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Hockey player skates to silver

Caily Mellott top of the league in scoring in her last year of play
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Caily Mellott shows off her medal after winning silver at the B.C. League Midget AAA championships in Coquitlam on March 25. The Grade 12 student played with the Northern Capitals out of Prince George this year and finished second in the league in points.

Caily Mellott has returned home from her last season playing hockey with the Northern Capitals with another medal under her belt.

Mellott is bringing home a silver medal this time to add to the two golds she's collected while playing with the Female Midget AAA team —the highest league in the province for female midget players.

The Northern Capitals played the Greater Vancouver Comets in the championship series in Coquitlam on March 24 and 25, ultimately losing in two games to the Comets. The Comets had gone nearly undefeated in the regular season, having suffered only one loss — to the Capitals.

Despite their championship loss the Capitals weren't too disappointed. While they ended last year's season as champions, they started the year as the underdogs, having to rebuild their team and adjust to new coaches.

"We were pretty split, we won as much as we lost but we gradually got better and better as the year went on and we got used to new coaches and found chemistry with the players," says Mellott. "Everyone was pretty excited to get second because we were the team that was supposed to be at the bottom this year."

The team, ranked third going into the playoffs, had to defeat the second-ranked Thompson-Okanagan Lakers in the semifinals to advance to the championship. The Capitals swept the series in what Mellott says was the most exciting weekend of the year.

This year Mellott has a personal accomplishment to add to her list of achievements - she placed second over all in the league for points, with 20 goals and 11 assists over the course of 30 games.

"Caily was a very offensive forward. We could always rely on her to get on the ice and score goals for us," says Capitals assistant coach Dayle Poulin.

"She's a leader both on and off the ice in her academics and then in her play as well. I have nothing but good things to say about her, she's a good kid and was a huge asset to our team this year."

Mellott says she matured as a player this year.

"I've always been that non selfish player [and] the coaches tell me to be more selfish because I always pass the puck," she says. "Just to start off at the top, it was kind of a surprise to me, and that was my goal. Just to stay at the top of the list."

She also says she wanted to give the younger players something to play up to, something her coach echoes.

"She definitely took on a leadership role being the more experienced senior player on the team and she did a great job of it," says Mellott.

"We are definitely going to miss her. She's helped some of our younger players learn the leadership role, so hopefully they can pick up where she's left off."

Mellott has been skating since she was two, and joined the boys leagues in 100 Mile House until she started playing at a higher calibre. She's been competing with the Northern Capitals for the past three years, although her first year she played in Kamloops during the regular season and joined the Capitals as an affiliate player in playoffs and at the Pacific Western Championships.

When Mellott is in Prince George with the Capitals, she billets with a family and attends Duchess Park Secondary School.

Now that the season is over, Mellott has moved back to her home in Lone Butte to finish off her Grade 12 year at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School where she will graduate.

Mellott's still not sure what she'll be doing next year. She wants to pursue a four year degree in kinesiology in order to become a physiotherapist and is exploring a few options to see whether playing hockey will be possible while she does it.

She's received interest from places in the United States that are looking for players and will be attending an invitation-only camp in Red Deer on April 1 and 2 but has yet to make any decisions.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet that I don't get to go back and play another year," she says. "It's still not real yet, but it will sink in soon."