Michael Garteig is in Vancouver today, writing his college entrance exam.
He'd much rather be up the Sunshine Coast in Powell River, preparing to host a team from Alberta next Friday in Game 1 of the Doyle Cup regional junior A hockey championship.
The 19-year-old goaltender from Prince George won't get that chance. His Powell River Kings were swept from the Fred Page Cup B.C. Hockey League playoff final in four games by the Vernon Vipers.
The Vipers ended the Kings' season Tuesday in Vernon with a 5-4 win in overtime. As he has been throughout all but a few minutes of Powell River's playoff run, Garteig was in net when Vipers forward Michael Zalewski pounced on a rebound off a point shot for the goal that decided the championship, eight minutes into overtime.
The defending national champion Vipers won 3-1 and 1-0 in Powell River, then came home to beat the Kings 4-3 Monday in Game 3 in Vernon, leading up to Tuesday's clincher. This is the third straight year Powell River has lost to the Vipers in the Fred Page Cup final and Garteig, who has been in Powell River the past two seasons, is convinced his team was simply snakebitten this time around.
"To be honest, I thought we were a lot better team. We had more depth but we couldn't put the puck in the net," said Garteig, who will move on the the NCAA next season with Quinnipiac.
"Personally, I didn't play as well as I could. My confidence was a little down, and if I could do it all over again I obviously would. It's a bitter taste for me because I think we were so much a better team. I really thought we outplayed them and it's frustrating. We could have swept them with a couple bounces."
While the Kings' playoff run ended too early for Garteig, his season was nothing short of amazing. Playing 48 of 60 regular season games, he set new BCHL records for goals-against average (1.69) and save percentage (.934) and tied the league record for most shutouts in a season with seven. He wasn't bad in the playoffs either, compiling a 2.26 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 17 games.
The Kings (46-9-3-2) also had the best regular season record in the 16-team BCHL.
"It hurts, but it was a good season and we have a lot to be proud of and we have a lot to look forward to," he said. "It was really nice to have the support from the people following me back home in Prince George and in Powell River. That was the most excited I've seen Powell RIver as a city in a long time."
There's a chance Garteig could stir some interest in the NHL entry draft, June 24-25 in St. Paul, Minn.
"My name's been brought up and I know a couple [NHL scouts] were watching in the playoffs and throughout the whole season, but I'm not expecting anything," Garteig said.
