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Ravens deliver tourney title & milestone win

Midget hockey team prevails in Kamloops with unbeaten run and provides head coach AJ Sander with his 1,000th victory

Richmond Ravens midget rep girls hockey team produced a pair of big wins in Kamloops on the weekend.

Not only did the Ravens capture Kamloops Minor Hockey Associations’s Midget AA Tournament, they delivered the 1,000th win of AJ Sander’s remarkable career.

The 2018 Richmond Sports Wall of Fame inductee is in his 37th year of coaching minor hockey in his hometown. The first 25 were spent with Richmond Minor Hockey before Sander shifted over to take on the Richmond Girls Ice Hockey’s midget rep team back in 2008.

So how has he been keeping track of the win and loss total?
"Since my very first season we have been doing a year-end stat book which I give to my players,” explained Sander, who has now coached over 1,700 games, including the last 650 with the Ravens.

His midget team has made 10 consecutive appearances at the provincial championships and reached the podium nine times. The 2018-19 edition is certainly looking like another medal contender.

After an impressive showing at their own Rep Ice Classic which culminated with a loss to the San Jose AAA Sharks in the championship game, the Ravens continued their success in Kamloops.

They went unbeaten in round-robin play with wins over Penticton (5-1), Kamloops (4-2) and Alberta’s Lloydminster Steelers (4-1).

It was then a 12-0 drubbing of Penticton in the semi-finals before an entertaining 2-1 win over Lloydminster again in the final.

“The most impressive thing right now is our balance,” noted Sander. “We had eight different goal scorers in that Penticton. I’m just rolling our lines and the scoring chances are coming.”

The Ravens will turn their attention back to Pacific Coast Amateur League play where they are undefeated (2-0-1) before heading to Whitby, ON for the annual Tournament of Heroes — Nov. 30-Dec. 2.

 It’s a trip Sander makes every three years with his team which means each player typically gets an opportunity to attend during their stint at the Midget age level.

Icing…

It was a hectic stretch for Sander’s niece Aish who happens to be the team captain. 

The 17-year-old also had a leading role with the McMath Wildcats field hockey team which wrapped up its season at the provincial championships in Surrey on Friday. Over the two tournaments, she played 12 games in five days.