Aldergrove Kodiaks edged out of PJHL playoffs

Aldergrove Kodiaks were eliminated from the PJHL playoffs on Tuesday night, Feb. 15, the result of a Mission City Outlaws victory over Abbotsford Pilots.

It was enough for the Mission team to edge out Aldergrove by one point in the Harold Brittain conference, Kodiaks General manager Rick Harkins explained.

“It’s only the second time in our [13-year] history that we didn’t make the playoffs,” Harkins remarked.

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Harkins said the young team got off to a slow start, but found its footing after Christmas.

By then, however, they had some catching up to do, and couldn’t quite close the gap.

They were in it until the very end, however, beating Mission twice in their last two meetings, once at home on Wednesday, Feb. 9, a 4-2 victory at Aldergrove Credit Union Community Arena, and again on Sunday Feb. 13, a game that saw the Kodiaks win a 3-1 decision over the Outlaws at Mission City Leisure Centre.

Parker Kubilius opened the scoring for Aldergrove in the opening minutes of Wednesday’s game. After two Mission goals, Kodiaks forward Kale Taylor, assisted by Callum MacDonald and Lewis Nikkel, responded in the second period and and Carson Preston, assisted by Kale Taylor scored for Aldergrove in the third.

On Feb. 11, Ridge Meadows defeated Aldergrove 6-2, with Kodiaks Ryan Larochelle and Connor Droux scoring in the third, with Hunter Brown and Noah Iacutone assisting Droux.

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On Sunday, Jayden Martin had the lone goal for Mission, with an assist by Chase Newman and Brayden Stewart, in the first period.

Taylor Chiu replied for Aldergrove off an assist by Kale Taylor and Carson Preston.

After a scoreless second period, Trevor Baron scored twice in a row, getting the winning goal with an assist from Hunter Brown and Callum MacDonald early in the third, then the insurance marker, with assists by Taylor Chiu and Parker Kubilius.

Harkins is pleased with the team’s post-Christmas performance.

“We controlled our destiny coming down the stretch,” Harkins commented.

“(But) we kind of gave a couple back, in there.”

Kodiaks finished the regular season with a record of 21 wins and 20 losses.

Harkins has nothing but good things to say about the coaching staff, in particular head coach Chris Price, for doing “an outstanding job” with the young players.

“It bodes well for the future,” Harkins said.

PJHL playoffs are now underway, with the top four teams in the Tom Shaw and Harold Brittain conferences playing best of seven series leading up to the Storehouse Cup in March.