Rockets Take Bronze

October 11th-14th, 2019 Chilliwack Invitational Tournament Chilliwack, BC The Major Bantam Okanagan Rockets competed in their first tournament of the season hosted by BC Hockey in Chilliwack, BC. There were four divisions in this tournament named after BC Hockey alumni, Nugent-Hopkins, Reinhart, Barzal, and Jost. The Rockets competed in the Reinhart division against the North East Chiefs and Shawnigan Lake Stags. The Rockets started off the round robin defeating the North Island Silvertips 5-4 in an exciting overtime period of 3 on 3 hockey. Bryson Carlyle was the hero of the game scoring the game winner on a backdoor pass from Lian Gayfer. Next in line was the Seattle Juniors. The Rockets started the game by scoring two goals on the powerplay to end the first period with a 2-0 lead. Seattle continued to fight back a scored 2 goals to tie the at 2 heading into the 3rd period. With 5 Minutes to go and another overtime on the horizon Seattle scored to take the lead. Seattle playing a strong defensive game wasn’t giving the Rockets much to work with as the clock was narrowing down to 3 minutes left. The Rockets continued to battle and attack Seattle’s net showing no signs of giving up and Astonishingly the Rockets stunned the Juniors with just over three minutes to go in the game. The Rockets, with help of three different shooters; (Gossoo, Fleck and Gayfer) would not only tie the game up but also amassed a two goal lead scoring 3 goals in just 22 seconds. The Rockets played the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds to finish off the round robin. The Rockets played a steady game taking this one 4-2 in regulation which allowed them to finish 1st in their division. The Rockets headed into the Semi-Finals against the Greater Vancouver Canadiens on Sunday the 13th. With the winner of this game heading to the championship final the Rockets offense was frustrated and held scoreless for the first time versus the tough checking GVC team. The Canadians taking advantage of every mistake gave the Rockets their first game of the year to the score of 6-0. Looking to bounce back the Rockets focused on achieving the goal of finishing in the top three of the tournament and played for bronze against the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers on Thanksgiving Monday. It was a tight defensive battle with both teams going scoreless for 3 straight periods while also killing off numerous penalties. In the first minute of OT Lian Gayfer, after out muscling a defender at the Rockets blue line, raced down the ice and barred the winning goal with a quick snapper on a 2 on 1 with Spencer Fleck.

This weekend the Rockets (6-0-0) will look to hold on to their 1st place position in the Major Bantam League standings as they travel to play the North West Hawks (2-4-0) on Saturday and Sunday.