U18 Canadians Drop Two in Revelstoke

In the final two games before the BCEHL Christmas break, the U18 AAA Greater Vancouver Canadians suffered a pair of frustrating defeats in Revelstoke over the weekend (Dec. 16-17) against the Thompson Blazers. 

The Blazers won 6-5 in overtime and 5-3 in the two games. 

On Saturday, the Canadians took a 3-0 lead after the first period thanks to goals by A.J. Abell, Jack MacFarlane, and Harjun Aujla. Ryan Ashe then scored with four seconds left in the second to give GVC a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes, but Thompson scored three straight third-period goals to tie the game at 4-4 with only 8:20 left. Dawson Sucke gave the Canadians a 5-4 lead with 5:41 remaining, only to see the Blazers tie it back up just 1:03 later. The game went into overtime, where the Blazers notched the winner with 1:06 remaining. 

On Sunday, the Canadians jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Dawson Sucke and Jack MacFarlane. Although the Blazers eventually tied the game in the second, A.J. Abell gave GVC a 3-2 lead three minutes into the third with a power-play marker. Alas, the Blazers scored two power-play goals within a three minute span to take the lead, and Thompson goalie Zach Veninsky scored into an empty net with 14 seconds left to seal the 5-3 win.

At the Christmas break, the Canadians are in seventh place in the U18 standings with a 6-14-1-1 mark. Harjun Aujla leads the team with 20 points, while Lucas Epp is tops among blueliners with 18. Graham Kilpatrick has a team-high 11 goals, with A.J. Abell second with nine. Meanwhile, Aujla and Epp are tied for the team lead with 15 assists apiece. 

To stay up to date on the Canadians’ upcoming schedule, visit BCEHL.net. Also, all upcoming GVC games can be streamed live at playfullscreen.com.