The local Kelowna bantam hockey teams are surely glad to see the Langley Eagles have left town.
The bantam C3 hockey team was in Kelowna for a 16-team tournament from Dec. 11 to 13 with Langley going unbeaten (4-0-1) against five Kelowna squads in a span of less than 48 hours to claim the gold medal.
And the Eagles won in dramatic fashion, as tournament MVP Greg Song one-timed a pass in the slot from Trevor Young to bury the game-winner with less than two minutes to play in a 3-2 victory over West Kelowna.
Joshua Laird also had a goal, converting a bullet cross-ice pass from Carson Yee.
“Placing first out of 16 teams is a true testament of this team’s desire to succeed,” said Langley coach Clark Kemp.
“A great tournament win by a hard-working group of young men.
“It was a great effort to go undefeated and win the championship game.”
In the round robin opener, Langley battled back from a 2-1 deficit to score four straight and beat the Kelowna Canucks 5-2. Goaltender Matthew Reeves earned game MVP honours — making several key stops early while Nick Cormack, the team’s heart and hustle award winner, dished out three assists.
Owen Kredba played a solid game on defence.
Game two required no rally as Langley beat the Kelowna Bruins 7-1.
Joseph Deley scored once and earned player of the game while Josh Moreau set up the game-winning goal. Defenceman Brady Lumsden shut down the strong Bruins defenders and earned the team’s heart and hustle award.
The final round robin game had the Eagles battle back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the Kelowna Wild 2-2.
Lex Rohweder (game MVP) and Matthew Bardell-Polley (heart and hustle) had solid games.
After winning their pool, Langley doubled up the Kelowna Sharks 4-2 in the semifinals. Colton Kenney scored the game-winner on a set-up from Owen Kemp and Eric Nordal had a strong game, earning the team’s heart and hustle award.