U18 Canadians Took Part in 1st Annual RHA Classic in Vernon Over Weekend

The U18 AAA Greater Vancouver Canadians took part in the first annual RHA Classic in Vernon over the weekend (Nov. 2-5), playing four games over the four-day event which began Thursday and featured eight U18 AAA clubs from Western Canada.

All games took place at Vernon’s Kal Tire Place, with the Canadians losing all three round-robin games and then dropping their playoff game on the event’s final day.

In the Canadians’ opening game on Thursday, GVC lost 3-0 to RHA Kelowna. Marcus Taylor was outstanding in goal with 47 saves in the defeat, as RHA Kelowna outshot the Canadians 50-25.

The following day, the Canadans were shut out again, this time by the St. Albert Raiders 4-0. Jack Taylor stopped 38 of 42 shots in the loss, while the Canadians were held to only 18 shots.

On Saturday, the Canadians got goals from Graham Kilpatrick and Kyle Zhang, but fell 4-2 to the Leduc (Alberta) Oil Kings. Jack Taylor finished with 38 saves, and Maxfeld Shin had two assists.

On the final day of the event on Sunday, the Canadians dropped a 7-4 decision in their playoff game to the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs. GVC took a 3-0 lead in the first period, but the Chiefs responded with six goals in the second to take the lead for good. Maxfeld Shin, James Lin, Yashas Jain, and A.J. Abell all scored for the Canadians, while Graham Kilpatrick had two assists.

In the four games, Shin and Kilpatrick led the way offensively for the Canadians; each player finished with a goal and three points. 

The U18 Canadians return to BCEHL action on Sunday, Nov. 12, at the Minoru Arena in Richmond, against the Thompson Blazers at 7:15 p.m. The same two teams then play on Monday, Nov. 13, at 8 a.m. at the Richmond Olympic Oval. The Canadians enter the matchup with a 1-7-0-0 mark, while the Blazers are 2-7-0-1. Both games can be seen on playfullscreen.com.