[Championship Recap] Burnaby Wildcats Midget

Burnaby Wildcats Midget - winners of the Remembrance Day Tournament in November

Division: Midget
Manager: Nicole Geyer
Opponents: Langley (Championship Game)
Result: Langley wins 4-3 in a shootout

The Burnaby Wildcats have an affinity for taking Championship-determining games into shootouts. Just a few months after winning the Remembrance Day Hockey Tournament in a dramatic shootout on home-ice, the team once again found themselves going the distance in a big game. This season-ending Championship game was played on March 8th against Langley.

The Langley team was a frequent opponent for the Wildcats and both teams have challenged each other to play at their very best all season long. The Wildcats won both their regular season games against Langley, and then tied one game and lost one game against them in the playoffs. This set the stage for a hotly-contested Championship game, and the players did not disappoint. Both teams played hard till the end but, unfortunately for the Wildcats, they were unable to win the shootout this time around. Shootouts force players who are used to working together as a team to suddenly take center stage individually. They are not, however, a reflection of how well a team is capable of playing as a group.

The game did not get to a shootout without some regulation-time heroics. The Wildcats battled back from an early 2-goal deficit to tie it up, and then went ahead 3-2 with a goal late in the 2nd period. Unfortunately, Langley managed to tie it up early in the 3rd period and then went on to seal the Championship in the shootout.

Despite the loss, the Wildcats Midget team is still extremely proud of their efforts. They committed themselves to working hard on their skills and they made positive strides all season long. The Midget team was benefitted by the hiring of Dominique Di Rocco as the Burnaby Wildcats' Head of Female Hockey Development. Through several on-ice sessions spent training with Di Rocco, the players were given the opportunity to learn from an accomplished former-player and current AAA-level coach about what makes a team successful. The opportunity comes at the perfect time for the Midget players. Soon many of them will be leaving their Minor Hockey careers behind and some may be pursuing oppportunities in the CIS or NCAA. As a former CIS player herself, Di Rocco is a good resource to help guide the players through the next few years of their hockey careers.

The plans for a season-ending celebration are in the works as the girls look forward to being able to have some fun together as a team and recognize the accomplishments of all players, and the contributions of the team coaches, managers, and helpers.

~ Jehan Jiwa

[Monthly Recap - February] Burnaby Wildcats Novice

Burnaby Wildcats Novice at the NHL Heritage Classic

Division: Novice
Manager: Joanne Lee

If ever anyone needs convincing that hockey is the best sport in the world and that all young kids should at least be given the opportunity to participate in an organized hockey league, just bring them to observe the Burnaby Wildcats Novice team. This team of players ages 5 to 8 years old have been living it up and experiencing the joys of playing a team sport like hockey throughout the entire season!

February and March have been particularly exciting for the team. They started off the month of February by participating in the Grouse Mountain Pond Hockey Tournament. This annual tournament, held on the outdoor rink at Grouse Mountain, was a unique experience for all the players as they played some 3 on 3 hockey complete with no icings, offsides, or whistles of any kind, and they got to go up against other teams from the region, many of which were comprised only of boys. It was an incredible experience for everyone involved and will definitely go down as one of the highlights of the season.

The other highlight to end the hockey season was that the Wildcats Novice team was one of 8 teams out of so many in the Lower Mainland to participate in the used hockey gear renewal program, sponsored by TeamSnap and NHL Green.

TeamSnap is a web service that helps run sports teams online. Coaches, managers, players, and parents can sign on to this website to view everything from the team's upcoming schedule of practices and games, to upcoming events, to player availability for each game. The website also allows for tracking of team funds as well as the arranging of team snacks and special events. The Wildcats Novice team utilizes TeamSnap for many of these functions as it is an easy and time-efficient way of handling daily team activities and commitments. Other great features of TeamSnap include stats keeping and SMS messaging. While the Novice team did not utilize the stats tool this season, mainly because they do not keep track of scores just yet, they expect that this tool will become very handy for the team in the next few years as they start moving towards keeping an accurate log of all the various stats in hockey.

NHL Green is an initiative of the National Hockey League, which promotes green living in all communities. NHL Green aims to provide education to the public on actions that can help us keep our environment clean and healthy. The program promotes and encourages sustainable living practices such as the recycling of paper products, electronics, and hockey gear, the planting of trees, water restoration projects, and even fuel-cell technologies used to light NHL arenas.

As the end of the hockey season approaches, one thing is always in abundance in the home of a hockey player: used hockey gear. To that end, the Wildcats participated in the above-mentioned used hockey gear renewal program as a way of giving back to the hockey community and contributing to healthy environmental practices. The team was rewarded for their kindness by being given tickets to the 2014 NHL Heritage Classic in Vancouver! Before puck-drop between the Vancouver Canucks and the Ottawa Senators on March 1st, the parking lot of the Plaza of Nations was transformed into Spectator Plaza - a place where players could drop off old hockey gear and teams could activate their TeamSnap memberships. Craig Johnson of TeamSnap was on hand to greet the girls and, once the girls had donated all their used hockey gear, give them their prized tickets! The gear will be donated to HEROES Hockey in Vancouver - a charitable organization that empowers youth through ice hockey. The Wildcats Novice team was thrilled to participate in this worthy cause.

The players and their parents had an amazing time at the game and they are now looking forward to one final practice to end the season. The coaches are planning a light-hearted and fun practice on this final day.

The Burnaby Wildcats Novice team would like to thank TeamSnap and NHL Green for the generous gift of tickets to the Heritage Classic Game and for the opportunity to donate their gear to such a worthy charity. Through this process, the team not only got to enjoy a unique outdoor NHL game, but they also learned about giving back to the game and to the community which has given them so much!

~ Jehan Jiwa

[Monthly Recap - February] Burnaby Wildcats Peewee

Division: Peewee C1            

Manager’s Name: Qun Gee

Head Coach: Mike Richards

Assistant Coaches: Troy Dragon, Luie Zappacosta

Record in February:
Regular Season: 1-1-0
Playoffs: 5-1-2 
Opponents: Meadow Ridge C1, Surrey C1, Richmond C2, Abbotsford C1, Tri-Cities C1

February was a positive month for the Burnaby Wildcats Peewee team. It was a month that saw them achieve some strong results, which were the culmination of a lot of hard work put in by all players and coaches throughout the entire season. 

The team closed out the regular season with a win against Tri-Cities and a 4-0 loss against Richmond. Despite losing their final game of the regular season, there were still plenty of positives to build off of in that game. Throughout most of the season, the Wildcats have been outscored substantially in every game against Richmond. This final regular season game was much more competitive than all previous games, and it showed tangible proof that all the work the team has put in to practices, games, and tournaments has paid off. Observers of this final regular season game were happy to see that the players have closed the gap against higher-ranked teams like Richmond and they firmly believe that the 4-0 final score was not indicative of how well the team competed. 

The Wildcats Peewee team was re-tiered for the playoffs and, as a result, they've been a lot more competitive in all their post season games. To date, they have only lost one game, which was to Abbotsford. It is amazing what a few wins and strong efforts can do for a team's confidence. After a tough season that has included lopsided losses and injuries to key players, the Wildcats are thriving in their re-tiered playoff division. The team fully recognizes that, despite competing against strong opponents for most of the season, these tough battles helped the team improve immensely. They have been called upon to elevate their games to a higher level and every player has had to step up to help the team stay competitive. As a result of this attitude and work ethic, the team stood in 2nd place in their group after the round robin portion of the playoffs. Only the unbeaten Abbotsford Peewee C1 finished higher. 

The team will be playing for the Red Flight Championship against Abbotsford, hopefully in the first week of March. The two organizations are working together to schedule this game. The Wildcats are looking forward to the challenge of going up against the only unbeaten team in the division. As Team Canada proved at the Olympics, the Gold Medal Game is always a great time to hand a team its first loss! 

The Burnaby Wildcats Peewee team has grown remarkably over the course of this season. The results haven't always been easy to take but the team has stuck together and they kept competing till they got the results they wanted. Regardless of the results of the Red Flight Championship game, the team is proud of all they have accomplished this season.

~ Jehan Jiwa