The upstart Maple Ridge Misfits may want to consider changing their name.
The new atom spring team, comprised of 12 Maple Ridge players and four from the Tri-Cities and Chilliwack, jelled quickly en route to capturing gold at the Whistler International All-Star Hockey Tournament on the Canada Day weekend.
The Maple Ridge Misfits crushed the defending champion B.C. Blackhawks 8-2 to win the tournament.
The Misfits jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a comfortable win over the previously undefeated Blackhawks.
Head coach Bruce Vasarhely said his team fed of the role of being the dark horse going into the tournament.
“It was clear that our boys were having a lot of fun together,” said Vasarhely. “They became close in a very short time. Their success came from their underdog spirit and their willingness to play for one another.”
The coach said the cohesiveness of the team was evident in how the scoring was spread around the team.
Kent Johnson led the Misfits with seven goals and five assists, followed by Ethan Bowen, chipping in with four goals and four assists.
Others: Jordan Bahowrie (2g, 4a); Matteo Bellano (3g, 1a); Ty Crowe (2g, 2a); Ethan Kitsch (2g, 2)a, Oliver Para (4a); Talon Duff (2g, 1a); Carter Sheridan (1g, 2a); Jakob Gullmes (1g, 1a); Evan Vasarhely (2g); Kyle Sackman (1g, 1a); Andrew Chua (1a); John Paul Kahlert (1a); and Kenyon Nyman (1a).
Goaltender Eric Clark finished with a 2.50 goals-against average and an .891 save percentage over six games.
The Misfits finished round-robin play with a record of 3-1. They opened the tournament dropping their only game, 4-2 to Edmonton’s CanWest AAA Bearcats.
The team rebounded with a 5-4 win over the Mountain Wolverines. The Misfits outshot the pesky Wolverines 54-19.
They went on to win their next two games, a 5-1 drubbing of the Ravens Black, and another 5-4 win over the Cougar Selects, a team comprised of players from Greater Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.
In a rematch of the opening game of the tournament, the Misfits made up for their only blemish in round-robin play with a resounding 3-1 win over the Bearcats in the semi-finals.
Misfits associate coach Marc Sheridan was not surprised at the team’s success.
“The boys had out-chanced opponents 54-19 and 44-18 in games leading into the playoff round. We knew it would be just a matter of time for the goals to start to come.”