It was worth the wait.
Happy's Source for Sports Chiefs thumped the Nanaimo Clippers 9-4 Sunday to capture the Vancouver Island Midget Tier 1 championship. A team spokesperson notes it is the first time in some 20 years a local team has earned the honour.
There were plenty of spectators at the Comox Valley Sports Centre for the third and deciding game of the championship series.
The first period was a close affair with neither team able to find the back of the net for the first 14 minutes of play. But with six minutes left in the first period, Nanaimo capitalized on a power play to take a one-goal lead.
It wasn鈥檛 long before the Chiefs answered on a nice pass from Nigel Hutcheson to Myles Powell, who managed to skate through a wall of defenders and slide the puck between the goalie's pads to tie the game.
It was still 1-1 after the first half of the second period, but with 10 minutes left Jordon Crisp found the back of the net on a nice pass from Brook Trainor and Jed Martin. Nanaimo came back four minutes later to tie the game up, however with only three minutes left in the second Martin scored on a pass from Zack McIntyre and Powell.
The Chiefs wasted no time growing their lead to three, scoring twice more in the first two minutes of play: the first by Powell assisted by Kye Kendal and Kevin Morgan, the second by Jed Martin. The third period was mostly all Chiefs. With 10 minutes left they struck again to make the score 6-2 on a goal from Bob Jolley assisted by Powell and Garrett Halls.
Nanaimo capitalized on two power plays of their own in the third but never got within four goals again as the Chiefs added three more of their own: the first by Martin to complete his hattie assisted by Crisp and Morgan, and the next two by Powell, the first for his hat trick assisted by Martin and Hutcheson, and the second assisted by Jolley and Morgan.
Matt Bowell was outstanding in net once again.
This is not the last time these two teams are likely to meet. Both will be playing at provincials March 20-23 in Nanaimo. Chiefs' game times will be announced as soon as they are determined.
