It was success for one B.C. minor hockey team and a stinging loss for another at the International Peewee Hockey Tournament in Quebec City this week.
In second-round play of the 32-team AAA division, the Semiahmoo Ravens advanced to the elite eight by edging the New Hampshire Top Gun 4-3 on Tuesday at the Videotron Centre.
On Thursday, the Kelowna Rockets were hoping to join the Ravens, but fell 4-3 to the New York Rangers in overtime.
WATCH BELOW (Aired Jan. 29, 2019): Preview of the Kelowna peewee Rockets prior to playing in the Quebec tournament
Lynden Lakovic, with two goals, and Maddix McCagherty scored for Kelowna in the back-and-forth contest in which the Rockets would take the lead, only to have the Rangers tie the game. The scores were 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2 and 3-3.
Kelowna led 1-0 after the first, with the score tied 1-1 after two periods. Four goals were scored in the third. Thomas Zocco scored the winner at 2:01 of overtime.
In first-round play, Kelowna clubbed the Adirondack Jr. Wings 10-3 on Saturday.
On Tuesday, the Ravens rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat New Hampshire, which led 3-1 after the first period. Chase Valliant scored early in the second to make it 2-1, with Jordan Gavin levelling the game at 9:03.
In overtime, Gavin netted the winner at 2:07. Landon Jassmann scored Semiahmoo’s first goal.
“Overall, we didn’t feel we played a very good game (against New Hampshire),” said Ravens head coach and B.C. Hockey League scoring legend Shane Kuss. “We feel we got lucky. We squeezed one out.”
Kuss said the game-winner was an own-goal of sorts. After Semiahmoo drove the net, New Hampshire’s goalie initially stopped the shot, but a defenceman slid into the goalie, knocking the puck into the net.
Up next for Semiahmoo are the New England Prospects, who, like the Ravens, are 2-0. New England opened with a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings then blanked the Boston Advantage 1-0 in the second round.
The Ravens and Prospects will play Friday at 8 a.m. ET.
“It’s another day, another opportunity to move forward in this tournament,” said Kuss. “To get into the quarter-finals, it would be pretty special to do that. From there, as you know in hockey, you never know what can happen in those types of games.”
Semiahmoo opened with a 5-2 win over Strelna St. Petersburg. For Kuss, that win reminded him of when he played in the tournament 30 years ago.
“To this day, I still feel it’s the best minor hockey tournament,” said Kuss. “Our first game against (St. Petersburg), we probably had between 5,000 and 8,000 people watching us play in an NHL rink. For 12-year-old kids, it’s quite the excitement.
“If these kids get to that quarter-final game on Saturday, they’re probably looking at 10,000 to 12,000 people watching that game. I remember when I played, we made it to the semifinal, and there were 14,000 people watching in the Colisee back then.
“For a 12-year-old kid to remember, that’s pretty priceless.”
For more on the Quebec peewee tournament, click here.
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