The most successful Cowichan Valley midget A hockey team in several years is making a push for the provincial championships.
The midget Capitals, sponsored by DaxTech IT Solutions, won the first two games of their three-game South Island round robin tournament last weekend, and are inching closer to representing the Island at provincials.
Reaching the provincial tournament in Port Coquitlam has been the team’s aim all season, and coach Keith Mazurenko believes they can do it.
“I think we have a reasonable shot at B.C.’s,” he said. “That’s our ultimate goal.”
The Capitals have been playing a high level of hockey all season, qualifying for the Tier 1 Island league even though the Cowichan minor hockey association is designated as Tier 2.
“It’s been quite a few years since a Cowichan team was able to qualify for Tier 1,” Mazurenko said. “It’s nice to play the highest tiering level for the Island. It’s better competition and more fun for the guys.”
The Capitals have been a middle-of-the-pack team in the standings, holding their own in the higher tier.
“We’ve had a tough time with injuries this year,” Mazurenko said. “We’ve been short some pretty key guys at times. It’s getting better. We’ve got most of them back.”
Outside of league play, the team finished second at a Remembrance Day tournament in Abbotsford, losing in the final to a team from Calgary, then took gold at a Christmas break tournament in Comox.
For playoffs, the Capitals have to play in the Tier 2 ranks, because of the size of their association, but they have the advantage of facing top competition all year.
“That’s one of the reasons you want to get into Tier 1,” Mazurenko said. “It’s a big plus for the boys to play Tier 1 all season.”
Mazurenko likes that the players themselves have taken a leadership role on the team.
“We have a nucleus of five third-year midgets; they’re all veteran players and good leaders.”
Cowichan opened the playoffs last Saturday, riding Chris Akerman’s shutout goaltending to a 3-0 win over Saanich. Shane Whitefield scored twice, Rhys Mazurenko had a goal and an assist, and Brendan Hogg added one helper.
Captain Riley Windsor factored into every goal the next day with two goals and five assists as the Capitals trounced Juan de Fuca 7-1. Parker Bergstrom scored four goals and set up one, Thomas Webber had a goal and an assist, and Luke Handel had two assists. Trent Baslee stood tall in net.
The Capitals will wrap up the round robin with a road game against Peninsula this Saturday. Peninsula also won their first two games, and the winner on Saturday will get the top seed as the top two South Island teams face the top two North Island teams in the next round of the playoffs.
The first-place team from the South will face the second-place team from the North in a one-game playoff, while the second-place South team faces the second-place North team. The winners of those games meet in a best-of-three series, with the winner going to provincials.
Cowichan has split the season series with Peninsula, so this will be anybody’s game, but Mazurenko is confident.
“I think things are pretty optimistic,” he said. “We have a team that can to it. They just have to put it together at the right time.”