The Richmond Sockeyes are off to the Pacific Junior Hockey League championship after winning its best-of-seven series 4-1 over the Delta Ice Hawks.
But the series was far from easy for the regular season champs who were pushed by a gutsy Ice Hawks team every step of the way.
Game five at Minoru Arena in Richmond on Thursday (March 14) saw Richmond score twice in the second period to open a 2-0 lead, but the pesky Ice Hawks didn’t quit.
Brandon Petrie cut into the lead with less than two minutes left in the period, redirecting a pass from Hawks AP Jack Sears on the left wing into the net past goalie Noah Stenvig, making it 2-1 through 40 minutes.
Mattias Uyeda scored his second of the game in the third to put Richmond up 3-1, but the Ice Hawks drew back within one with 1:25 left when a Carson Merriman shot went in off the skate of Payton Hu out front, but that was as close as Delta would come.
“Disappointing end. We certainly felt we had the roster to compete for a title again,” said general manager and head coach Steve Robinson. “We knew that Richmond and Ridge Meadows would be formidable opponents, but getting healthy again, and we played quite well in the North Van series and I was optimistic, but for some reason we just couldn’t quite find our rhythm against Richmond.
“The real story inside the series was that we gave up six shorthanded goals in a five-game series and lost the special team’s battle. We outscored them five on five, but it was just too much to overcome for us.”
It was the second straight 3-2 win for Richmond in the series as they won game four in Ladner last Sunday. They won game one 7-5 and game three 7-6 in overtime.
Delta’s lone win in the series was in game two when they picked up a 5-1 decision in Ladner.
“We had the lead in every one of the first four games and shot ourselves in the foot. Not to take anything away from Richmond because they won fair and square, but I felt we beat ourselves in those games,” said Robinson. “That’s the fine line between winning and losing and we just didn’t execute at the highest level.”
Robinson said he will take a few weeks off and then get prepared for some spring camps and player evaluations in May/June and start the preparations for next year.
“We have a chance to return half the team again, which will give us a good nucleus for next season,” he said.
Richmond will now take on the Ridge Meadows Flames in the league championship after the Flames swept the Chilliwack Jets 4-0 in their conference final series.
