Banners will be flying high in local arenas as Richmond Ravens Midget AA and Midget C1 girls hockey teams clinched Pacific Coast Amateur league championships this past week.
For the Midget AAs, placing top in their division caps off a stellar season that began in September with their third consecutive win in Nanaimo at the Extreme Cup tournament.
In December they froze out the competition in Regina at the Sasktel Female Hockey Challenge, winning the tournament after three days of tough competition from Prairie teams in round robin play.
"We wanted to give the girls a chance to play some new competition," explained head coach AJ Sander. "The teams from Manitoba and Saskatchewan definitely gave us something to think about, but in the end we pulled it together. We also played at this tournament two years ago and are coming home with our second gold medal."
This is the Ravens' third league championship in the last four years, and they closed the season with an undefeated 12-0-3 record.
The Midget C1s captured their division banner with a phenomenal 14-0-1 record while accruing the fewest penalty minutes. The players were unstoppable, producing 72 goals for and a paltry eight against.
The regular season success, along with their gold medal at Langley's Angels On Ice Tournament, was not expected at the start of the 2011-12 campaign.
"The players were all new to each other and it took a bit of time before we started to gel," says coach Greg Hanson. "But once we started racking up the wins, the girls really bonded.
"Our team is deep with talent which is partially due to their athletic versatility. Many of the girls also play soccer, softball, volleyball, field hockey and are involved in officiating. It's been a great year and they deserve to be proud of what they've accomplished."
Both teams will start gearing up for the playoffs as well as the Ravens Ice Classic tournament in March.
