The Creston Valley Minor Hockey Association’s peewee Chiefs were on the road on Friday in Kimberley for zone game 2 versus Cranbrook. The Chiefs were victorious 5-1 and with the win they should have better seeding for the Tier 3 peewee provincials to be held in Creston from March 17-22.
The locals opened the scoring with 9:17 left in the first period, with Ty Gudjonson scoring, assisted by Davis Nelson. Cranbrook would tie with a power-play goal midway through the second with the Chiefs down two men. After the break, the Chiefs had a chance to regroup and refocus and it paid off when Logan Rast, assisted by Shayne Walker, gave the team a lead late in the second frame.
The coaches challenged some of the forwards to step up their offensive game and they responded with a solid second half, started to move their feet and be more aggressive on the puck. Gudjonson would make it 3-1 unassisted at 18:39 into the third, and Brayden Jellis, assisted by Serge Chatwin and Nelson, and Gudjonson netting a hat trick goal, assisted by Chatwin, late in the third would round out the scoring.
The Chiefs played a great road game and took care of business as they have done all year. The team has been playing a well-structured and disciplined game, the key to having success in a couple of weeks. Between now and then, the team has two weeks of practices and time to get healthy and heal from some injuries after a lot of hockey in the last month.
The Chiefs have ended the year with 28 wins, six losses and two ties, and now move on to the big challenge of provincial hockey on home ice. The team has second-year players who have experience from last year’s trip to Quesnel, and those players and coaches now know what it takes at the championship level — hopefully that helps when play starts on March 17. Creston’s goal is to get in the final four semis and see what happens. Creston is hosting 10 other teams from across B.C. and the Yukon, and the team is really excited and looking forward to the challenge ahead.
—CRESTON VALLEY MINOR HOCKEY ASSOCIATION