In its inaugural season, the Sea to Sky Bears program went two-for-two.
Both the bantam and midget teams qualified for provincials last weekend during zone Final 4 play, with the bantams doing so on home ice, while the midgets ferried over to the Sunshine Coast and came back with the championship banner.
With the top two teams from the Tier 3 tournament advancing to provincials, the bantam team, coached by Tim Knight, advanced after downing West Vancouver 3-1 in Squamish on Saturday night and Sunshine Coast 5-1 in Whistler on Sunday morning.
Knight suggested that the quick turnaround time actually benefitted the second-ranked Bears, as he felt they weren鈥檛 at their best in the opener but were in full gear the next day.
鈥淚 felt like our first game, we were a little bit flat probably because we鈥檝e been sitting idle for so long, waiting for all the other series to work themselves out,鈥� he said. 鈥淸For Game 2], I felt like we had a little bit more of a jump in our step. Things were a little bit better executed, clean and tidy, and the powerplay came through when we needed it to with four goals.鈥�
Andrei Stewart was the player of the game against West Vancouver while Aiden Bayliff was the standout against Sunshine Coast.
Knight said the fan support for both games was great to see, with the arenas packed for both games. Saturday night in Squamish even saw the team mascot, Cubby, rooting for the squad along with the local atom A1 and peewee 鈥楢鈥� teams. The morning game in Whistler also filled the barn.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen it that full in a long while,鈥� Knight said. 鈥淭he support鈥檚 been pretty good.鈥�
The tournament wrapped up on March 3 at Squamish鈥檚 Brennan Park Recreation Centre with the Bears winning 3-2 against top-seeded Mission, who also advanced to provincials. Kieren Rice was named player of the game. Though both teams confirmed their spots, as the winners, the Bears will receive a more favourable ranking and schedule at Tier 3 provincials, which will take place in West Vancouver from March 15 to 19.
Ahead of the final game, Knight said he views the game as a measuring stick, as Mission has come away with the provincial title the past three years, getting past several current Bears who represented Whistler last season.
鈥淭he hunger level is there for us. We know what we need to do,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just tidying up little things on special teams, all those little faceoff plays that make a huge difference to the game, so that we can peak at the right time, which is in two weeks at provincials.
鈥淯ltimately, it鈥檚 going to be a good game for us to evaluate what areas we need to clean up.鈥�
While sleeping in their own beds was a boon for the Bears, the flip side of avoiding travel, especially in the heart of Vancouver rush hour en route to games in Abbotsford or Chilliwack, was another benefit for the team.
Both Bears teams were in Flight 2, which is the highest level that local squads have achieved in Knight鈥檚 memory.
鈥淚t proves that we can combine our efforts with our kids here and have a ton of success,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur best athletes can play at this calibre and don鈥檛 need to move away from our area to find it.鈥�
The midget team, meanwhile, swept through its Final 4, defeating host Sunshine Coast 9-2, South Delta 8-2 and top-seeded Mission 4-1 en route to claiming the banner. The midgets will attend Tier 3 provincials in Summerland from March 15 to 20.
Read the original story .
