The Victoria Cougars and Richmond Sockeyes faced off Thursday afternoon to open the 2013 Cyclone Taylor Cup Junior B Provincial hockey championship tournament at the Comox Valley Sports Centre.
The Cougars opened the scoring at 11:54 of the first, after an unsuccessful power play. Richmond responded a minute and a half later, on the power play, to tie the game at one. With 1:14 remaining in the first frame, Richmond’s Daniel Tait pushed the puck past net-minder Evan Roch for the go-ahead goal.
The second period’s scoring was all Richmond as they took a commanding 5-2 lead that carried until the end of the game.
The second game of the day saw the host Comox Valley Glacier Kings battle the Castlegar Rebels, champions of the Kootenay International Hockey League. The first period was end-to-end action with no score for the first 14 minutes. At 14:18 of the first, the Rebel’s Bryan Lubin scored his first goal of the tournament on a pass from Travis Wellman and Stuart Walton. Less than three minutes later, the same line would make the score 2-0 in favour of
Castlegar as Lubin banked his second of the game. The Glacier Kings came out stronger in the second, however it was the Rebels who drew first blood when Jeremy Mcgregor pushed the puck past Michael Hails on a pass from Darren Medeiros at 12:59.
In the third and on last penalty of the game, the Glacier Kings found themselves on the power play. Steven Garcia parked himself in front of the net on the power play and banked a rebound from Rylan Ball, putting the G-Kings on the board with seven seconds remaining in the period. The Glacier Kings left the ice trailing 3-1.
The third period would prove exciting, with scoring chances for both sides that had fans jumping out of their seats, gasping and scratching their heads as both goaltenders were brick walls. Both netminders earned shutouts in the third as the final score was 3-1. The ‘Kings were outshot 34-24 by the Rebels.
The schedule for Friday, April 12:
3:30 p.m. Castlegar Rebels vs. Victoria Cougars
7:30 p.m. Richmond Sockeyes vs. Comox Valley Glacier Kings
All games are played at the Comox Valley Sports Centre.
-By Robyn Nicholson, the media relations director for the Comox Valley Glacier Kings.