After an undefeated season in the Skeena Valley Hockey League, the Terrace peewee rep team faced a challenge at zones, ending up in third place.
The zones were held in Kitimat Feb 24 – 26 and hosted teams from Terrace, Prince Rupert, Kitimat, Smithers and Vanderhoof.
Assistant coach for the team Rory Reinbolt explained the team was battling illness, with players on the ice who had not recovered fully from the flu and another key player out sick for the whole event.
Day one Terrace played two games with a 3-3 tie with Kitimat and a 10-2 loss to Vanderhoof.
“The tie with Kitimat was disappointing as our team was undefeated in the Skeena Valley League games all season, and did not have one of our better games,” Reinbolt said, explaining that with sick players and a top player out early in the game because of a mild concussion it was a difficult game.
“We faced more adversity than we could overcome,” he said.
Saturday the team had better results with a 15-1 win over Prince Rupert and an 8-3 win over Smithers.
“We were proud of the rebound we got from our team on Saturday as we looked like the team we have been all season,” Reinbolt said.
Even though Terrace and Kitimat were tied at the event, Kitimat went on to the final match against Vanderhoof because of a better goals for and against record.
Reinbolt said the team is trying to attend one more tournament over spring break to round out the season which was a good one as the team took second place in tournaments in Terrace, Quesnel and Kelowna as well as taking the top spot in the Skeena Valley Hockey League.
“The team showed lots of improvement and the boys had a lot of fun this season bonding as a group, with many playing rep hockey for their first time,” Reinbolt said.