The bantam Tier 1 Nanaimo Clippers have put themselves in contention at provincials.
The host team moved to 2-0 at the B.C. Hockey championships with a 7-4 win against the East Kootenay Ice on Tuesday at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.
“The boys had a little bit of a momentum lull, but altogether, we played together,” said John Schlitz, Nanaimo coach.
The Ice closed the margin to 4-3 in the third period, but the Clippers scored on the ensuing shift and added a couple more for good measure.
Luc Pelletier led Nanaimo with a hat trick and Kai Louie, Tavish Parkhurst, Brady Van Herk and Miles Carson were other scorers. Mitchell Finner had a pair of assists and Robbie Jesso was the winning goalie.
For East Kootenay, Dayton Nelson had two goals and two assists and Dominic Fiorentino and Kjell Osborne also tallied.
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Luc Pelletier scored a hat trick to lead the bantam Tier 1 Nanaimo Clippers to a 7-4 victory tonight. Here's one of his goals… #Nanaimo pic.twitter.com/hadG0OH7BT
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) March 21, 2018
Nanaimo started the tourney Monday with a 4-1 win over the Ridge Meadows Rustlers, and will next face the Central Zone Rockets.
“They’re a strong team. We faced them once before and we did well against them, but every game’s different,” Schlitz said. “As long as we come in focused, I think we have a good opportunity.”
A win could help Nanaimo get a more favourable crossover matchup in Thursday morning’s semfinals.
“The games get bigger and bigger the more we go into it…” the coach said. “We’re in good contention to be one of those top three teams, so we’ll see what happens.”
GAME ON … Nanaimo faces Central Zone on Wednesday, March 21, at 6:15 p.m. at the NIC. Nanaimo will then play Thursday at either 8 a.m. or 11 a.m. The bronze-medal game is Thursday at 5 p.m. and the championship final follows at 8 p.m. Admission is free.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
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