Two teams represented Powell River Minor Hockey Association at provincial championship tournaments last week. They combined for eight wins in 10 games, and one ended up on the top of the podium.
Kooper Kozmeniuk scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 win for Powell River U15 Kings over Terrace in the gold medal game at the BC Hockey Tier 3 provincial championship in Cranbrook on March 20.
Coach Scott Peters said the final was similar to games during the round-robin portion of the tournament that were close for the first 30 minutes, before Powell River took over.
“We opened up against Trail, who we didn't know much about,” said Peters. “It was relatively close early and then our depth paid off. As those early games went on, we continued to play with pace and kept putting the pressure on teams. In the last half of a lot of the games we just kept it going and the other teams couldn’t keep up.”
During the round-robin, Powell River finished atop Pool A after wins over Ridge Meadows, Greater Trail, Whitehorse and Dawson Creek, then defeated Sunshine Coast Blues handily in the semi-final.
Kozmeniuk’s first goal of the championship game, the eventual game-winner, came three minutes after Lucas Gruntman opened the scoring for the Kings four minutes into the first period.
Terrace cut the deficit to 2-1 midway through the period, but Kesler Brown restored the two-goal lead 59 seconds before intermission.
Following a scoreless middle frame, Kozmeniuk added extra insurance with the only two goals of the third period. He led the 10-team tournament in scoring with 20 goals and five assists in six games.
“Terrace had a shorter bench, but they had a couple of horses who they counted on,” said Peters. “It's a credit to our team where we had a lot more depth than them, which allowed us to keep going and finish them off late in the game, when they seemed to run out of gas.”
With all but five of the U15 players moving up a division next season, Peters expects Powell River’s U18 team, which also made it to provincials this year, to benefit from an influx of talent.
“Our U18 team is going to get a lot of really good all-around players, and good kids; that team should be strong,” said Peters. “The U15 group is going to have 10 to 12 new players. There is going to be a big turnover, but some numbers will be coming up from the younger group. There are great days ahead for our association.”
For the players and coaches, winning the provincial title was a process that has unfolded over several years, explained Peters, who was joined behind the bench by Chad Vizzutti, Jeff Stekman and Chris Brown.
“We've had a lot of trips to the provincials in the last half a dozen years, and this time we weren't satisfied with just going,” added Peters. “We knew it was our time, and we were all ready to take it to the next level and win the championship.”
Whitehorse beat Sunshine Coast 7-5 in the bronze medal game.
U18
Powell River U18 Kings skated to a convincing 7-2 win over the host club from Smithers in their last game at the BC Hockey Tier 3 Championship on March 19.
The win evened the Kings’ record at two wins and two losses in the round-robin portion of the tournament, placing the team third in Pool B behind Whistler and South Okanagan. The top two teams in each pool advanced to the medal round.
Beau Jameson Gagne scored four of Powell River’s seven goals in their final game of the season. Jaxon Peters, Ben Belyea and Evan Piniewski also scored for the Kings. Assists were credited to Piniewski (two), Gagne, Chase Fontaine, Nathan Gruntman, Noah Culos and Lyndon Jacques.
Powell River opened the tournament with a win over Dawson Creek, then suffered losses to South Okanagan and Whistler.
Mission beat Whitehorse in the final. Whistler claimed the bronze medal with a win over South Okanagan.
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