Voyageurs Trip to BC
The Voyageurs left Thursday, Jan. 5th for three exhibition games; two against the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack and one against the Okanagan College Coyotes. Both teams play in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League. Thompson Rivers University are in third place in their league while the Okanagan College Coyotes are in second place. Our coaching staff new that these games would be a real test for us. We felt that these games would help to improve our team chemistry especially with the addition of two new players plus it would also help us with our game conditioning in preparing the team for the second half of the season. These games would hopefully give us an edge with our conditioning and an advantage over the Concordia Thunder next weekend. Concordia is presently one point behind us in the race for one of the last two playoff spots.
Unfortunately, due to poor academics it looks like we may be losing as many as five players in the second semester so this trip would allow us to welcome the two new players into the team. The two new players added to our roster are; speedy right winger Codie Pedersen, who is a gifted offensive player that had started the year with us but then had decided to leave. He has now returned for the second semester. We also added Troy Watt a right winger that is an excellent skater and has a work ethic that is second to nobody. Both players will undoubtedly have a big impact on our hockey team.
Friday, January 6th Voyageurs at Thompson Rivers Wolfpack at the Kamloops Island Savings Center Arena.
The Wolfpack are in second place in their league. They are known by other teams in their league as being a very chippy team that tries to use intimidation as one of it's strengths. However our Voyageurs team can play any style you want and with the ACAC being a very physical league in it's own right, the players had no problem adjusting to the Wolfpack's game plan.
The first period saw the Voyageurs try and get rid of their bus legs. The Voyageurs scored first with Lukas Vepy getting his first of two goals in this game. The assists went to Gerald Desjarlais and Codie Pedersen. However before the period would end the Wolfpack would tie the game.
In the second period the Wolfpack went a head 2-1 on a short-handed goal but Matt Gray responded with a tap in goal of his own to even the score once again. Assists went to Cody Mapes and Jory Geddes. The second period ended 2-2.
In the third period the Thompson Rivers team went a head 3-2 but with time running out in the game Lukas Vepy scored his second goal of the team from the slot area on a beautiful pass from Cory Giroux. The second assist went to defenseman Dan Usiski. The Voyageurs outshot the Wolfpack 39-31. Kyle Birch played in net and had a solid game playing very well.
Two former Portage College Voyageurs that played for the Wolfpack were; goaltender Shane Mainprize, who started the game for the Wolfpack and forward Kevin Hanna who had only played half a year for the Voyageurs.
Saturday, January 7th Voyageurs at Okanagan College Coyotes at Kelowna's Memorial Arena.
The Voyageurs were much better in the second game of this three game road trip dominating the game in every category. They also brought a more disciplined approach to their game plan. The second place Coyotes are noted for their offense and free wheeling style of play. However, as one of their players admitted they didn't expect us to be as physical as we were. Former Voyageur Chris Glen who now plays for the Okanagan Coyotes admitted that he was hit more times in this game than he'd been hit in his previous 12 BCIHL games. Glen owns most of the Voyageur's all-time offensive records and games played.
In the first period winger Vincent Ouellette scored the first goal of the game on a great play by left winger Tim Crawley. The second assist went to centerman Gerald Desjarlais. The period ended 1-0 for the Voyageurs.
There was no scoring in the second period as both goaltenders played well. Kyle Birch was making his second straight start for the Voyageurs.
The third period saw the Voyageurs score three unanswered goals to win the game 4-0 with Birch getting his first shutout of the season. Cory Giroux gave the Voyageurs a 2-0 lead on a breakaway. Assists went to Kris Steedsman and Dustin Popowich. Codie Pedersen then got his first of two back-to-backgoals to give the Voyageurs a 3-0 lead. Assists went to centerman and high-flying Richard Cameron plus hard working Troy Watt. Pedersen got his second goal of the game to round out the scoring and give the Voyageurs a 4-0 win. The goal was a powerplay goal with assists going to Cameron and Brent Wilson.
The Voyageurs outshot the Coyotes 43-26. Codie Pedersen won the Coach's Award for his two goals in the win. Runner up was Kyle Birch with another strong game in getting his shutout. In this game the fourth line of Gerald Desjarlais, Tim Crawley and Vincent Ouellette played a strong game for the Voyageurs.Other than Chris Glen, another former Voyageur that played for the Coyotes was Miles Houston who spent two seasons at Portage College.
Sunday, January 8th Voyageurs at Thompson Rivers Wolfpack at the Princeton Arena (neutral site game)
This was the third and final game of the Voyageurs venture into BC. It was also the second game against the Wolfpack but it would be a totally different type of game. Neither team was very physical so the game was a fast-paced wide-open game. Considering it was the Voyageurs third game, in as many days, the club responded very well.
The Voyageurs went a head 2-0 after the first period on a powerplay goal by defenseman Kris Steedsman and then an even strength goal by Cory Giroux his second goal of the weekend. Assists on the two goals went to left winger Blair Hawes, Cody Mapes, Dustin Popowich and Dan Usiski.
However in the second period the Wolfpack scored two unanswered goals to tie the game 2-2 and that's the way the game stayed after two periods.
The third period saw the Voyageurs take a 3-2 lead on Codie Pedersen's third goal of the weekend. Assists went to Gerald Desjarlais and defenseman Rod Bouchard. However, with six minutes left in the game the Thompson Rivers University tied the game 3-3. The game would end in a stalemate with both games ending in a 3-3 draw. The Voyageurs outshot the Wolfpack 46 - 32 in this game. Only the team's failure to capitalize on numerous powerplay opportunities cost the Voyageurs the win. Jordan Nighttraveller was the Voyageurs starting goaltender and played very well.
Overall the trip to BC and playing the three exhibition games was a huge success. The team played very well getting one win and two ties. The players were well behaved, representing the college and the community very well. The team will definitely surprise some of the ACAC teams in the second half.