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Winter Classic bringing top-notch U-18 hockey talent to Fort St. James

Cariboo Cougars host Fraser Valley T-birds Saturday night, followed Sunday morning by Northern Capitals-Fraser Valley Rush matchup on outdoor rink at Ernie Sam Memorial Arena in Fort St. James

That little cold snap came at an opportune time for organizers on this weekend’s BC Elite Hockey League Winter Classic in Fort St. James.

Because the outdoor rink at Ernie Sam Memorial Arena in Fort St. James has a roof, snow that fell Wednesday night didn’t add much to the workload for volunteers gathered to build the rink and it’s been cold enough to make the ice thick enough to stand up to the punishment of two outdoor games this weekend.

Cariboo Hockey general manager Trevor Sprague said he and his five-person ice crew were on the job for 18 hours on Tuesday and were back at it Wednesday for a 20-hour shift. They had to paint the lines of the rink, then got out the hoses to cover those lines with as many layers of ice as possible. Near-freezing temperatures  combined with a slight wind chill Thursday made it possible for the Zamboni to take care of the flooding operations from now on and those sessions were scheduled to continue every four hours or so through the night.

Parents of Winter Classic players, past and present, gave up a good chunk of their week to help get the rink ready. That group includes Mike Goodwin, whose sons Lane and Dallas are Cougar alumni, as well as Jordy Armstrong of Dawson Creek, the father of Northern Capitals forward Hailey Armstrong. District of Fort St. James staff and members of the Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation are also lending a hand to make the outdoor games happen.

“We’ve got lots of help in getting things organized and ready to go here,” said Sprague.

The Cariboo Cougars get first crack at skating on natural ice Saturday at 6:30 p.m. when they host the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds in a U-18 triple-A male division league game, followed on Sunday at 10 a.m. by a female U-18 triple-A game between the host Northern Capitals and the Fraser Valley Rush.

The Rush and Capitals also play each other Saturday at 1 p.m. at Vanderhoof Arena. The Cougars and Thunderbirds will clash indoors Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at the Fort Forum in Fort St. James.

For all four teams involved, the games this weekend could have a significant impact on the standings. In the female division, the first-place Rush (18-1-1-0) have a healthy points lead over the second-place Capitals (14-5-0-3), but that could crumble significantly if the Capitals can pull off a sweep.

The Prince George-based Caps are the only team to have beaten the Rush this season, which happened Nov. 16 in Langley, when the visitors won 3-2. Three of the six games head-to-head have been decided by one goal, including a 3-2 overtime loss to the Rush Oct. 2 in Surrey.

The Thunderbirds and Cougars are neck-and-neck in the U-18 male league standings. Fraser Valley (128-3-1, fourth place) is three points ahead of the Cougars (11-10-1-2, fifth place), and the Cougars desperately want to move up at least one notch in the standings to guarantee home ice for the first round of playoffs.

After a 5-8-1 start, the Cougars have won six of their last 10 games. After numerous postponements, they most recently played Jan . 15-16 in Abbotsford, where they earned a split with the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs.

The Northern Capitals haven’t played a league game since Nov. 28, but were on a 6-2 roll up until that point. They traveled to Wilcox, Sask., for the 16-team Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament just before Christmas and made it as far as the semifinal round.

“Like I’ve stated before for all of them for this weekend, however it goes, it’s going to be war,” said Sprague. “Even though this is an outdoor game and the festivities are there, they still have to come and play the game. It’s pretty prestigious for the north to be able to do this with the BC Elite Hockey League and at the end of the day, we’re playing for playoff spots with Cariboo and the Thunderbirds and who wants home-ice advantage.

“I’m not really a fan of being in second place ever and I know Mario (Northern Capitals head coach Desjardins) has been working hard to have the team we have right now be in first place. It’s playoff hockey now for both groups and they’re showing signs they can play playoff hockey.”

This is the third Winter Classic involving the Cariboo Cougars. The first was in 2019, when the Chiefs and Cougars played to a 2-2 tie. It was played on warm day and ice conditions deteriorated to the point where an overtime period could not be safely played and the teams went to an informal shootout, which the Cougars won.

In 2020, the Northern Capitals were invited to take part in the event. Cariboo lost its outdoor game 2-0 to Vancouver Northwest Hawks on a chilly -16 C night, and the following morning it warmed up to –9 C and the Capitals lost their outdoor game 5-4 to the Greater Vancouver Comets. Last year’s Winter Classic was cancelled because of the pandemic.  

“We’re pretty lucky to be able to do it,” said Sprague. “It’s weather permitting, and we’ve got the Fort Forum not far away to be able to finish a game if we have to. When we started this we made a promise to Nak’azdli to have all 10 teams from the major midget side up here and that goes for the girls’ side too, to make sure we get all four teams up here to the Fort.

Four Capitals players – Ella Boon, Brooklyn Hutchings, Hailey Armstrong and Maria Ayre – who played in the 2020 Classic are still with the team. Cougars defenceman Zach Leslie is the lone returning player from 2020.

In a non-pandemic year, players and coaches from the teams take part in skills clinics for minor hockey kids and visit schools prior to their games but the group/school interactions this year will be through Zoom video conferences.

“We’re just making sure we’re able to grow hockey in northern B.C., and we want to make sure we have a bright future for male hockey and female hockey here in the north, we don’t want it to dwindle,” Sprague said. “We want it to keep thriving and show everybody in Canada and B.C. that we grow the best hockey players and the best people and that’s why we’re doing this.

“This is a positive for all the communities up here because COVID has held everybody back. We’re an outdoor game in the fresh air and everybody’s able to come and be a part of the festivities and feel safe about it as well.”