantonis put the game away with an empty-netter.
“It was our second straight character win,” noted Hamilton, who went with Zach Yousif in goal. “I’m so impressed with our resiliency and will to battle. It was a close game that saw great chances on both sides. Abbotsford is big, but our team was relentless in its attacks and kept the Hawks on their heels, eventually finding opportunities and burying them.”
In their final round-robin matchup that earned them first place in their pool, the Rockets again displayed their mettle to defeat North Van 3-2.
Trailing 1-0, the Rockets pulled even on Max Graham’s goal with 1:23 left in the first period. The hosts took their first lead at 7:19 of the third on a goal by Bogardis, only to have the Storm get the equalizer with 5:22 left.
The Rockets came right back on the next shift to score the winner, captain Dawson Head’s shot from the point finding the back of the net with traffic in front.
“That was our first character win,” said Hamilton. “That second goal by Abbotsford could have easily deflated the team, but instead the kids came back and scored. They did a great job of bottling up the middle of the ice the rest of the way.”
The Rockets, playing in their first tournament of the season, opened the weekend by doubling the North Zone Kings 4-2, scoring three goals in the first period (Spooner, Teague Patton and Riley Siebert) and controlling the game the rest of the way. Patton scored his second goal midway through the third.
Three goals in the first period and two more in the second were more than enough as the Rockets downed the Vancouver T-Birds 6-2 in their second round-robin game.
Hicklin completed a hat trick to lead the Rockets offensively while Head, Koutsantonis and Connor Sankey added a goal apiece.
Coach Hamilton said the team’s cohesiveness and resolve were keys to success throughout the weekend.
“They never gave up, although they had opportunities to do so. I really like their overall attitude towards the game and the fact that they’ve come to believe and trust in each other in such a short period of time.”
The team of 13-and-14-year-olds resume tournament play in Richmond this weekend. As well as competing in the Okanagan Mainline Minor Hockey Association regular season, the Rockets will also take part tournaments in Vernon, Burnaby and Kelowna in preparation for the OMAHA playoffs.
The winner of the playoffs will represent the zone at the provincial bantam tier 1 championship tournament being held in Nanaimo in March.
Rounding out the Rockets team, also coached by Thomas Abanante and managed by Jeff Patton, are Sullivan Curran, Tyson Jugnauth, Lynden Hanvold, Ridge Dawson, Jacob Rogers, Ethan Bruce and Joel Barton.
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