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Lake Cowichan Kraken end junior B season with a win

For the second-straight time in their two-year franchise history, the Lake Cowichan Kraken ended the season just outside of the playoffs, looking up at their expansion-mates, the Port Alberni Bombers, who nabbed the last playoff position at the 11th hour.
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Outgoing Kraken captain Sukhraj Narwall looks across the ice with head coach James Gaertner looking on in behind. (Todd Blumel photo)

For the second-straight time in their two-year franchise history, the Lake Cowichan Kraken ended the season just outside of the playoffs, looking up at their expansion-mates, the Port Alberni Bombers, who nabbed the last playoff position at the 11th hour.

The Kraken had to beat both the league-leading Oceanside Generals as well as the cellar-dwelling Nanaimo Buccaneers to keep their hope alive but their post-season goal ended with a 10-1 loss to Oceanside in Oceanside, after a snowy drive up-Island on Feb. 22.

Oceanside tallied all 10 of their goals before Charlie Williams scored at 16:29 of the third for the Kraken.

The Kraken ended their season with a 4-3 win at home against the Buccaneers on Feb. 26.

Team Captain Sukhraj Narwal set the tone early, opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at 1:40 of the first period but Nanaimo quickly answered back and the teams went into the first intermission tied at a goal each.

Narwal assisted on a Mitchell Billings goal to give the Kraken a one goal lead in the second but the Buccaneers countered with two to take a 3-2 lead into the third period.

Lake Cowichan pushed early in the third and Anthony Wilson and Richard Bergman scored at 2:33 and 4:46 respectively. Assists went to Jacob Campbell and Bergman on the Wilson goal and Narwal and Ayden Baldo on the Bergman marker.

Logan Moorhead earned the win in net, casting aside 26 of 29 shots faced.

“I’m very happy with our team and the progress and growth the young men have displayed over the course of the season,” said Kraken head coach James Gaertner. “We went through a large stretch of injury and illness early in the year making it tough to gain in the standings as we had hoped to, however through that adversity our guys never stopped competing. Unfortunately we let a few games over the course of the season slip away from us, which cost us the points we needed.”

Despite coming just short of their overall goals, there were still some bright spots for the second-year team. Three Kraken players were nominated for VIJHL awards: Narwal for the Mac MacWilliams Memorial Trophy recognizing the league’s unsung hero, as well as Billings and Campbell, both for the Jamie Robertson Trophy, which is awarded in recognition of sportsmanship and agility.

Narwal and Billings have completed their junior B hockey careers, having aged out of the league, while Campbell has one more year of eligibility.

Gaertner is hopeful next season his squad will advance to the next level after gaining more confidence this year.

“The lessons learned and ability gained over these setbacks strongly aided in our ability to go toe-to-toe with the top teams in the league with wins and overtime showings against Comox, Peninsula, Victoria, Saanich and Campbell River,” he said. “We are all looking forward to next season, starting it off with a bang.”



Sarah Simpson

About the Author: Sarah Simpson

I started my time with Black Press Media as an intern, before joining the Citizen in the summer of 2004.
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