U17 Canadians Go 2-1-0-1 Over Six-Day Stretch

The U17 AAA Greater Vancouver Canadians wrapped up a busy week with four games in six days, picking up five out of a possible eight points.

By going 2-1-0-1 in those four games, the Canadians improved to 8-3-1-2 on the season, tied for third place in the U17 division.

The stretch began with an overtime loss on Wednesday (Nov. 15) against the Valley West Giants at the Planet Ice Delta, as the Canadians fell 4-3. Vlad Ursache and Helius Guan scored in the first to give GVC a 2-0 lead before Guan scored his second of the game with 6:43 left in the second for a 3-1 advantage. Alas, the Giants scored with 5:48 remaining in the second and then tied the game at 3-3 with 7:48 left in regulation. Valley West then notched the OT winner at 3:39 of the extra period. 

On Saturday at the Hollyburn Country Club in West Vancouver, the Canadians blanked the Vancouver NW Hawks 4-0 as Liam Leslie picked up his first shutout of the season. Helius Guan’s short-handed goal 34 seconds into the second period put GVC ahead for good, and Sean Wickenden, Vlad Ursache, and Sorash Ramlal also scored for the Canadians. 

In a rematch with the Hawks on Sunday at the Richmond Olympic Oval, the Canadians jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to an 8-4 triumph. Gavin Dacpano, called up from the U15 club, scored in the second period, and Josh Mantle added a breakaway goal. Sorash Ramlal, Helius Guan, Aidan Yao, Nishaan Gill, Sean Wickenden, and Joshua Mytton also scored for the Canadians. 

On Monday, the Canadians faced off against the Giants once more, this time at the Oval, and it was Valley West coming up with a 4-3 victory. Sean Wickenden, Kendric Liu, and Luca Martyniuk scored for the Canadians.

Next up, a two-game series for the Canadians on Nov. 25-26 against the second-place Fraser Valley Thunderbirds (9-3-1-1). Saturday’s game will be at the Richmond Olympic Oval at 5:15 p.m., while Sunday’s finale will be at the Abbotsford Centre at 12:00 p.m. Both games can be seen on playfullscreen.com.