Delta Hockey Academy’s Elite 15 team continued its terrific season-long rivalry with the Burnaby Winter Club Academy, this time in the championship game of its own Second Annual Midget Winter Classic at Planet Ice.
The hosts rode the terrific goaltending of Roan Clarke for a 2-1 victory. Each team went into the final with perfect 5-0 records and BWC enjoyed a 41-20 margin in shots but the Cloverdale native’s play proved to be the difference.
Earlier, the Wild went 4-0 in round-robin play with wins over Shawnigan Lake (4-0), Prince George (8-4), Everett (3-0) and St. George’s (3-2) in a shootout. Delta then topped Yale 6-2 in the semis.
In two earlier regular season meetings with BWC, the Wild prevailed 4-3 on Nov. 10 and Burnaby returned the favour with a 4-3 shootout win. The teams are slated to meet again in Canadian School Sport Hockey League play on Feb. 10 and March 3. Burnaby currently tops the standings with 23-2-3 record. Delta sits third at 20-5-3.
The Wild are coached by Rick Lanz and assistant Brent Thurston.
The team’s roster includes 13 players from Surrey, four from Delta and four from Langley.
The Winter Classic Midget Prep Division saw Calgary’s Edge School defeat Phoenix in the championship game.
