Quesnel Kangaroos are a storied team with a history as rich as Powell River Regals so when the invitation was extended to play a pair of games on the weekend the local senior men’s team jumped at the chance.
An old rivalry from the mid-1960s when the Regals and Kangaroos competed for the Coy Cup was rekindled with the Regals taking the first game 4-1 on Friday night, December 5, and then dropping the second 4-2.
The back-to-back games had been in the works for about a month with the Regals making the first visit and Quesnel making the trip later in the season.
“We’re trying to get into a rotation with that league: Quesnel, Williams Lake and Lac la Hache,” said Regals’ manager Tod English. “They only have three teams in that division of the league so we’re hoping to build on it for next year. They want to come down so it’s just a matter of getting on it early enough.”
For this pair of games Quesnel had an open weekend and Regals called on goalie Laszlo Tomasik to tend net.
He faced 40 shots in the first game and was outstanding while the offence gave him a 3-0 lead and led throughout.
Four different Regals scored goals: Rich Kellington, Brady Casparie, Drew Adams and Colin Lloyd.
Tomasik’s shutout was spoiled by Allesio Tomassotti, but his performance was expected and delighted English.
“He’s the type of guy that could carry us through,” he praised. “After all, he won the Coy Cup in 2010 so he’s got some experience. He played great for us in both games.”
He also pointed to solid play from the younger players on the team. “Casparie, Adams and Kyle English, who really are pretty young to go play some pretty burley guys in a really small barn,” he said, “contributed to the offence and played very well.”
Game two on Saturday was similar to game one, in that the Regals jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from John Murgatroyd and Casparie but they tired late and gave up four unanswered goals to the Kangaroos.
“They tied it up five minutes into the third period,” said English, “and exhaustion combined with a slight injury to Joe Calderone hurt our chances. They got an empty-netter but it was a tight game and in both games Laszlo was first star. I thought Austin McLaren, who had three points on our six goals in the two games, is starting to get lots of confidence and if we want to win the Coy Cup we need the young guys to be able to play.”
The Coy Cup picture includes a number of teams from the four corners of the province. English, who works closely with BC Senior Hockey representative Mike Fraser, said, “Our thought is that with Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, White Horse and Fort Nelson included with the others makes 13 teams all together, you could have a north division, a mid division and a west division. We’ll work with the teams and really the question is who will qualify for the Coy Cup. At the moment Whitehorse is playing off with Fort St. John and the second-place team will come to Powell River for a best-of-three series.”
In the works for the Regals is a series with Simon Fraser University, a trip to Whitehorse in January, and a home and home series with Fort Nelson all leading up to the playoffs for a berth in the Coy Cup.
“We want a playoff,” stressed English, “we don’t want a bye. We’re also trying our best to make sure our kids here have an opportunity to play first and if necessary we will reach out to locals not living in Powell River and then alumni guys who want to play.”
