Months ago Hardy Hoonjan never would have believed where he would be on Sunday afternoon.
The 20-year-old goaltender was a standout in the Richmond Sockeyes 5-1 victory over the Delta Ice Hawks to be crowned Cyclone Taylor Cup provincial junior “B” hockey champions. Hoonjan made 31 saves to earn his team’s player-of-the-game award and was also named to the tournament’s all-star team.
Back in October, he was playing for Seafair’s juvenile team when he was brought in as an emergency call-up.
Sockeyes starting goaltender Jacob Latrace had suffered a high ankle sprain and would be sidelined indefinitely.
Hoonjan made 32 saves in a 5-2 win over the Abbotsford Pilots, earning first star honours. He followed that up with another excellent performance in a loss to Ridge Meadows then came on in relief for a comeback win at North Vancouver.
With the Sockeyes still awaiting on another goalie prospect to return to full health, Hoonjan was eventually fully-carded and would make 16 starts over the next three months.
Latrace returned from his injury after the holiday break and eventually re-gained his No. 1 status, winning nine of 10 starts. That carried over until the playoffs when his unfortunate injury troubles continued. The Seafair product departed in game five of the opening round series against North Vancouver with a concussion.
Hoonjan stepped in again and played every game in a semi-final series loss to the Delta Ice Hawks. That result left the Sockeyes with 29 days to get ready to host the Cyclone Taylor Cup.
Latrace was eventually cleared to practice again but it would have been a difficult spot to put him a condensed tournament, having not played since Feb. 22.
Hoonjan continued to carry the workload and capped his unexpected journey in style.
“It’s surreal. I can’t even believe it is still happening,” he said during his team’s post-game celebration. Everything is fresh right now and I’m so proud of everyone at just working hard, going through the battles.
“We had some ups and we had some downs. It wasn’t an easy path but at the end of the day we got it done. That’s what we came here to do.”
