Richmond Midget A1 Blues wrapped up their season in style by producing seven straight playoff victories to decisively capture the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association (PCAHA) President’s Series banner.
The Blues were hoping to take a serious run at the provincial championship this season, but a few bad breaks along the way didn’t help their chances.
Following an outstanding 14-2-2 start to the season the Blues levelled off and finished league play with a respectable 7-7-4 record and were excited to kick-off the PCAHA playoffs with a fresh start. Unfortunately the hockey gods had other plans.
Just prior to their single knock-out elimination playoff game, goaltenders Jordan Allen and Jacob Head went down with concussions and were sidelined for two-to-three weeks. Subsequently, the Blues lost a heartbreaking game to North Vancouver 6-5.
The defeat was a tough pill to swallow, especially for the 12 graduating players but they committed to excellence and went on a tear to finish the season.
Over the seven win streak, Richmond Minor allowed just nine goals and Allen and Head each backstopped 1-0 shutout victories to clinch the banner.
The team was captained by Mason Rai, Gabe Mu, James Houston and Paris Jeyarchandran. The balance of third-year graduating players included Matt Lam, Byron Leong, Jin Woo Lee, Brady Wang, Jovan Jankovic, Cole MacKenzie, Allen and Head.
Returning players include James Sings, Matt Ast, Andrey Krasnoperov, Josh Freeland, Magnus Cheung, Jonah Cheung and Evan Yang.
The team was coached by Derek Chichak and his long time associate coach, Bob Walker along with former Richmond Sockeyes Sam Chichak and Kamesh Goundar. Team manager was Percy Cheung.
