The Richmond Ravens are so close to a provincial championship banner that they can nearly touch it.
The juggernaut Bantam rep girls hockey team is a a little superstitious when it has come to award presentations this season.
In pair of tournament victories, it was head coach Tony Lindsay accepting the honours on behalf of his team. It happened again when the Ravens clinched Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association (PCAHA) regular season honours, then defeated Abbotsford 4-1 last Sunday to win the PCAHA playoff championship.
“They take that from the NHL players where they don’t touch the Stanley Cup until once they have won it,” said Linsday. “The girls have taken the view point of not touching the banner until the season is over. Win the provincials and they will definitely be touching the banner.”
The Ravens hope to be doing that on home ice when they host six other teams in B.C. Hockey’s showcase event — March 19-23 at the Richmond Ice Centre’s Forum Rink. They will enter the tournament as the clearcut favourite — having rolled to a sparkling 15-1-1 regular season record and an unbeaten 4-0-1 run in the playoffs.
The girls even showed they are among the elite in Canada with a second place at the prestigious 2 Nations Cup College Showcase Tournament in Toronto back in December. However, the focus since September has been ensuring this team is playing its best hockey of the season come provincials.
“The girls want provincials and that’s why they are not over celebrating,” continued Lindsay. “It’s all part of the journey. What we are trying to do is play our best hockey two weeks from now. That’s when it has to be. Every stage is tougher.”
Lindsay, who has coached for many years in boys and girls minor hockey, also knows the provincials can be a crapshoot.
The format will see each team face each other once and the top two meet again in the championship game. The other challenge for Richmond will be having to beat a pair of solid PCAHA rivals — Abbotsford and Tri-City — yet again. Sunday’s playoff final marked the seventh time the Ravens have seen Abbotsford in PCAHA action with a 6-0-1 record. Still, the Valley visitors were within one goal for much of the contest until Richmond added a couple of late insurance tallies.
Tri-City has played Richmond even tougher this season.
“In a one game situation, you never know what is going to happen. Abbotsford is a well-coached team that plays a simple game with good zone coverage and they have lots of speed,” said Lindsay.
“The provincials are a roll of the dice with injuries, hot goalies and penalties all playing a part in it. No question, if you talk to the other coaches it is ‘what do we devise to beat Richmond?’ One of the things I always say to the girls is other teams are here to beat us. If we make sure we focus on the things we need to execute then we will be fine.”
The Ravens feature an outstanding mix of 2002 and 2003 born players including some who have come over from boys rep hockey. Many are expected to make the leap to the Midget “AAA” level or to an academy program next season, including the top end 2003s who will skip their second-year of Bantam eligibility.
“My team two years ago won the (Bantam) provincials and now those girls are playing on 10 different teams,” added Linsday. “Female hockey is really changing, especially with the academy programs and there are only so many girls out there.
“Many of these girls have been playing together for six or seven years and after this season they will be scattering to the wind. It’s emotional knowing that this is it. That’s why we are making sure they are enjoying this experience. We don’t want the girls to feel any pressure, just be themselves.”
