All the glitters is silver this year for the Cloverdale Colts U18A1 team.
The Colts battled hard but lost in the gold medal game 3-0 to the Victoria Admirals March 19 in the U18 tier 1 provincial championships.
Cloverdale had a great run in the provincial tournament—held in Coquitlam at the Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex—going 2-1 in the round robin, including a 5-3 win over the Admirals on day one of the tourney.
Bayne Ryshak, Colts head coach, said while it was a tough loss his players have nothing to hang their heads about. He told his players to “be proud” of what they accomplished this year.
“It’s still a heck of a year,” Ryshak said. “To finish number two in the province is no small task.”
Ryshak’s squad started strong, outshooting the Admirals 18-12 in the 1st, but he said, ultimately, special teams were the difference. Cloverdale went 0-4 on the power play, while Victoria went 1-2 and added a short-handed tally.
“Our goalie gave us every chance to win,” he added, speaking of Saahil Takhar, who saved 41 of 44 shots. “Sometimes you run out of gas in games like this.”
Ryshak said his team was “pretty banged up” too and a couple of key players missed the game because of injury. He added the squad overcame a lot of adversity just to get to the provincial championships.
“They walked through all of it as brothers. It's a huge accomplishment to finish second and I hope they’re proud of themselves.”
Brenden Parker, a Colts AC, said his players came out very strong to start the game and had a good 1st period.
“I’m so proud of their performance,” he said. “They've come a long way throughout the year.”
Chris Driebergen, head coach for the Admirals, said the difference in the game, for him, could be attributed to the bond between his players. He said they all came together at the beginning of the season with their eyes and heart set on winning.
“We have a ton of character in the room,” he said. “Our team is all third-years and they are all best friends.”
Driebergen also said hats off to Cloverdale.
“They came out flying,” he added. “We’ve struggled with our starts all year, but in the first intermission, the boys bought into (the idea of) working a little harder and I think we did that in the 2nd.”
Driebergen said he’s coached most of the kids for the last four years. He’s won two bronzes in that span, but didn’t have words for what it felt like to finally win gold.
“I don't know what to feel right now,” he said. “It’s surreal. I love these guys—every single one of them.”
GAME
The gold medal game started off well for the Colts as they dominated most of the play in the 1st period. They outshot the Admirals 18-12 in the opening frame. And with 3:47 to go, the Colts went on the PP when Victoria’s Dylan Patterson took a minor penalty for holding.
After a good start on the power play, with some good chances, Victoria capitalized after a Cloverdale miscue and Oliver Pemberton put the puck behind Takhar for a short-handed goal, giving the Admirals a 1-0 lead.
Cloverdale started the 2nd flat and couldn't get a shot on net for 12 minutes, despite having two power plays. Takhar again made several big saves to hold the lead at 1-0, but Victoria's Ryan Helmkay managed to slide one past the Cloverdale netminder 10 minutes into the frame to make it 2-0.
The Colts got their first shot of the period around the 8 minute mark with the man advantage after Jasper Keast took a roughing minor for the Admirals.
Then, with six minutes to go in the 2nd, Colts player Mac Fiander took a cross-checking minor. On the ensuing power play, Jordan Hanoski added a power play tally for the Admirals to stretch the score to 3-0.
Cloverdale got 7 shots in the 2nd period to Victoria's 20 to make a 25-32 shot count at the end of 2.
The teams traded penalties in the 3rd, but nothing came of them. Takar made several lights-out saves to keep Cloverdale’s hopes alive, but the game could have been 7-0 at that point with some intense pressure by the Admirals. Cloverdale just wasn't winning any puck battles on the wall and they weren’t first to any pucks in their own end.
Cloverdale managed another 7 shots in the 3rd frame while Victoria added another 12 to end with 32 shots to 44 in favour of the Admirals. Everett Wilie posted the gold medal shutout for Victoria.
Tournament
The U18s opened the tournament with a 5-3 win over the Admirals. They beat OMAHA North Regional (an Okanagan zone team) 3-2. And they closed out the round-robin with a 4-2 loss to the East Kootenay Avalanche zone team. In the gold semi-final game, they beat the North East Tackers 3-1.
Craig Sherbaty, director of hockey operations for Cloverdale Minor, said he too was proud of the Colts and their coaching staff, calling Ryshak and his ACs “top-notch” coaches who give a lot and garner a lot out of their players.
He also said that as bad as the players feel right now, they will realize later how much winning a silver means to themselves and CMHA. There were many players from other age groups, U9, U11, U13, U15 in attendance and wearing their Colts jerseys.
“The way they represented Cloverdale Minor in this tournament really inspired all the kids that came to watch them today and to be in this environment,” Sherbaty said. “I hope these players take that to heart. What they did really shows well for Cloverdale Minor and inspires our youth to hopefully strive for that same opportunity one day”
He said the U18A1s won the league and their playoff banner and represented the PCAHA well.
“They are the number one team in the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association,” Sherbaty added. “That’s a pretty good feat for Cloverdale Minor. We’re very proud of this team and we’re very proud of the coaching staff."
