One cup down, another to go.
The Campbell River Storm have won the Andy Hebenton Trophy, named after the former NHL Ironman record holder with the New York Rangers and Victoria pro-hockey great, and which goes to the regular-season champion of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
Now begins the chase for the Brent Patterson Trophy for the playoff championship, named in honour of the former VIJHL-champion Saanich Braves player and league MVP, who died after suffering chest pains during a game in the 1977 B.C. Junior B championship tournament in Quesnel.
The VIJHL post-season begins tonight.
The Victoria Cougars were edged by the Storm by three points for the Andy Hebenton Trophy and have something to prove.
“We were excited to be in the race for the regular-season championship and now we shift our goal to the playoff championship,” said Cougars head coach Chris Lynn.
“Depth is our key. But there are a lot of good teams who have an opportunity to win it this year. Every team in the South Division was .500 or above. It’s an exciting time for the league.”
The South Division regular-season champion Cougars (34-11-3) will meet the South fifth-place Peninsula Panthers (23-23-2) in the first round with Game 1 Thursday at the Archie Browning Sports Centre and Game 2 on Friday night at the Peninsula Recreation Centre.
“Home ice will be important for us in the series because we were 21-2-1 at Archie Browning,” said Lynn.
The South Division second-place Saanich Predators (33-13-2) will take on the third-place Westshore Wolves (28-16-4) in the opening round. The first game is tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Pearkes Arena with the second game Wednesday night at the Q Centre.
The Predators will be relying on their experience of reaching the league final last year before losing 4-2 in games to the champion Oceanside Generals.
“We know what it takes now and that it’s not going to be easy,” said Saanich head coach Cody Carlson.
“We found out last year in the league final against Oceanside that you need to be excellent defensively and super disciplined. You have to stay out of the penalty box in the playoffs. That cost us in the league final last year.”
Lessons learned and they carried over.
“We have a lot of depth in all areas and bring a lot of success from this regular season,” said Carlson, a former first-round WHL prospects draft pick out of Juan de Fuca, who played nine seasons of pro hockey in the ECHL, Germany, France and British Premiership EIHL.
“We roll four lines and our special teams are in the top-three. The guys just have to step up and do their jobs.”
The North Division and overall regular-season champion Storm from Campbell River (36-10-2) will play the South Division No. 4 Kerry Park Islanders (28-20) while the North No. 2 Comox Valley Glacier Kings (31-15-2) will meet defending league champion and North No. 3 Oceanside (27-15-6) in the opening round.
All series are best-of-sevens.
The bottom three teams in the North Division — Lake Cowichan Kraken (15-31-2), Port Alberni Bombers (8-37-3) and Nanaimo Buccaneers (1-47) – did not qualify for the post-season.
Carter De Boer of the Storm won the league goals and points titles with 51 goals and 99 points in 48 games, edging Ben Brant of the Cougars who had 97 points in 46 games. There was a sharp drop-off after the leading two to third place with Jack Westhaver of Saanich third with 70 points in 41 games and Kieran Strange of the Cougars fourth with 68.
The winners of the Jamie Benn VIJHL MVP Award, named after the Dallas Stars captain, Olympic gold medallist and VIJHL alumnus, and Clayton Stoner VIJHL Top Defenceman Award, named after the former NHL blueliner from Port McNeill, will be announced during the playoffs.
The VIJHL playoff champion will advance to the B.C. championship tournament in April at Kimberley featuring the champions of the VIJHL, Kootenay International Junior Hockey League and Pacific Junior Hockey League.
