Powell River Regals’ hopes for a sixth Coy Cup provincial championship were dashed last weekend when the senior hockey club dropped a best-of-three playoff series in Whitehorse, Yukon.
After a long day of travel for the Regals on Friday, March 11, Whitehorse Huskies jumped out to a five-goal, first-period lead and never relinquished control of game one.
“We were down 5-0 right away, then the rest of the game was 8-6,” said Regals coach Tod English. “It was pretty even after the first period.”
Jordan Marciniak and Andy Welsh each scored twice in the 13-6 loss, while Joe Calderone and Rich Kellington recorded one goal apiece.
“It was just a crazy game,” added English. “We traded 14 goals in the second and third periods. I have never experienced that; this has never happened as long as I can remember.”
Regals evened the series Saturday night, riding out a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes and cruising to a 7-3 win with three more third-period goals and stronger defensive play throughout the contest.
“We did what should have done Friday night; we limited their chances,” said English. “We had a better start and it just carried through.”
Gary Gladue and Andrew Derton led the way offensively; Gladue scored twice while Derton assisted on five of the Regals’ seven goals.
Chad Euverman, John Coyle and Daniel Swanson added to the goal tally, as did Calderone and Kellington, who each scored for the second time in as many games.
“Joe [Calderone] scored the fifth goal early in the third, which kind of broke them,” said English.
Goaltender Chad Vizzuti made 44 saves to earn the victory after backing up Ryan Fairgray in game one.
“Chad played a great game,” said Welsh. “In the third period they came with a strong attack; he stopped everything.”
Sunday’s rubber match initially followed the same script as game one. Whitehorse built a 4-0 by the midway point of period two before three unanswered Powell River goals turned it into a one-goal game; two more off the stick of Swanson and Marciniak’s third of the series.
“We needed to get out of that period and probably would have had a better chance but they scored to make it 5-3 with under two minutes to go,” said Welsh, “that kind of deflated us going into the third.”
Huskies added to the lead early in the third period, then scored twice more for an 8-3 win and a berth in the four-team Coy Cup championship tournament, which begins in Terrace, BC, next week.
“We weren’t burying our chances like in game two; we had a few power plays but couldn’t take advantage,” said Welsh. “They’re a good team, they have younger legs and kept skating through the whole game. We just kind of ran out of gas at the end.”
Regals’ players and executive members will now focus on plans and scheduling for next season, when Welsh hopes Powell River fans will have more chances to see the team in action at home.
“There is a possibility of another senior team starting up in Fuller Lake,” he said. “If that’s the case, with them and North Island to play, we’ll get more games in.”
