It’s been an unusually quiet spring break for AJ Sander even though his team is a favourite to win another BC championship.
For the past eight years, the veteran coach has led the Richmond Ravens to the Midget girls hockey provincials then, typically, raced back home to participate in the association’s annual Ice Classic.
The two tournaments usually fall right after each other. However, there is a significant twist to this year’s provincial dates thanks to B.C. Hockey awarding the showcase event to Kamloops to coincide with the city hosting the IIHF Women’s World Championships from March 28 to April 4.
The provincials are slated for March 27-30 which also happens to conflict with the 19th annual Ice Classic (March 25-27). That takes the Ravens out their hometown tournament and means a 23-day layoff since Richmond defeated Surrey 3-1 to win the Pacific Coast Amateur playoff banner.
For the first time, there was a small window for players to go away for spring break. Sander has also lined up some exhibition games and continued with regular practices.
“We’ve had some players away and others playing in the (PCAHA) midget scholarship as well,” said Sander. “The numbers have been small at practices but it has allowed us to work on the little things that we normally don’t get a chance to.”
The defending provincial champions appear to be peaking at the right time.
After a slow start to the campaign, the Ravens hit their stride in the new year, leading up to their PCAHA playoff win. They were the only team to go undefeated in round-robin play (3-0-1), then topped Surrey for the second time in the final.
“It was an up and down start for us until we made some strategic changes,” Sander explained. “We started the year with more of an offensive system but found we were giving up too many scoring opportunities. Now, we have gone more defensive and and the scoring chances have been cut down significantly. Our goaltender has also really picked up her play.”
Richmond and Surrey will both head to Kamloops and be in opposite pools. The Ravens group will include Salmon Arm, Terrace and South Island. The format will see round-robin play over the first three days then a playoff doubleheader with the top two from each pool advancing.
The provincial Bantam and Pee Wee girls championships will also take place in Kamloops and both Raven teams have secured spots.
The Bantam Ravens earned the Pacific Coast No. 2 berth after dropping a 1-0 decision in a shootout to season-long rival North Shore in the championship game.
“We played them nine times this season and only lost to them once in regulation,” noted Ravens coach Tracy Warren, whose team outscored its main rival 18-9 in the process. “Kelowna will be a strong team too.”
Warren added the challenge for all the teams will be playing full 60-minute games, including a doubleheader on one of the days. “That’s a lot of hockey for these girls. Even NHL teams don’t play that frequently.”
The Pee Wee Ravens will head to Kamloops as PCAHA champions after their 1-0 win over Langley in the banner game. The girls also went an impressive 6-0-0 in round-robin play, outscoring their opponents 27-2.
The Pee Wee provincial participants will also include Langley, Tri-Cities, North Shore, Kelowna and Prince George.
