Powell River Regals learned a thing or two from a pair of losses to the Victoria Vikes men’s hockey team, but it is all good.
Number one is that a bench full of local players can play against a good Canadian college team. Number two, with a few practices and some more playing time together their Coy Cup aspirations are within their grasp.
This pair of games was put together quickly when the Regals, who are always looking for competition, answered the call of another club desperate for action prior to their BCIHL (British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League) opener next week against Trinity Western University.
“We’ve got a really young team this year,” said coach Harry Schamhart, “and it was a great opportunity for us to come up and play the Regals. We get to see our players, the mistakes they make and work on things ahead of regular season.
“We’re not a varsity team at the university,” explained Schamhart, who is a policeman by day and very successful volunteer coach for the team. “The players do all the fundraising so for us money is a big issue. We just can’t afford to travel to some of the places the other teams in our league do.”
The Vikes had played just one exhibition game against Comox Glacier Kings prior to this one but the Regals, who don’t usually think about playing until January, had barely even practiced together.
Expectations weren’t that high but the 6-1 defeat in the first game and closer 6-4 loss in the second didn’t matter to the hundreds of fans who came to the games.
Most were just excited to watch the fathers, sons, brothers and young minor hockey stars strut their stuff.
Regals did come up short in one area but Vikes had three goaltenders along so one of them started in the Regals’ net for each game.
On Friday, Vikes’ Scott Legault got the call and he was fairly busy in the early going, making a bunch of nice saves until one got by him at 6:20.
Vikes led 1-0 after the first period but the Regals evened the score with a shorthanded goal from veteran Andy Welsh.
“It was just a lucky break,” said Welsh. “The defenceman bobbled it and I was able to pick it up and I had top corner in mind the whole way.”
Tied 1-1, the Vikes put it into another gear and reeled off two goals in just over a minute and a third at 19:09 to make it 4-1 after two periods.
Two more goals in the third period put the game away for them but the 6-1 final couldn’t erase the smiles from the faces of Regals players, coaches and fans.
“We just like getting the games in early,” said Welsh, of the weekend. “We hope to get in four games a month to keep the fans interested and keep us going too. We want people to come out and have a good time and watch some local hockey players play.”
Both father Rick and son Austin McLaren shared the ice together with Behan brothers Lucas and Braedon. John Harris played this weekend, “and hopefully later in the year we’ll have his son Garrett Brandsma playing too,” said Welsh. As the year progresses, he looks forward to seeing the younger team members progress by playing hockey at a higher level. “We’re going to start practicing more,” and he promised, “it’s going to get better.”
Welsh was enthusiastic about the number of people who showed up to play. “To have four lines in September is just awesome,” he said.
It did get better just a day later when, on Saturday evening, Joe Calderone netted a couple of early goals and John Murgatroyd and Ryan Alexander added one each in a tight 6-4 loss in game two.
Clearly, the Regals improved with ice time and coach Tod English is excited with the prospects for the year.
“Quesnel phoned today and they want to play,” he said. “We’ve got Trinity and Simon Fraser lined up and the opportunity to play 16 to 18 games before Coy Cup in Fort Nelson. I don’t ever remember playing in September, so we’re excited we can build this program again.”
