Team B.C. survived a Quebec comeback and won hockey gold at the Canada Winter Games.
Friday night in Halifax, B.C. had a 4-2 lead heading to the third period but then gave up the next two goals. Instead of collapsing under the pressure, the B.C. boys fought back and left the ice at the Halifax Metro Centre with a 7-4 victory.
The golden B.C. club has three connections to Prince George -- city resident Brent Arsenault is an assistant coach, and players Josh Connolly and Brett Harris are both members of the P.G.-based Cariboo Cougars. Connolly is from Prince George and Harris hails from 100 Mile House.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," Arsenault told The Citizen. "B.C. only had one gold medal and it was an all-star junior B team, it wasn't part of the B.C. Hockey high performance [program]. That [gold] was in '79 so this is a big one for our province. I'm proud of the kids -- we had a great coaching staff and we pulled it off."
Quebec leveled the score at 4-4 with about six minutes left on the clock. Then, Delta forward Nic Petan -- who was in the penalty box for Quebec's third goal -- scored what proved to be the winner. Petan, a first-round WHL draft pick of the Portland Winterhawks in 2010, took a pass from a teammate and snapped a shot blocker side on the Quebec goaltender. B.C. captain Curtis Lazar then added to the total and, later, completed the scoring with an empty-netter. Lazar, from Vernon, finished the game with a hat trick.
"He was phenomenal," Arsenault said.
Connolly, on defence, and Harris, at forward, were key contributors in the win.
"They both played well," Arsenault said. "Harris was like 8 and 2 on faceoffs -- he was a machine at centre and great on the [penalty-kill]. Josh played a little PK, a little power play, regular strength. He moved the puck -- really played solid the last three and a half games."
Friday's final was played in front of about 10,000 spectators.
"It was loud and it was crazy," Arsenault said. "The fans were behind us, I think, a little bit more than Quebec. It was exciting. The boys are pretty pumped right now."
In the opening game of the tournament, B.C. fell to Quebec 5-4 in overtime. For the final, the Team B.C. coaching staff juggled the lines but the players themselves stuck to the same style.
"We got pucks deep on them and were very aggressive on the forecheck," Arsenault said. "Those were the keys."
Arsenault is in his "19th or 20th" season as a coach and now has a new career highlight.
"It's a gold medal," he gushed. "It's pretty prestigious -- I think it's my top thing overall. It hasn't sunk in yet because we just won it but I think it's a great accomplishment. I was hired a year ago, February 28th, and it was a lot of work and a lot of effort."
In its other pool play games, B.C. beat Nova Scotia 8-3 and lost 5-1 to Ontario. In the playoff quarterfinals, B.C. dumped Manitoba 4-2. Then, in the semis, B.C. downed Ontario 5-2.
Arsenault, Connolly and Harris are scheduled to arrive home on Sunday morning.
