Rockets reach the top

Richmond Peewees win B.C. championship and reach Ice Classic final during the same week

Don Fennell, Sports Editor

After their surprising 2-1 victory over the favoured Victoria Racquet Club Kings in the provincial final earlier in the week at Vernon, the Rockets showed more of their remarkable resolve to reach the Peewee Tier 1 final at the annual Richmond Girls' Hockey Ice Classic only to lose 3-2 to the Alaska Firebirds on a goal with 4.4 seconds to play.

It was a heartbreaking defeat for the Rockets, which had dominated the first two periods and led 3-1 going into the third. Candace Molle scored two spectacular goals for Alaska on end-to-end rushes, with Jamie Hollis getting the winner after Richmond goaltender Katie Miyazaki had initially made a great pad save.

Rookie coach Anne-Marie Lowden said the Rockets' play at the tournament showed just how disciplined and motivated they are.

"I thought they'd be tired, but we'd just go in for fun," she said. "It was awesome how they put in that much effort again."

Alaska defeated Richmond 6-1 in round-robin action.

Lowden, 17, said the Rockets really came together as a team during the season when they lost just one game and another in the playoffs.

"We had a lot of fun," she said. "We were playing hide-and-seek in the hotel (at Vernon) and we bonded really well. We went in wanting to win but I don't think the girls felt a lot of pressure."

Despite her youth, Lowden said she was confident in her coaching abilities because of her hockey knowledge.

"I just love hockey and the girls kept me going," she said. "Basically, I wanted them to work as hard as they could and focus on one shift at a time. But the main thing was fun. I told them as long as you guys go out and give 100 per cent and have fun everything will fall into place."

The Richmond Bulldogs also reached the Pewee C Division final but lost 3-1 to the North Shore Winter Club Winterhawks, leaving Richmond without a tournament banner after five Ice Classics.

Calgary Bowness Rage blanked Saanich Braves 4-0 in the Midget AA Division final, Portland Winter Hawks took the Midget A Division title with a 4-0 win over Comox Valley Glacier Queens, and Victoria Ice Hawks toppled Alaska Ice Breakers 4-0 in the Bantam Division final.

The quality of teams and fan support at the tournament reflects a rapidly growing interest in, and respect for, female hockey.

Audrey Truth, president of the Richmond Girls' Hockey Association, has been a trailblazer for the game devoting much of her time to promoting the sport. She's impressed at how far the players have come in a relatively short period of time.

"Not only can they skate but they all have good hockey skills too," she said. "The level of play has really increased since I started out and every year it goes forward in huge leaps."

Five years ago when the Ice Classic began there were only two Midget Division teams and a Peewee Division club. But with a conscientious effort to get girls into female hockey instead of boys' programs, female hockey is taking off.

"This is the first year I haven't had people say they didn't know there was girls' hockey in Richmond," she said.

Truth hopes the growth in female hockey is part of a social trend that applauds and respects their participation in sport.

"When I was little I just wanted to play hockey but it wasn't available," she said. "It was seen as a guy's game and I just accepted that as a fact of life. Night after night I'd go out and play on local (outdoor) rinks but knew there was no place for me to go in an organized league."

As she got older, Truth's love of hockey only grew and she began focusing her energies to help organize and promote female hockey.

"There must be thousands of girls who feel they want to play hockey just like I did," she said.

Truth encourages girls to participate in several sports, noting that it's easy to burn out just playing one.

"If you watch the girls who also play soccer for example they have that little bit of edge on the ice," she said. "And they develop a whole added set of skills."

Alaska Firebirds' coach Kevin Lauver said his under-12 team was one of the first girls' team from that state to play at the Ice Classic. Now two others at different age groups have followed.

"We still have only two or three teams

in under-12 but girls' hockey is getting to

more and more popular in Alaska (too)," he said. "We start playing in September and I think we probably have a little more ice than the teams here but the program has come a long way since six years ago."