The BC Thunder are rolling into the holiday break.
The Thunder improved to 7-5-0 in National Ringette League play by sweeping three games from the Manitoba Intact on the weekend — capped by an 8-4 triumph at Minoru Arenas on Sunday. The franchise represents the top open age ringette talent in BC and beyond with players ranging from 43-year-old Finnish native Petra Ojaranta to 18-year-old Kailey Magrath from Vancouver.
The team plays exclusively against out-of-province competition and is part of the NRL Western Division with two Edmonton-based teams, one from Calgary and Manitoba. The regular season schedule typically features a series of games played over a couple of days.
The top two teams earn automatic berths to the eight-team NRL Championships while the third and fourth finishers play a mini-series for the final spot. That’s where the Thunder came up short a year ago, falling to the Intact on home ice.
The team does have a distinctive local flavour — led by head coach Troy Takasaki. He enjoyed plenty of success with Richmond Ringette — capped by a U19 Western Canada championship in 2018 that led to him taking over the Thunder’s coaching reigns. That Richmond team featured his daughters Hailey and Tayah who have now taken their careers to the Thunder too.
The sweep of the Intact has created a healthy cushion for third place over the Intact and Edmonton’s Black and Gold Rush that both sit at 1-9-0. A second place finish is hardly out of reach with the Edmonton WAM! at 8-3-0 and slated to be in Richmond for a pivotal four-game series Jan. 11-12. The teams split a pair of earlier meetings in the Alberta capital back in October.
“Against two Edmonton teams we went there for a four-game series and split them. We were in a big disadvantage where we are playing four games and those teams are playing just two,” said Takasaki. “For us to take two there was pretty awesome.
“And this (Manitoba) team is the one to beat us in the playoffs last year so it’s nice to get the three-game sweep.”
The Thunder did drop all three games on the road to the division leading Calgary RATH but hung tough with the defending NRL champions in two of them. The finale was a 3-2 loss with the game winner coming in the dying seconds after Calgary had blasted BC 13-0 in game two.
“The second game was one of those ones you wish you could just write-off because we just didn’t play our game. But it shows the resiliency of our team to come back right away and almost tie them,” added Takasaki.
“Overall the girls are working hard and it’s looking good for ringette in BC. I definitely knew it was a challenge when I stepped into this. I’m putting a lot of time into it but I enjoy it too. It’s one of those things where it a lot of fun and the girls are working hard and want to be here.”
