BCEHL PLAYOFF UPDATE - MARCH 24-26
For Immediate Release
March 22, 2023
Saanichton, B.C. - It’s time for our top tier championships this weekend! Both the Female U18 and the U18 best-of-three championship series kick off on Friday!
Female U18 AAA
The top two teams from the regular season will clash in the Female U18 league as the top-seeded Fraser Valley Rush welcome the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers. The best-of-three series begins Friday in Langley. The Lakers ended the Rush’s pursuit of a perfect season earlier this month when they swept a weekend series from the Fraser Valley squad. The Rush had won the previous six games versus Thompson-Okanagan this season. The Lakers’ Sage Barstow led the way with four goals this season against the Rush, while Fraser Valley’s Hannah Dods scored five goals against the Lakers.
Last weekend’s semi-finals saw a pair of sweeps by the finalists. Thompson-Okanagan knocked the Vancouver Island Seals from the playoffs winning their series 2-0. Forwards Emma Kohl (4g-1a) and Cassidy Bank (2g-3a) both had great offensive weekends, as they totaled five points each during the series. The Rush also swept the fifth-seeded Greater Vancouver Comets in their best-of-three semi-final last weekend. The Rush outscored the Comets 11-0 over the two. Goaltenders Clara Juca and Rebecca Noble each picked up one shutout victory, while Gillian Lapierre led the way on the scoresheet with three points (2g-1a) in two games.
Playoff Format
March 10-12 (Survivor Series – Best-of-Three)
(4) Northern Capitals vs. (5) Greater Vancouver Comets
- The Greater Vancouver Comets advanced with a 2-1 series win
March 17-19 (Semi-Finals – Best-of-Three)
(1) Fraser Valley Rush vs. (5) Greater Vancouver Comets
- The Fraser Valley Rush advanced with a 2-0 series win
(2) Thompson-Okanagan Lakers vs. (3) Vancouver Island Seals
- The Thompson-Okanagan Lakers advanced with a 2-0 series win.
March 24-26 (Championship – Best-of-Three)
(1) Fraser Valley Rush vs. (2) Thompson-Okanagan Lakers
Friday’s Female U18 Playoff Games
Game One – (2) Thompson-Okanagan Lakers @ (1) Fraser Valley Rush – 5:45 p.m. – Langley Twin Rinks
Saturday’s Female U18 Playoff Games
Game Two – (1) Fraser Valley Rush @ (2) Thompson-Okanagan Lakers – 12:30 p.m. – Langley Twin Rinks
Sunday’s Female U18 Playoff Games
Game Three (if necessary) – (2) Thompson-Okanagan Lakers @ (1) Fraser Valley Rush – 8:30 a.m. – Langley Twin Rinks
Watch All Female U18 Games Live Here
U18 AAA
The Championship Final in the U18 league gets underway this weekend as the second-seeded Okanagan Rockets travel to the Lower Mainland to take on the top-seeded Greater Vancouver Canadians in the best-of-three series. The two teams had a tightly-contested four-game regular season series as two games resulted in a tie, while the other two resulted in a victory for each team. Rockets’ forward Hunter Laing led the way on the scoresheet with three goals during the season series, while Greater Vancouver’s Jonathan Clasby and Jamie Hikida led their team with two goals each.
Okanagan’s offense came to play in their best-of-three semi-final against the Vancouver NE Chiefs, as they totaled 16 goals across their two victories. Laing picked up a hat-trick, which included the overtime winner in Game One’s 5-4 victory, while Erik Pastro also picked up three goals in Okanagan's 11-6 series clinching victory. Greater Vancouver’s best-of-three series victory over the Valley West Giants saw forward Matthew Hikida collect five points (2g-3a) over their two wins, that included a four-point performance (2g-2a) in Saturday’s 6-3 series clincher.
Playoff Format
March 10-12 (Quarter-Finals – Best-of-Three)
(1) Greater Vancouver Canadians vs. (8) Thompson Blazers
- The Greater Vancouver Canadians advanced with a 2-1 series win
(2) Okanagan Rockets vs. (7) Cariboo Cougars
- The Okanagan Rockets advanced with a 2-0 series win
(3) Vancouver NW Hawks vs. (6) Valley West Giants
- The Valley West Giants advanced with a 2-1 series win
(4) Vancouver NE Chiefs vs. (5) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds
- The Vancouver NE Chiefs advanced with a 2-1 series win
March 17-19 (Semi-Finals – Best-of-Three)
(1) Greater Vancouver Canadians vs. (6) Valley West Giants
- The Greater Vancouver Canadians advanced with a 2-0 series win
(2) Okanagan Rockets vs. (4) Vancouver NE Chiefs
- The Okanagan Rockets advanced with a 2-0 series win
March 24-26 (Championship – Best-of-Three)
(1) Greater Vancouver Canadians vs. (2) Okanagan Rockets
Friday’s U18 Playoff Games
Game One - (2) Okanagan Rockets @ (1) Greater Vancouver Canadians – 6:00 p.m. – Ladner Leisure Centre
Saturday’s U18 Playoff Games
Game Two – (1) Greater Vancouver Canadians @ (2) Okanagan Rockets – 5:15 p.m. – Minoru Arena
Sunday’s U18 Playoff Games
Game Three (if necessary) – (2) Okanagan Rockets @ (1) Greater Vancouver Canadians – 8:45 a.m. – Minoru Arena
U17 AAA
Congratulations to the Okanagan Rockets, who captured the BCEHL U17 Championship last weekend!
The U17 Championship Final took place last weekend as the top-seeded Fraser Valley Thunderbirds and the second-seeded Okanagan Rockets took to the ice in Abbotsford.
After dropping Game One of the best-of-three series 4-1, the Rockets clawed their way back with wins in Game Two and Game Three by a score of 5-3 and 4-2. Rockets’ defender Kaden Woodcox had a stellar performance during the series, as he put up five points (2g-3a) which included a pair of goals in Sunday’s series deciding game. Goaltender Ethan Sawyer started in goal for Okanagan across all three games of the series, and backstopped the team to victories in Game Two and Game Three.
Playoff Format
March 3-5 (Quarter-Finals – Best-of-Three):
(1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds vs. (8) Vancouver NE Chiefs
- The Fraser Valley Thunderbirds advanced with a 2-1 series win
(2) Okanagan Rockets vs. (7) South Island Royals
- The Okanagan Rockets advanced with a 2-1 series win
(3) Cariboo Cougars vs. (6) Greater Vancouver Canadians
- The Cariboo Cougars advanced with a 2-1 series win
(4) Vancouver NW Hawks vs. (5) Valley West Giants
- The Valley West Giants advanced with a 2-0 series win
March 10-12 (Semi-Finals – Best-of-Three):
(1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds vs. (5) Valley West Giants
- The Fraser Valley Thunderbirds advanced with a 2-0 series win
(2) Okanagan Rockets vs. (3) Cariboo Cougars
- The Okanagan Rockets advanced with a 2-1 series win
March 17-19 (Championship – Best-of-Three):
(1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds vs. (2) Okanagan Rockets
- The Okanagan Rockets defeated the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds with a 2-1 series win.
U15 AAA
Congratulations to the Greater Vancouver Canadians on capturing the BCEHL U15 Championship!
The U15 Championship took place at Langley Twin Rinks from March 8-12. Teams skated in four round-robin games, followed by a single-elimination knockout stage, where all teams were seeded based on the results of the round-robin stage. Sunday’s championship game saw the Greater Vancouver Canadians take on the Okanagan Rockets, where multi-point games from John Bethell and Luca Martyniuk, along with a stellar performance in goal from Liam Leslie, guided the Canadians to a 4-2 victory and the U15 Championship.
Over the course of the weekend, Rockets’ forward Raine Lepin led the tournament in scoring with 12 points (8g-4a), while Greater Vancouver’s Alan Peregrym led the way in net with four victories.
Playoff Format
March 8-10 (Round Robin)
Each team plays against the three other teams in their group, with all teams advancing to the quarterfinals and seeded based on round-robin results.
Pool A
- (1) Okanagan Rockets
- (4) Greater Vancouver Canadians
- (5) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds
- (8) Thompson Blazers
Pool B
- (2) Vancouver NE Chiefs
- (3) Valley West Giants
- (6) Vancouver NW Hawks
- (7) North Island Silvertips
March 11 (Quarter-Finals)
- QF 1 – Okanagan Rockets defeated the North Island Silvertips
- QF 2 – Greater Vancouver Canadians defeated the Vancouver NE Chiefs
- QF 3 – Fraser Valley Thunderbirds defeated the Vancouver NW Hawks
- QF 4 – Valley West Giants defeated the Thompson Blazers
March 11 (Semi-Finals)
- SF 1 – Okanagan Rockets defeated the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds
- SF 2 – Greater Vancouver Canadians defeated the Valley West Giants
March 12 (Championship Final)
- Greater Vancouver Canadians defeated the Okanagan Rockets
If you can’t make it out the games you can stream all BCEHL games live at: www.playfullscreen.com.
To stay up to date on everything going on in the BCEHL visit the website to view schedules, standings, stats, and scores: BCEHL.net, follow @BCEHL on Twitter, @BCEHL_AAA on Instagram, and join the conversation by using #BCEHLAAAHOCKEY.
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