The Bantam Division for CRMHA did not have a “B” team this hockey season, but a group of players and coaches hit the ice once a week anyway for development and in preparation for the year-end Hometown Heroes Rep Hockey Tournament in Ridge Meadows March 9-12.
The team entered in the Bantam Tier 4 division. This tournament was the first time this group of players had played games together as a team.
The Tyees’ first game took place on Friday afternoon against Surrey. The Campbell River squad dominated in shots in the first period but there was no score by the buzzer. Tyees’ Bailey Demuth opened the scoring in the second period with assists from Caleb Banman and Breydan Riecker but Saanich answered shortly thereafter. Riley Boyd would then pot one with helpers from Robert Hutchinson and Tyler Wingert and the Tyees would continue to control the play. In the third period, Nick Lapierre and Cole McIntosh would pass the puck to Defenseman Ryan Deagle who would blast one in on the power play to make it 3-1 Tyees. At the 10 minute mark of the third period, Surrey scored and then added another to tie the game with 2:48 remaining. Seconds later they would score a 4th goal to take their first lead of the game and then Surrey would put the nail in the coffin with an empty netter. The Tyees would unfortunately take a 5-3 loss in their first game of the tournament. Demuth was given the MVP honor for the game.
Game 2 on Saturday morning had the Tyees facing a Portland team. Campbell River again dominated in shots but the Portland goaltender wasn’t letting much through. Hutchinson started the scoring in the first period with assists from Wingert and Lapierre, but Portland responded in the second frame. Banman potted the game winner in the third period with helpers from Tyler Jochimski and Demuth and Tyees’ goalie Thomas Burnside would not allow an answer from the Portland squad. The game resulted in a 2-1 win for the Tyees and Banman was given the MVP nod.
Saturday afternoon the Tyees faced the hometown Ridge Meadows team. For the first time in the tournament, the Tyees got down early with two quick goals by Ridge Meadows and the Tyees didn’t have an answer in the first frame. However Riecker scored early in the second period with an assist from Banman and then minutes later Riecker returned the favor to Banman who tied the game up at 2. Demuth also got an assist on the play. The Tyees goals kept on coming in the third period with Boyd scoring a beauty with an assist from Matthew Block, Hutchinson scoring with helpers from Block and McIntosh and Demuth solidifying the win near the end of the frame with an assist from Defenseman Josh Martin. Netminder Burnside did a fantastic job of stopping the opposition’s shots. 5-2 was the final tally in this Campbell River win and Riley Boyd was named game MVP.
Sunday morning the Tyees met the Seattle Snow-Kings in their final round robin game. The Tyees scored first with a goal from Block with feeds from Demuth and Martin in the opening period. Wingert would add to the scoresheet in the second with helpers from Defenseman Wyatt Dumont and Boyd and a minute later Demuth would fire one in with assists from Wingert and Block. The Tyees greatly outshot the Seattle team but they would come up with one goal in the match in the third period. It was a 3-1 win for Campbell River and Block was awarded the MVP for the game.
With a 3-1 record, the Tyees finished a close second in their pool and were assured a spot in the Semi-final game, which took place Monday morning. The Tyees faced the Portland team that they played previously and they left no doubt which team wanted it more. Tyler Wingert started off the scoring in the first period with assists from Nick Lapierre and Robert Hutchinson and seconds before the frame ended, the Tyees added another after a pass from Bailey Demuth to Caleb Banman who shot and then Breydan Riecker put the rebound home. Demuth made it 3-0 with feeds from Riecker and Wyatt Dumont and then not long after Ryan Deagle went on a rush and buried a beauty to bring the lead up to 4. With 7 minutes remaining in the third period, Portland finally made the scoresheet but moments later Dumont took a pass from Banman and took a shot that was tipped in by Demuth. Seconds later, Demuth and Riecker fed Banman who scored the final goal of the game, making it a convincing 6-1 win for the the Tyees. Defenseman David Stevens was +4 in the game and made many great breakout passes. Burnside made some nice saves and held Portland to one goal and was awarded the game MVP.
The Finals took place late Monday afternoon when the Tyees met the undefeated Surrey team, and the local squad was determined to come out with a different result this time. The game was tight in the first period with lots of back and forth action, but Lapierre started off the scoring with assists from Hutshinson and Wingert. Shortly after, Surrey had a reply. Seconds before the buzzer, Wingert scored a beauty with feeds from Hutchinson and Dumont. Block put the team up 3-1 shortly into the second period with feeds from Jochimski and Boyd and then Demuth tipped one in after Riecker fed Dumont the puck and he took a shot. The game got a little rough at this point but the Tyees stayed the course and the second period concluded with a 4-1 score. There was no further scoring in the game until Demuth made it 5-1 with feeds from Riecker and Banman with three minutes remaining. And that would be it for scoring in this 5-1 Gold medal victory for the Tyees. Wingert was given the MVP nod.