The 2008-born BC Northern Selects, made up of 10 Williams Lake and two Quesnel hockey players, made history last weekend skating into Vancouver and winning the Canlan Classic Spring Showdown.
In exciting fashion, Quesnel’s Kaelen Swanson potted the game winner just seven seconds into overtime in a 5-4 championship victory over the Kamloops Ice Pirates.
Swanson also lit the lamp once in the first period, before Williams Lake’s Colton Gerrior and Blake Lamb, with two, helped achieve the feat. Jaxson Dikur was solid the entire tournament between the pipes.
“It was one of the best experiences I’ve had,” said BCNS coach and Total Ice Training Centre’s Tyrel Lucas. “The emotions on the kids, they were so happy. They deserved to win and they did.”
It was the first time the team, which trains out of TITC, had played together at a tournament as a team.
“I’ve been involved in hockey for 25 years and I’ve played for a lot of teams in Williams Lake before, but I’ve never been to Vancouver and done that,” Lucas said. “It’s never really been done by a team from the north.”
Prior to the final the BCNS beat the Semiahmoo Sehawks 9-7, the BC Kodiaks (Richmond) 9-2, the Vancouver Seabirds 8-2 and the BC Spartans (Vancouver) 14-2.
Linden Pinette, Asher Lucas, Andrew Lindsay, Rhys Marchand, Blake Riley, Dawson Rowse, Nathan Johnson and Kean Philbrick also provided solid offence for the BCNS throughout the tournament.
In other divisions at the tournament, lakecity hockey players continued to shine.
The 2001 BCNS, with goaltender Devin Chapman and 100 Mile House’s Lane Paddison, also went unbeaten, posting a 5-0 record to claim the gold medal.
Brady Wood and Blake Pigeon also combined to help the 2006-born BCNS to a silver-medal finish with four wins and two losses.
In the 2005 division Jackson Altwasser and Cadence Peticlerc-Crosby helped the team to a fifth-place result, while Ty Oviatt and Ethan Smid suited up for the 2004-born BCNS.