The Greater Vancouver Canadians are rewarding themselves for their best stretch of the season with a rare Christmas at home.
Typically, the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League team is headed to Calgary during the holidays for the Macs Tournament which gets underway on Boxing Day. However, a slow start to the season basically took them out of consideration for the prestigious event. Instead of other tournament options, including the Richmond Minor International in their own backyard, head coach Phil Alalouf has decided to give his team a rare week off.
"At the time of the decision for the Mac's (tournament) we were sitting in eighth place and we needed to be in the top five," said Alalouf. "It was upsetting at first but I think we have all come to realize the chance to stay home (for Christmas) this year isn't a bad thing."
After a perfect pre-season that led the unrealistic expectations for a young team that is carrying a whopping nine 15-yearolds, the Canadians got off to a 4-8 start in league play and were hit with a rash of injuries.
At one point, seven regulars were out of the line-up, including assistant captain Phoenix Worth who suffered a serious shoulder injury in the second game of the regular season back on Sept. 22. The veteran blueliner still doesn't have his full range back and may require season-ending surgery in the new year.
When the other injured players finally returned, the Canadians showed what they are capable of with a 4-3 win over league-leading Okanagan back on Nov. 17. They haven't lost since - sweeping series against the Kootenay Ice and Fraser Valley Thunderbirds to climb above the .500 mark 11-10-1 for the first time since week one. Thanks to plenty of parity in the league this season, the record is good enough for fourth place yet five teams are within five points as Greater Vancouver heads to Prince George this weekend for two games against the eighth place Cariboo Cougars.
"For the first time in a while we're actually pretty healthy and that's a big thing," said Alalouf. "Our focus is finishing in the top four and getting home ice for the first round of playoffs. We're now in position to do just that."
The team has also benefited from the return of sophomore forward Alex Whitwham who was a late cut of the WHL's Spokane Chiefs after a strong training camp. The 17-year-old Richmond native has 19 points in 16 games.
Josh Murphy led the way in Sunday's 5-2 win over Fraser Valley at the Richmond Olympic Oval with a goal and three assists. Victoria Royals top Bantam draft pick Dante Hannoun scored twice to continue his fine rookie season with a team-leading 26 points, including 13 goals. Ryan Jones and Nathan McCarnan had the other tallies.
Richmond's Owen Seidel had a goal and an assist in Saturday's 4-1 win to open the series.
