Thompson Blazers and Semiahmoo Ravens are the latest champions of South Delta Minor Hockey’s 25th annual Tim Jardine Bantam Midget Showcase.
The Blazers capped a perfect four-day run with an 8-4 victory over the Victoria Racquet Club in Sunday’s Bantam Division championship game. The Kamloops area side reached the final in 2017 as well, only to lose to Wenatchee.
This time they produced round-robin wins over Chilliwack (3-1), Seattle (7-1) and Victoria (4-1). The Blazers opened the playoffs with a 14-1 quarter-final drubbing of Juan de Fuca then blanked Chilliwack 7-0.
The host Bantam A1 Storm saw their title hopes end with an 8-3 quarter-final loss to Victoria. South Delta had earlier gone 1-2 in round-robin action — defeating Juan de Fuca 10-2 while dropping games to Cloverdale (4-2) and Calgary (3-2).
Semiahmoo proved it’s not how you start a tournament but rather how you finish to become Midget Division champions.
The Ravens finished last in their pool group with a 0-2-1 record after losses to Langley (6-1), North East (1-0) and battling Portland to a 2-2 draw. Semiahmoo then took advantage of all eight teams advancing to the playoff round with a 5-4 win over Pool “A” winner Fernie. That was followed up with a 5-4 semi-final triumph over Portland and the run was completed by avenging the earlier loss to Langley with a 3-2 victory in the final.
The A1 Storm enjoyed a competitive run, going 1-1-1 in round-robin play, highlighted by a 2-0 win over Fernie. The playoffs concluded with a tough 5-4 quarter-final loss to Portland on Sunday afternoon.
