O Canada!

Wow, what a start to our event here in Langley, and its only 9:30am local time.  I would like to send a shout out to Meka and Trevor and thank them for hosting us this weekend.  Meka and I got together on the phone very shortly after the announcement of our merge, and put this event on the calendar.  As is the case when we enter into a new market where we have very limited contacts, it is vitally important that the rink manager is our liaison to get the event off the ground, and to ensure that it is a success.  Meka was that and much more!  I could not be happier about the relationship we have established here at the Hockey House, and look forward to this event being a staple on our calendar for many years to come!  

As for the hockey, we are 3 games in, and I am not sure I have witnessed any better hockey this year!  In the first game of the tournament, we watched the Langley 97s cruise to a 9-1 victory over the Central City Stars.  The reality of that score is that the Central City team was no joke of a team in their own right, its just that the Langley team was as good of a 97 team as we have seen this year, and we already have our eyes on getting them to Nationals this summer.  They would certainly be one of the favorites going into the AAA Bantam Division.

The second game of the tournament featured the WC Warriors 98s facing off against the North Shore Zulu team in the Peewee division.  This game was as tight as it could get, and was a back and forth affair.  With the score tied 3-3, and just over 5 seconds remaining in the tilt, I headed over to the score box to ensure the impending shootout was handled properly.  For some odd reason, Mike, who is our registration guru, decided that I should switch spots with him to process a payment at the registration desk.  No big deal, right?  Except for the fact that Zulu won the face-off, made a quick move, and rifled a shot home with .01 seconds left on the clock.  Yea, thanks Mike for letting me miss one of the most exciting finishes to a game we have featured this season!  That being said, I expect these two teams to face-off again later on in the tournament!

The next game was another barnburner!  The Prince George Reapers, who travelled the 600+ miles down to Langley to complete in this event, were facing off against Meka and Trevor's Hockey House Army team in the Peewee division.  With only 11.5 seconds remaining, the Price George Reapers tied the score at 3, and this time the game did in fact head into a shoot-out.  In the shoot-out, the Hockey House Army made some nifty moves, and took the victory.

Our first squirt game is underway, and it looks like the Hockey House Army A team is in complete control against the North Shore Zulu team.  The Men's teams will be starting to arrive here shortly, and we are certainly looking to forward to seeing some of these teams complete.  Word is that there are several of the Team Canada National players sprinkled throughout some of these teams.  As many of you probably know, Team Canada is the reigning IIHF World Champions!

We will be back in a little bit for another update....