The South Delta Minor Hockey Association (SDMHA) will have to make room at the Ladner Leisure Centre for its first provincial championship banner in 15 years thanks to a thrilling victory in Campbell River.
The A1 Storm is B.C. Hockey’s U18 tier two provincial champions after edging Hollyburn 3-2 in double overtime on Wednesday night.
Blueliner Dylan Van Poelgeest ended nearly 90 minutes of drama when he jumped on a turnover to score his first goal of the tournament in the late stages of the second sudden-death session.
It was the Storm’s first win this season against their league rival in four tries, including a 5-1 loss three weeks earlier in the Pacific Coast Amateur final four playoffs.
It's the first provincial championship for a SDMHA team since back-to-back (U21) Juvenile titles in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
“I don’t even know what the right word is. The excitement. The chaos. The parents were going nuts and the guys were going nuts,” said Storm head coach Ken Priestlay of the euphoria that followed the overtime goal. “We didn’t even know if we would be getting the (championship) banner right away until they brought it out (for the medal ceremony) and then you realize even more what the boys have accomplished and that’s coming back to South Delta.
“They played the game of their lives for sure and we couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The Storm finished the eight-team championship with a perfect 5-0 record after going 3-0 in round-robin play with wins over Peninsula (6-4), Trail (4-0) and Fort St. John (8-1).
That set-up a challenging medal round on the tournament’s final day. South Delta produced a 5-3 semi-final win over Kelowna on Wednesday morning then watched Hollyburn hold off Trail 3-2 a couple of hours later.
Jacob Bailie-Wolf’s second of the night gave the Storm a 2-0 lead midway through the second period of the gold medal game and Hollyburn answered with a pair of power play goals, including the equalizer 58 seconds into the third.
“We got the earlier start time and Hollyburn had a very physical game against Trail, which helped us as they are a very good team,” added Priestlay. “I think (in the final four playoffs) the boys were really focused on getting to provincials and they took care of that by winning the first two games.
“For all of us, it was like we can beat those guys. We just had to bring our best and that was the focus going further and further into the tournament.”
Storm captain Max Kidds-Brodie had a productive four days with eight goals and 13 points. He factored in on all five goals in the semi-final, including scoring the game winner on the power play with 3:31 remaining as South Delta rallied back from a 3-2 deficit after 40 minutes with three unanswered goals.
Linemate Bailie-Wolf finished with seven goals. Scoring depth was a big part of the team’s success with nine players producing goals and 15 at least one assist.
Goaltender Diarmuid Bostock showed plenty of composure in the pressure-packed playoff wins. Arjun Chahal recorded the shutout in the key round-robin victory over Trail.
The roster also features Declan Speiran, Ben Wichers, Jake Jones, Owen Turpie, Jack Callow, Mathias McDonnell, Hayden Clisby, Tyler Allan, Maddex Hewitt, Dylan Van Poelgeest, Ryan Carleton, Owen Venier, Kai Sloan and Zachary Milne.
Priestlay was joined on the bench by assistants Tony Marra and Brent Wheatley.
