Championship Junior Hockey In Ladner

No different than The Long and Winding Road by the Beatles released May 11, 1970 which was their final and 20th number one single written by McCartney based on tensions within the band.

In order to host the championship, first Ice Hawks owner Eduard Epstein approached Delta Mayor George Harvie who made plans to host a meeting with the user groups..

At least the groups who use the facility once the ice is removed, such as Delta Lacrosse, Delta Islanders, Ladner Pioneers, Richmond/Delta Minor Ball Hockey and the Vancouver Giants..

All groups had to first agree as well as bump the start of their season back, while the Vancouver Giants had to push back their training camp in August..

To the surprise of some, everyone was in agreement but one thing that came out of the meeting was that the Pioneers  requested to hold putting the ice in for the fall of 2023.

So from here the long wait began and to say the least Covid-19 wasn’t the best friend for the Ice Hawks pushing the event back two years.

Last fall (2021) was when the Ice Hawks journey began for the four day tournament that featured the league champions from the KIJHL, VIJHL, PJHL as well as host Delta Ice Hawks.

Delta are excited to be hosting for the history of their franchise the 54th Cyclone Taylor Cup and have their sights set to win for only their second time in their 25 year history.

While the opening day was Thursday the banquet was held Wednesday night in Tsawwassen at Mario’s Restaurant which I must say was exceptionally catered with professional staff.

The first day began at 3:30 that featured the PJHL Langley Trappers take on the VIJHL Peninsula Panthers that saw Langley pull out a 6-2 win to the delight of their loyal fans.

The Hawks are coming off a 23-day vacation after being eliminated in game six of the league semi-finals by the Whalers but if they were playing one of the other two visiting clubs their trek might have been a struggle.

The other series looking at the KIJHL first saw Revelstoke shock other opponents winning 16 and dropping 3 while Langley won 12 and lost 2) putting the teams on ice in their playoff run.

Delta GM/Coach Steve Robinson mentioned “It’s just like playing game seven of a series. It’s the old adage that anything can happen in one game between bounces, injuries, goaltending and officiating.”

He continued “The better team doesn’t always win in a single game. You give yourself the best chance by doing all the little things, as far as the clichés of staying out of the box, being smart and playing our game. I think it’ll be competitive. I think all four teams are good.

“One of the silver linings to the fact that we’ve had extended practice since that last game is we were able to bring our gear (into the LLC) and we haven’t left. That’s something we normally don’t get the luxury of having, so it’s been really nice to kind of settle into our home base. I do think that the consistency of being here and in your surroundings is going to help.”

The evening game saw the hometown Delta |Ice Hawks play the KIJHL champion Revelstoke Grizzlies in a game that saw Delta get a jump on them managing to secure a 2-0 win to the delight of their loyal supporters.

Games begin at 3:30 each day while the second game of the day has the official puck drop at 7:30 pm with the exception of Sunday with the Bronze game semi final starting at 12:05 and the championship game starting at 4:05.

Both final games are being televised on Eastlink Community TV that will offer interviews from Darcy Rota, John Grisdale, Delta Mayor George Harvie as well as many others.

Tune in and catch the action and join yours truly in the broadcast booth with Ian Wilson and Brady Lynn working sideline interviews

If you live in the Delta area or in the Eastlink community broadcast channel tune in and don’t miss a minute of exciting PJHL Cyclone Taylor Championship hockey.

The owner of the Delta Ice Hawks asked me to thank the sponsors who helped make this possible, so please support the sponsors who supported the tournament and the Delta Ice Hawks.

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