Fort Nelson is the site of this year’s Coy Cup championship in May where the hosts Yetis, Fort St. John Flyers and Terrace River Kings will be joined by either Williams Lake Stampeders or Powell River Regals.
While they meet for the first time this year, the Regals and Stampeders do have a recent history that sets up a very exciting best-of-three series this weekend.
“We lost in overtime in 2009 in Terrace in the Coy Cup final, we beat them here in 2010 in our round-robin game, lost to them in Prince Rupert in the round-robin and again in the semifinal,” reported Regals’ spokesperson Andy Welsh. “While they’ve lost a few players they still have the core of those teams.”
Finding teams to compete against has been tough. “Guys are excited to get going,” reported Welsh. “We’ve had two games since Christmas, the Whitehorse trip and that’s it. That’s partially our fault for not scheduling more games and not having teams to play, so that’s one thing we’re going to try to do next year is to get a schedule hammered out in the summer. We’ll try to space it out so we don’t have any long breaks like this.”
The team has been on the ice, though, taking advantage of a couple of scrimmages with the midget rep Kings team. “It’s tough to simulate games but practices have been more intense lately,” he said, “and you can tell the games are coming up because guys are taking it much more seriously out there.”
No such problem for the Stampeders as they recently came off a real battle for the Central Interior Men’s championship where they lost the final game in overtime to Terrace.
The Stampeders have been in existence since 1936 and, like the Regals, have a history of strong family ties.
Marko Zurak, former player in the 1970s and now president of the team, is the father of captain Aaron and younger son Nathan.
“Aaron is also the coach,” reported Nathan, “and he runs the defence while I have the forwards but he puts the lines together.”
The Stamps lost just once during the regular season but got a scare losing the first game of their first round series against Quesnel. They mounted a comeback to win the next two in Williams Lake but weren’t as fortunate against Terrace.
This weekend gives them a second chance to get to the cup and perhaps get another crack at the team that eliminated them in their Central Interior Hockey League final.
“The guys didn’t want their season to end yet,” Nathan said of his team which leaves for Powell River on Thursday, “and it was tough to lose that final game the way it ended.”
He painfully remembers, after splitting the first two games, that the deciding game was a heartbreaking loss.
“In overtime we had a penalty shot and didn’t score on it,” then to add insult to injury Nathan said, “they scored about two minutes later.”
They’ll get a second chance in Powell River but the Regals hope to take advantage of home ice.
“We’ve got a full lineup,” Welsh said, “that will include veterans John Murgatroyd, John Coyle, Chad Euverman and Rich Kellington. We’ve got Ryan Fairgray starting in goal backed up by Chase Krompocker, Rick and Austin McLaren, Mitch Ball, Nick Cecconi, Joe Caldarone, Cody Ketchum, Brady Casparie, Ryan Alexander and Garrett Brandsma. There’s a good mix of some younger guys there who will enjoy playing in front of a hometown crowd and they’ll be joined by Chris Baker who played with the [Powell River] Kings and veterans Derek Jantz and Colin Lloyd on the blue line.”
Coaching the new faces could be a challenge, particularly without the steady hand of Rick Hopper, who is unavailable, but Tod English is no stranger to the bench. “We’ll be ready to adapt to any situation and we have an idea about what we want,” said Welsh. “They are a team that I’m very familiar with. They are a smart team, tough to check, but with our young lineup we’re going to try to out-skate them and get some turnovers and goals.”
Exciting stuff for hockey fans to get out and support the Regals who would benefit from a loud crowd.
“It’s going to be a great series so I hope people come out and watch,” said Welsh.
The games begin at 7:30 pm on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14, at Hap Parker Arena then 1:30 pm Sunday, March 15, if necessary.
