Heading into the home stretch, Squamish鈥檚 peewee rep Eagles are having a season to remember.
Already leading its league, the team just celebrated a huge tournament win in Kamloops and has scored more goals than any other peewee rep team on the West Coast.
Coach Tim Knight describes the Kamloops tournament as one of the highlights so far. Early on, they faced a Summerland team that could skate, shoot and had size. For a while the teams seemed even, but then Squamish鈥檚 power play started to click and they ended up winning 9-3.
They took their next two games and eliminated Smithers 6-2 in the semi-final, which set up the final with the host Blazers. 麻豆社国产jumped out to the lead, but Kamloops got back into the game in the second, and at the second intermission, the two teams were knotted at 3-3.
鈥淚t was a nail-biter,鈥� said Knight.
With around two minutes left in the final period, Kamloops got a clear breakaway, but 麻豆社国产goalie Andrew Terry shut the door. The hosts then called a timeout with 41 seconds left, but it gave Knight time to draw up a play with the edge they needed.聽
With 27 seconds left, captain Jake Heppell scored to seal the 4-3 win for Squamish. It was his fourth goal of the game.
鈥淛ake had a monster game,鈥� Knight said. 鈥淗e pretty much put us on his back.鈥�
Heppell and teammate Ryan Hunter finished as the top tournament scorers, as Hunter tallied six goals and 13 assists, while Heppell added 13 goals and four assists, although many other players figured in on the scoring throughout the tournament.
Knight coaches the team with Danny Brooks, while Jen Thompson manages them. This roster includes second-year players Heppell, Hunter, Terry, Austin Cranfield, Brydan Denis, Markus Hernandez, Logan O鈥橲ullivan, Max Richard, Ethan Skiffington and Ben Thompson. The team also added first-year players Tyler Liebrecht, Aedan Loughran, Jobey Pearson and Marcus Rempel.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been a nice addition to the roster,鈥� the coach said.
Another key piece has been the return of Hunter. Although from Squamish, he started playing with the Burnaby Winter Club program at a young age to aid his development with a bigger association, but he decided to come back to 麻豆社国产this season.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been the missing link to this potent team,鈥� Knight said.
Hunter has been important for many reasons, including opening up opportunities for Heppell and other teammates, the coach explained.
For the players who have played together for a few years, the coach said they had often finished second at tournaments, always seeming to come up short.
鈥淭raditionally, this group has been pretty good over the years,鈥� the coach said. 鈥淭hey couldn鈥檛 get over the hump.鈥�
This time, they wound up on top, and he thinks the extra work they did early on has given them an edge. They focused a lot on conditioning during training camp, even foregoing some exhibition games to spend more time training.
鈥淭he start was really key for us,鈥� Knight said. 鈥淚t started at training camp.鈥�
The effort has paid off, as the Eagles are first in their league and have potted more goals than any team at the peewee rep in the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association.
聽鈥淲e鈥檙e the highest scoring team in all of peewee,鈥� Knight said.
As to where they go now, they will be finishing league play this month before moving on to playoff rounds with the hope of a berth in the provincial championships.
