The Winterhawks fly under the Whistler banner, but they鈥檙e really a Sea to Sky Corridor team, with players and coaches from Squamish, and now they are soaring as PCAHA midget tier three champs.
On Monday night, the team had little trouble beating Coquitlam, the other undefeated team in the final four round robin, 9-3 at Squamish鈥檚 Brennan Park.
While the game remained scoreless through the first, the Winterhawks held most of the play in the offensive zone but generated few chances, at least until Finn Withey and Cody Flann each hit the post.聽
Appropriately, they were the first two to get the home side on the board in the second period. Owen Reith, Luke Parry and Owen Hart added markers later in the period.
In the third, the team opened things up even more, as Xavier Cadoret and Liam Long found the back of the Coquitlam net. With the team coasting towards a banner, it picked up three straight penalties, giving up two goals, and lost head coach Mike Borrelli, who was tossed from the game.聽
With just over a minute left, Cadoret and Tormod Hoff Skarasen finished Coquitlam off with goals only 20 seconds apart. Meanwhile, Squamish鈥檚 Nevin Sandhu was able to hold Coquitlam at bay in net for most of the game.
Afterward, an obviously upset Borrelli had little to say beyond describing the officiating as 鈥渋nconsistent.鈥澛�
Assistant coach Tim Knight said the team, going into the weekend, felt its chances were good but did not want to look past anybody through the round robin.
鈥淲e were confident,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e were in a really good spot.鈥�
The fact that the team started pulling away from Coquitlam midway through the game on Monday came as no surprise, as the team is often able to use its speed to get the advantage on offence and wear teams down.
鈥淚n the second period, we always tend to start pulling away from teams,鈥� Knight said.
While the team had been scheduled to play the last round robin game Monday, the game could have been meaningless had things gone differently in the first two games.
After having little trouble with North Vancouver in the first game, winning 9-2 on Saturday, it squared off against rival Sunshine Coast on Sunday afternoon.聽
With the score knotted up at 4-4 by the midway point, the team started to apply pressure but took a late double minor in the second period.聽
While Sunshine Coast tried to create scoring chances, the real game-breaker occurred on a play that might have been the turning point not only in the game but also in the Winterhawks鈥� whole tournament and bid to make the provincials.
On what looked like would be a routine clearing attempt during the penalty kill, the Winterhawks鈥� Flann threw the puck on net, catching the Sunshine Coast goalie off guard to score a shorthanded goal that left many in the crowd stunned.
It gave the team the boost it needed, as the Winterhawks added two more and held off a late surge by Sunshine Coast for a 7-6 win, sealing a spot in the provincials.
The team will now prepare for the midget provincials to be held March 12 to 17.聽
