Winning was the goal set in place by the Richmond Sockeyes' ownership and the new coaching staff hired in the off-season of 2023.
And, to date, that mandate hasn’t changed as they set their sights entering the second half of the season.
The Sockeyes pulled off an impressive 7-1 win over their rival “tunnel series” Delta Ice Hawks on Dec. 21 with Thomas Popa playing solid between the pipes.
Meanwhile, Delta started with Remy Quintoro as goalie until the Sockeyes collected their fourth goal.
Delta then sent in Jacob Zillich for the remainder of the game who, despite playing stellar, was unable to turn aside the explosive fire power of the home team who outshot Delta by a 41-29 margin.
Richmond’s scoring was led by Willian Huo, who was named first star. Daniel Zhou was named second star and Thomas Popa named third given his solid performance throughout the 60 minutes.
Solid play continues at Winter Classic
Entering the Christmas break, the Sockeyes were focused on continuing their strong play in the Pacific Junior Hockey League's Winter Classic at Minoru Arenas where all fourteen teams would play both a home and away game.
Scoring has not been an issue for the Richmond Sockeyes.
The Sockeyes dominated the Aldergrove Kodiaks in their Dec. 28 game, pulling out an 11-0 win with goalie Oliver Read getting his second shutout of the season.
Different from previous games, the Winter Classic has only a two-star selection with one from each team.
This contest saw former Saint George’s Zach Zapanta named game star for the Sockeyes while Jameson Flint was named game star for the Kodiaks.
The Winter Classic was using four officials for all games and despite a somewhat “chippy” contest, the officials kept things under control with the Kodiaks assessed 10 penalties while the Sockeyes managed nine.
Oliver Read played the full 60 minutes for Richmond while the Kodiaks utilized both Alex Wood and Allen Gillis in goal.
Knights put the squeeze on Sockeyes
The Sockeyes were entering the final game of the season facing the Surrey Knights in a contest that should have been simply an easy win, but that simply wasn’t the case.
Nicholas Noren started the scoring off with his 26th of the season at the five-minute mark followed by one with William Huo while Daniel Zhou rounded off the scoring taking a 3-0 lead to the room after 20 minutes.
This game saw Noah Stenvig, the Sockeyes newest addition, between the pipes forced to make some impressive saves from various angles in the first period, but he was unable to turn aside one from Jamie Hylands who opened the scoring for the Knights.
Surrey continued to press and, while on the power play, the Knights' Carter Andrews pulled them within one at 18:51 of the second period.
One could only imagine what the conversation was in the dressing room after 40 minutes.
Regardless, the Knights continued their strong play, getting shots from various angles with the tying goal at 6:40 from Bronson Sales bringing the fans to their feet.
Try as they might, this game saw an exceptional display of goaltending from the Knights' DJ Cash who at times stood on his head making save after save keeping his squad in the game.
Heading to overtime was anyone’s game with both goalies putting on a dazzling display of goaltending in the blue paint.
But given the firepower of the Sockeyes, it was Eithan Grishin who got the game winner for Richmond.
The end result saw the Sockeyes outshoot Surrey by a commanding 56-37 with each team managing one goal on three power play chances.
Game stars were listed with Eithan Grishin for the Sockeyes and Bronson Sales for Surrey to the shock of many in the building.
It was DJ Cash who literally stole the show for the Knights and, if not for him, the game might have ended up a five or more win for Richmond.
The Sockeyes wrap up the first half of the PJHL season sitting with 32 wins, one loss, two shootout losses, two overtime wins for 66 points as the overall league leaders.
The Sockeyes hit the ice for the first game of the second half on Jan. 4, playing host to the visiting Delta Ice Hawks who currently sit second in the Tom Shaw Conference.
As 2023 came to a close, the Richmond Sockeyes want to thank everyone for their support for the first half of an exciting season as they enter 2024 sitting in first place in the Pacific Junior Hockey League.
The Richmond Sockeyes wish everyone a very Happy New Year.
- Steve Erickson handles media relations for the Richmond Sockeyes
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