Merry Christmas From Your Richmond Sockeyes

Photo Credit Sophia Khatami

The Richmond Sockeyes continue the winning streak as the pressure continues from game to game with the opposing teams trying to dethrone the top team in the Tom Shaw Conference.

The strong start continued that saw them travel to play the Port Moody Panthers in a contest that wasn’t really a contest at all.

The game started with another impressive start with Daniel Zhou getting them on the board at 3:08 with Teo Lin and Jonathan Soares setting up the early setting the stage for the massive 9-0 win.

The Panthers pressed but were unable to penetrate the strong “D” that held the line, preventing shots on Oliver Read who got the call for this contest. 

The Sockeyes Justin Grant added a pair with the first at 10:33 and the second at 19:29 that saw them outshoot the Panthers by a dominating 28-4 tally after twenty minutes.

The second saw them continue to get another three goal performance with goals from William Huo 43 seconds in while on the power play, the second from Teo Lin at 6:49 and the third at 10:17  on the power play with Gavin Bains giving them a 60 lead after 40 minutes.

They continued to get shots at Panthers starting “tender” Lucas Poratto sending another 18 on  target while Read faced only three with a two period total of 46-7.

Try as they might, the Sockeyes played solid in all areas managing to get another three in the third with Gavin Sangara at 10:16, the second from Zach Zapanta at 11:34 while Gavin Bains got his second at 12:17.

That alone was a record as they managed to get three goals in a span of 2:01 in a period that saw both teams trade four penalties with Misconducts handed out to each club.

The third saw the Panthers manage 8 shots ending with 15 while the Sockeyes sent 10 wrapping up the contest with 56 through sixty minutes grabbing all three stars.

Their next game was a mid-week contest playing against the Langley Trappers that saw them continue their winning ways managing a 6-0 win with Callum Lind starting the contest off at 8:17.

The Trappers had several chances only to have Justin Grant give them a 2-0 lead at 13:08 that saw them outshot by a narrow 9-8 after 20 minutes.

Whatever was said in the dressing room worked as they came out with a jump in the second with William Huo getting them on the board at 2:43 followed by his second at 7:40 continuing to throw shots against starter Maddox Osaka.

The second saw them outshot the Trappers by a 18-7 margin and 26-15 after 40 minutes with both clubs playing an exceptional fast paced style as both had several chances.

Try as they might, the only goal of the third came with Zach Zapata giving them their sixth of the contest at 15:40 that saw the Trappers assessed four penalties while the Sockeyes were dealt only two.

Despite having home ice the visiting Sockeyes skated away with all three game stars that saw them return home for their Annual Teddy Bear Toss game the following night.

They returned home outscoring their opposition 15-0 in two previous games playing their Annual Teddy Bear game against the visiting Trailblazers the following night.

With the fans coming through the turnstiles bringing various shapes and sizes of Bear the players were talking about scoring the first goal to send the Bears flying to the ice that has them donated to the Richmond Firefighters Burn Unit.

There was no question the pressure was on the players to deliver with some mentioning “they were nervous going into the game” not wanting to disappoint the fans, the kids or the charities.

Aside from the Teddy Bear Toss this game marked the return of Justin McKnight who has been playing in Iroquois Falls Storm managing 6 goals, 7 assists in 31 games along with 50 Pim’s. 

The Trailblazers Milin Aujla opened the scoring at 11:22 bringing a silence over the crowd only to have him assessed an Interference minor at 11:46 putting the Sockeyes on the powerplay.

That goal seemed to ignite the Sockeyes as Gavin Bains sent a bullet from the right point to ignite the fans that saw the Teddy Bears soar on the ice after getting set up by Captain Matthew Stewart.

With the pressure off they could now settle down and play Sockeye hockey which continues to see them fill the “Fish Bowl” at Minoru.

They continued by adding a shorthanded marker from Daniel Zhou giving them a 2-1 lead at 14:02 while playing shorthanded.

The  next two were 53 seconds apart with Nicholas Noren getting their third at 17:38 followed by their fourth of the period at 18:31 with Kai McComb setting the stage for yet another impressive win.

They ended the period outshooting the Trailblazers by a commanding 24-3 margin while keeping any shots directed at Oliver Read to be blocked forcing them to go wide.

The second saw a reverse with both clubs trading one with Jonathan Soares giving them a 5-1 lead only to have Cadance Stanley get one at 10:08 making it 5-2 finishing the period.

They did manage to only get outshot by a narrow 13-10 margin in a period that saw them manage three minors while the Sockeyes took a pair.

Leading by three one would think this would be comfortable but the third started with Ajula getting his second of the game at 9:02 on the PP.

Gavin Bains stole the show getting his second of the contest 11 second later regaining the three goal lead.

Penalties continue to prove costly for the Sockeyes allowing PoCo’s Stanley to get his second of the game pulling with two while on the power play with Justin McKnight serving a cross checking minor..\

Jonathan Soares wrapped up the scoring on the PP at 15:06 giving the Sockeyes a solid and impressive 7-4 win, outshooting the visitors from across the bridge by a 54-28 tally.

Sockeyes Oliver Read stopped 24 of the 28 shots he faced while Trailblazers Nick Mayne stopped 47 of 54 faced at the opposite end.

The Game Stars were listed as Jonathan Soares (2G/0A), Gavin Bains (2G/!A) and Milin Aujla 2G/2A named third star.)

The overall “REAL WINNER”  was the Richmond Firefighters Burn Unit.

Merry Christmas and Season’s Greeting from YOUR RICHMOND SOCKEYES