U17 Canadians Move Into Seventh Place Thanks to Patrick-Russell’s 45 Saves

Kaz Patrick-Russell was outstanding on Saturday (Jan. 31) with 45 saves, as the U17 AAA Greater Vancouver Canadians defeated the visiting Okanagan Rockets 4-3 in overtime to move into seventh place in the BCEHL’s U17 division standings. 

The Rockets rallied to beat the Canadians 6-2 on Sunday to earn a split in the series. 

Both games were held at the Richmond Olympic Oval. 

Patrick-Russell had not played much in recent weeks as the Canadians are currently carrying three goaltenders, but came up huge when given his opportunity on Saturday. He faced 25 shots in the first period alone, giving up two goals. His play, though, helped keep GVC in the game as the offense battled back from three one-goal deficits to force overtime. In the extra period, Maxwell Clemens scored his second goal of the game to give the Canadians the thrilling victory. 

Beckett Wong and Robert Filc also scored for the Canadians. One interesting note from the contest is that, even in a tight game that went to overtime, neither team took a single penalty.

In Sunday’s contest, it was the Rockets’ turn to come back from behind, as Okanagan scored the game’s final five goals and rallied from a pair of one-goal deficits to beat GVC. Austin Yu had both of the Canadians’ goals, but the Rockets’ Eli Mutch scored four times—three in the third period—to power Okanagan to the win. GVC goalie Joshua Read made 35 saves in the loss.

After the weekend split, the Canadians then took on the Valley West Giants on Wednesday (Feb. 4), losing 2-1 at the Planet Ice Delta. Markus Sivak scored in the second period to tie the game at 1-1, but the Giants got the winner midway through the third against Wilfred Hogan. 

The U17 Canadians have four games remaining in the regular season, including Feb. 6 and Feb. 8 in a showcase weekend at the Scotia Barn. They take on the Vancouver North East Chiefs at 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 6 and the Okanagan Rockets at 3:45 p.m. on Feb. 8. 

Through 32 games, the Canadians are in seventh place with an 11-17-4-0 mark, good for 26 points. The eighth-place Fraser Valley Thunderbirds, though, have two games in hand and trail GVC by only one point.