Squamishs Corey Koop and his teammates were one win away from sweeping the Peninsula Panthers in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) finals on Monday (March 14), but the Panthers had other plans.
Peninsula avoided elimination in the best-of-seven league finals by hanging on for a 4-2 victory over Koop and the Victoria Cougars. The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, largely on the solid play of Koop in the opening three games.
Before Game 4, Koop had only allowed one goal in the opening three games of the series. He was also named the first star in all three games and posted shutouts in games 2 and 3. However, the Panthers seemed to find an answer for him in Game 4, beating him three times and adding an empty netter.
It was a reversal of what happened between the two teams in the regular season, as the Panthers dominated, winning six of the two teams nine meetings.
We give them too much credit and we need to go into the game and do things our way, Koop said of the Panthers. In our three wins, we dominated them and I think we can do that in the playoffs.
And hes been mostly right, but its been said that the hardest win is often the fourth one and the Cougars were to have an opportunity close it out on Thursday (March 17) in front of their home crowd. Game results were not available at press time.
If the Cougars win the series, they will represent the VIJHL in the Cyclone Taylor Cup provincial championships, which take place from March 31 to April 3 in Fernie.
Konrad Sander, another local hockey talent, also kept his junior hockey career alive after his team, the Delta Ice Hawks, managed to force a Game 7 in their Pacific International Junior Hockey League (PIJHL) semifinal series against Richmond. The Ice Hawks stayed alive after beating the Sockeyes 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday (March 15).
Sander and the Ice Hawks have been involved in an incredibly close series with the Sockeyes that has seen four of the six games head to overtime. Sander predicted that it would be a tight series against Richmond in an interview with The Chief last week.
Its going to be a really good and close series, he said. But I dont think we should have any problems as long as we stay out of the penalty box. All of the games that weve played against Richmond since I got here have been goaltending battles, so I think there should be some late nights and long games.
Game 7 was set for the Minoru Arena in Richmond on Wednesday (March 16) and results were not available by press time. The winner advances to the PIJHL finals against the Abbotsford Pilots. The winner of the PIJHL finals will also make their way to Fernie for the provincial championships.
For more information on the two series, visit www.pijhl.com and www.vijhl.com.
