In the South Cariboo Rec. Centre hallway before Game 1, 100 Mile House coach Pat Simms made it clear: “These are huge league games for us.”
The local midget rep hockey team, sponsored by Mayvin Plumbing and Heating, hosted Prince George Tier 3 on Dec. 6-7.
The games had provincial playdown implications with 100 Mile House and Prince George vying for a spot in Whitehorse in February.
“This is our first home game, so we're pretty excited,” Simms says. “We have a pretty good team. It's the last year for a lot of guys.”
Prince George won 3-0 on Dec. 6 and 3-2 on Dec. 7, so the Milers will look to rebound when they travel to Prince George in January for another pair of games.
100 Mile House got on the board first in Game 2. Jacob Fisher, from Cooper Uphill and Brandon Balbirnie, scored in the first. Prince George took a 3-1 lead however, before Uphill, from Connor Edle and Derek Popadinac, found the back of the net with about 10 minutes left in the third period.
Goalie Michael Toews has been great for the Milers all season, and wears an “A” for the “defence-first” team, the coach explains.
“Our team is built from the goalie out basically. Our captains and our assistants are on defence and our goalie Michael Toews wears an A too. We're a defence first team. We play defence first and take our chances when they come to us.”
The Milers are dedicating the season to Kyle Moore, the father of team member Brandan Moore and former coach who passed away in July 2013.
“We're going out to have the best season we can for him,” Simms says. “I'm really proud of the guys and it's a big year for us.”