A slew of Vernon hockey teams across the community wrapped up Okanagan playoffs with impressive performances, to send them to provincial championships.
The North Okanagan Knights U18 Tier 4 boys and U18 female, U18 Vipers Tier 2, U13 Vipers Tier 1 and the North Zone Kings U15 Tier 1 squads will all be heading to their respective provincial championships.
The Knights will be competing in Creston Valley for provincials, after losing in the Okanagan playoff finals, 4-1 to Greater Vernon. They are scheduled to face Golden, Clearwater, Houston and Prince Rupert in succession, starting on Sunday, March 17.
Nanaimo, Penticton, Trail, North West Zone, Richmond, North Shore, Prince George and North East will all do battle against the North Okanagan Knights female team from their home rink in Armstrong, the Nor-Val Arena. Their tournament begins March 21.
For the Vipers Tier 2 team, a 6-0 victory in the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association (OMAHA) U18 finals to Kelowna clinched their spot in provincials.
“For five of the (players) it’s their last year of minor hockey,” said Carly Gare. “They worked hard in playoffs to win the banner and bring it home to Vernon.”
Now, they will head to Langley to compete alongside nine other teams (Prince George, Langley, Cranbrook, Port Coquitlam, Fort St. John, South Delta, Victoria, Smithers and Trail) in Langley.
The full schedule can be found at langleyminorhockey.ca/provincials as the competition takes place March 16-21.
The U13 squad will be at home for their provincial championships, with the games being contested in the Priest Valley Arena beginning on Saturday, March 16. Penticton, Prince George, Nanaimo, North Shore, Cranbrook and Semiahmoo all will play.
Finally, the North Zone Kings are looking to continue their remarkable undefeated run. After finishing the regular season with a 20-0 record in the OMAHA AA league, the Kings defeated Central twice (5-1, 8-3), and Thompson twice (3-2, 4-2) in the playoffs to extend their winning streak to 24 games.
Based out of Vernon, the North Zone represents players from Revelstoke, Sicamous, Salmon Arm, Grindrod, Armstrong and Vernon.
The eight team provincial championship will be hosted in North Vancouver from the North Shore Winter Club. Joining the Knights are teams from Langley, West Kootenay, Burnaby, Comox Valley and North East. The tournament begins Sunday, March 17.
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