It has been almost two years since the Richmond Jets’ 15U C2 “Pengos” tasted tournament hockey due to the pandemic.
But the wait was worth its weight in gold, quite literally as they grabbed top spot on the podium at the Abbotsford Rec Tournament last weekend, beating the Juan De Fuca C1 Grizzlies in the final.
The Jets came out firing to open the tournament with a decisive 9-3 victory over the Vancouver Thunderbirds’ C3 team.
The following game saw a back and forth battle with the host Abbotsford Hawks C2 team, which saw the Jets pull their goalie and score a tying fourth goal with 40 seconds remaining .
The Jets went into their final round robin game against the Cloverdale Colts C1 team knowing they needed a strong defensive win to finish atop their division.
Facing a physically imposing Colts team, the Jets defensive work ethic proved overwhelming in a 3-1 win to close out the round robin.
In the semi-final, the Jets faced off against the Abbotsford Hawks C1 team, where the Richmond boys dominated possession and skated to a 4-1 victory.
The win set up a final showdown with the JDF Grizzlies, where Richmond left everything on the ice, reportedly “dominating all facets of the game with their team play” en route to a resounding 8-0 rout to claim the gold medal.
