Hockey as a community, it’s history and it’s heroes were all celebrated during last week’s U18 Tier 4 Provincial Championships, hosted by the Creston Valley Minor Hockey Association (CVMHA) last week, March 16-20.
The six teams from around the province were selected by BC Hockey following regional playdowns and included the Prince Rupert Seawolves, Houston Flyers, North Okanagan Knights, Clearwater Ice Hawks, Golden Rockets, and the Creston Valley Attack.
The six teams competed in a 15 game round robin tournament over four days — the final game between the two teams with the most points was played last to determine the champion.
“It was a pleasure hosting provincials and welcoming so many visitors to our town,” said Wade Brunham of the CVMHA. “We used this opportunity to celebrate Creston’s Centennial and tell stories of 100 years of ice sport in Creston. We had so many volunteers and supports contribute countless hours and it was great to see our community come out and support our athletes.”
The six teams we had played some great hockey and the kids all competed like champions,” Brunham said. “One of my favorite moments was during the banquet, I had asked all the team Captains to prepare a short speech talking about their team and community and telling us of a hero of theirs. Every single team recognized the volunteers it takes to organize a hockey season. It was so great to see so many young men and women see what it takes to build communities.”
Kala Hooker served as Event Host Chair and was responsible for organizing and coordinating the entire event. Rich Harris (CVMHA President) helped convince BC Hockey that Creston was the ideal destination for the 2024 Provincial Championships.
The theme of the tournament was “Hockey, Our History, Our Heroes.” At the same time as the tournament, the CVMHA was looking to create a legacy project to celebrate 100 years of history, people and voices of ice sports in the Creston Valley. This in turn ties in with Creston’s centenary, which will also be marked this year.
An opening banquet for March 16 welcomed all players, coaches, and managers. A number of parents, led by Dree Ryder, decorated the Creston Room. Wade Brunham served as M.C. of the event and invited Jarrod Basil from Yaqan Nuʔkiy to welcome all visitors to Ktunaxa Territory. Brittny Anderson (Nelson-Creston MLA) spoke next and talked about the intimate images protection act and how important this is for young athletes. Mayor Arnold Deboon then continued to welcome all visitors to the town and valley for the week.
Jamie Huscroft was Keynote speaker and he told stories of how coming from Creston he worked to differentiate himself. He showed up at a training camp and was player number 82 of 82 and so he had to make sure everyone knew his name.
Games began in the morning of March 17 with the opening game between last year’s finalists. Creston Valley Attack and Clearwater Ice Hawks met in the gold metal game in 2023 with Clearwater taking the gold and Creston taking the Silver. In 2024 the result of the first game was the same. Clearwater took a 4-0 victory over the home team.
The next game was between North Okanagan and Golden. Just before the start of this game BC Hockey informed North Okanagan that they needed to roster a new head coach because the team staff that traveled with the team did not have the qualifications to run the bench during the Championships.
Wade Brunham – former Creston U15 and U18 Coach — was rostered to North Okanagan to ensure the kids that traveled would get to play.
The game between North Okanagan and Golden was hard fought with North Okanagan outshooting Golden. Golden remained composed and with the help of some amazing goal tending came out victorious winning 3-1.
Game three was between the two northern teams, Houston and Prince Rupert. Prince Rupert won 5-1.
The opening ceremonies took place after Game 3. The Creston Valley Skating Club (Figure Skaters) gave a marvellous performance to Waka Waka (This time for Africa) by Shakira. After this performance all players from all teams were welcomed to the ice followed by the dignitaries. Jarrod Basil from Yaqan Nuʔkiy gave an opening prayer and welcome followed by a welcome from Lee Holland (BC Hockey Representative). A banner was raised to the rafters celebrating Jet Fumerton and her legacy of Hockey in Creston; Laura Haykamp spoke about how important Jet has been to female hockey in Creston. Arden Jones sang O Canada, and the ceremonial puck drop between the captains of North Okanagan ( Cole Ferguson) and Creston (Sages Brunham) followed.
Competition then resumed, between Creston and North Okanagan. Creston played well and kept pressuring but could not outlast the offensive pressure of North Okanagan falling to the visitors 7-2.
Day 2 of the tournament saw Clearwater defeat Houston 5-4; Prince Rupert and Golden playing to a 3-3 draw; and Clearwater beating North Okanagan 5-3. Prince Rupert won over Creston 8-0 in the final game of the day.
The third day started with a game between Golden and Houston and this game became Goldens first loss. Some rough stuff late in the 3rd period led to Golden’s goalie being removed from the game and Emergency Backup Goalie (EBUG) Seth Cherney coming into the game for Golden. Seth played well but the damage was already done and Houston got the decision winning 7-3. Seth would play the rest of the tournament for Golden.
The next game was between Clearwater and Prince Rupert. These were the two strongest teams of the tournament and this was a preview of the final. It was a close game but the decision went to Prince Rupert 6-5.
Next up North Okanagan played Houston and it was a close one ending in a 4-4 tie. The last game of the day was between Golden and Creston. Earlier this season Creston beat Golden but that was not in the cards for this tournament. Golden beat Creston 5-2.
The final day saw North Okanagan and Prince Rupert start things off with the decision going to Prince Rupert 4-9. Next up Clearwater beat Golden 6-3 and finally Houston defeated Creston 13-2. Houston was awarded 3rd place in the tournament after this win and was presented with the Bronze Medal on the ice. After a short break Prince Rupert and Clearwater met in the final. Prince Rupert got up 2-0 in the first period of the game but that wasn’t enough to shut Clearwater down. Clearwater scored four unanswered goals (including an empty netter) in the 2nd and 3rd period to take the banner 4-2 over Prince Rupert. This represents back-to-back provincial championships for Clearwater.
The CVMHA said that there are too many volunteers to name each one but none of this would have been possible without the help of the U18 parents — specifically Laura Starr and Chelsey Grunewald who were at the rink all day everyday. Vince Weise, coach and manager for U18, was also integral to the success of the event organizing welcome baskets for each team and helping players focus on fitness and nutrition.
“We had parents and community members running the clock and penalty box for every game, playing music, announcing the game, and generally acting as hosts for all our visitors. Also, we cannot forget to name Robert Ganser who gave so much time and was our lead 50/50 ticket seller.
“Thank you to those named and unnamed parent and community volunteers. We wouldn’t have done this without everyone’s support.”
A family from Prince Rupert learned they lost their house due to fire as they traveled to Creston for the Provincial Championships,” Brunham said. “Our hockey community rallied and CVMHA presented the Prince Rupert players who lost their home with some money. Hockey is a big but tightknit family and we look out for one another.”
