Skip to content

Thunder, Bantam C4s & Tropics round out Party winners

This year’s instalment of South Delta Minor Hockey’s ever-popular Party In Da House tournament was once again big success thanks to the efforts of many on and off the ice.
bantam final
The C4s edged C2 in a shootout to capture the SDMHA Party In Da House Bantam Division title.

This year’s instalment of South Delta Minor Hockey’s ever-popular Party In Da House tournament was once again big success thanks to the efforts of many on and off the ice.

Last week’s Optimist featured the Golden Seals shootout triumph in the Pee Wee Division. Here is a look at the other three winners:

Atom Division

The C3 Thunder topped the round robin portion of the tournament, winning all four of their games. The C2 Wolverines were not far behind with their only loss coming to the Thunder. The C1 Panthers went 2-2, beating the C4 Cyclones and the Delta Stars. The Cyclones then edged the Stars for the last semi-final berth.

The Cyclones put up a better fight than the first encounter but the Thunder still cruised to a 7-0 victory. The Panthers turned the tables on their earlier 4-2 loss to the Wolverines with a 4-3 triumph.

The Thunder closed out a dominant weekend with a 6-1 win in the gold medal game.

Bantam Division

This proved to be the most competitive age group of the tournament with the top three teams finishing with identical records and the total goal differential over the 10 round-robin games being just 12.

Bantam C4, Bantam C3 and the C2 Storm finished in that order. The C1 Whalers grabbed the final playoff spot thanks to their 1-0 win over the Stars.

The C4s then locked up their spot in the final with a 5-1 win against the Whalers. The C2s advanced with a 3-2 triumph against the C3s.

Appropriately, the championship game was another tight affair with the C4s prevailing in a shootout.

Midget Division

Topping this three-team group in round-robin play were the C1 Thrashers, however, the second place C3 Tropics actually finished with a better goal differential

The Midget C4s managed to trump the C2 Marlins and come in third. However, regardless of the round robin standings, each team was guaranteed a spot in the semis.

The Thrashers took on the Marlins in the first final four battle, and luckily nicked it 4-3 in the shootout. The Tropics took on C4 and showed no mercy with a 10-1 win.

The Thrashers had already beaten the Tropics twice this year, so the Tropics had their work cut out for them.

 Assistant captain Marcus Beaulieu had never won this tournament before, so he did everything in his power to make sure he did in his final chance.

He scored the first goal when a lucky rebound bounced out to him in the first period. After that, the Tropics never looked back. Steady goaltender Noah Shumka led the way, while unlikely hero David Begin was the huge stalwart on defense as he laid out multiple times to block shots. It was only fitting that Beaulieu netted the empty netter to make it 2-0.

In the end, it was a well-coached team effort that earned the Tropics the title of the best team in South Delta.

Of course, all of this tournament excitement would not have been possible without the immense help and support of parent volunteers.

Sean Johnson, Greg and Tracy Plante, Doris Wagner, Peter Niederost, Cheryl Labounty, and Kellie Elmer were excellent in the organization and running of the tournament, so we thank them. But we also thank any parent who did as little as watch a game, to as much as sit at the raffle desk every day.

Daniel Feldman is a Delta Secondary student doing work experience at the Optimist. He is also a SDMHA player and official.