The Grand Forks Pee Wee team wasn’t the only team off at provincials; the Midget rep team had their first foray into Tier 3 provincials last week.
Though the team did not record a win, coach Rob McGregor said that the team had a great experience.
“They held their own, they lost all of their games but they were right in three out of the four,” McGregor said.
“One was down to an empty-netter, we pulled the goalie to try to tie it up. Another one we were tied with about five minutes left in
the game and they got a couple on us.”
McGregor said that the team jumped up a tier because there was a lack of teams. Grand Forks is typically a Tier 4 Midget team.
“This year in the West Kootenay there was only one other Tier 3 team and they ended up folding before the deadline,” McGregor said.
“That was Rossland-Trail’s second rep team so we stepped up into Tier 3.”
McGregor said it was tough because there aren’t many teams to play before provincials, since places like the Okanagan are having playoffs.
“So typically it’s really hard for us to get games right before playoffs and with that other team folding and no playoffs for us,” he said.
“It left us with a dead spot with about four to six weeks where we had no teams to play.”
McGregor said that a little more playoff atmosphere definitely would have helped the team to be more prepared as well. He was especially impressed by the way the team held their composure in the last game, where he said the officiating was a bit inconsistent.
“It came out to be a positive game instead of a big gong show so I was rather impressed with how they held their composure,” he said.
“It was definitely a step in the right direction for the boys.”