The 2018 Fred Cyclone Taylor Cup, named after the early B.C. hockey legend and hall of famer, begins today in Richmond, although the Campbell River Storm have already won something significant.
The Storm will host the 2019 Cyclone Taylor Cup next April. The games will take place at Rod Brind’Amour Arena, named after the Campbell River hockey product and former Stanley Cup-winning captain of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Wes Roed, governor of the Storm club, described it as a “windfall” for the Storm’s fans and sponsors and the wider Campbell River community.
B.C. Hockey junior co-ordinator Phil Iddon cited the Storm as a “premier Junior B franchise in B.C. due to their recent successes and the fact they have tremendous community support.”
The Storm annually lead the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League in attendance. On the ice, they have won the VIJHL title in 2015 and 2017. They were Cyclone Taylor Cup champions in 2015 and lost in the 2017 provincial championship game to the Beaver Valley Nitehawks.
The Storm will have an automatic berth next year, but of course, would like nothing better than to go into the 2019 Cyclone Taylor tournament as the defending champions. The VIJHL representatives begin that quest today in the 2018 tournament when they open against the host Richmond Sockeyes at 7:30 p.m.
The tournament begins this afternoon when the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League-champion Kimberley Dynamiters meet the Pacific Junior League-champion Delta Ice Hawks.
Campbell River plays Delta on Friday and Kimberley on Saturday. The top two from the round-robin will advance to the gold-medal game Sunday and the bottom two teams to the bronze-medal game.
The Storm topped the VIJHL regular-season standings at 36-6-6, before defeating the Peninsula Panthers 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs, sweeping the Westshore Wolves 4-0 in the semifinals and rallying from a 3-2 series deficit in the final to outscore the Saanich Braves 10-0 over the final two games to clinch the league title.
Island teams to win the Cyclone Taylor Cup were the Comox Totems in 1967, Victoria Cubs in 1971, Saanich Braves in 1976, Victoria Cougars in 2007, Peninsula Panthers in 2011 and Storm in 2015.
