Minor hockey teams from across BC and the Yukon celebrate our favourite national pastime during Minor Hockey Week last month. From tournaments to tubing, these teams bonded over their love of hockey.

The Fort Nelson Minor Hockey Association (MHA) held a pre-Novice and Novice Jamboree, their own little version of 'Hometown Hockey.' BC Hockey Chair of the Board, Randy Henderson and Hockey Canada Initiation Program Director, Barry Reynard were on hand to  help out with the event.

The Summerland Novice Jets are finishing their best season ever on the ice! The team credits some of it to their great group of parents and players who all value the importance of off-ice team bonding and most importantly, creating lasting memories and friendships for all the kids.

They kicked off Minor Hockey Week by attending a Penticton Vees game as a team and finished it off with a laughter-filled day tubing at Apex Mountain Resort. The kids even got the coaches in tubes!

For the third year in a row, the Aldergrove Midget House team headed up to Apex Mountain for a weekend of hockey, snowboarding, feasting and a year-end awards ceremony. The weekend kicked off on Friday where the guys got a lift ticket for $25 and snowboarded until dinner when the coaches threw down a lasagna dinner. After dinner, the team headed to the NHL size outdoor arena for a full jersey scrimmage under the stars.

The next morning began with a pancake and sausage feast that prepared the guys for a day on the slopes. That night, Coach Marchand cooked up a delicious prime rib and crab fiesta for the tuckered out guys.

The evening concluded with their awards ceremony honouring players' achievements throughout the season. In total, six (6) awards were handed out.

• Most Valuable Player (MVP)
• MVP (voted by the players only)
• Norris Trophy (MVP - defense)
• Selke Trophy (MVP - forward)
• Lady Byng Trophy (most sportsmanlike)
• Calder Trophy (MVP - Midget rookie)

Minor Hockey Week got off to an early start this year thanks to Mother Nature. While the rest of Canada typically gets to enjoy a 'real winter' and all the fun that goes with it, those of us on the south west coast have to live in hope of cold weather and frozen lakes and ponds. Those dreams were fulfilled in spades this year when a wintery weather system descended over the south coast for most of December and into January.

On Bowen Island, the outdoor hockey season is incredibly short. A typical winter will usually serve up a couple days of playable ice, but many years we never get to skate. This year, January brought clear skies and cold temperatures, and the lakes and ponds finally froze over and gave way to the 'best hockey season ever' - two (2) straight weeks!

For Bowen Island hockey players, there is no local rink and they have so few players they barely skate a line, let alone fill a roster, so playing hockey means riding a ferry 'to town' to play in the Pacific Coast League. However, after years of early morning ferries, late night returns and sleepovers with generous teammates in town, the game finally came to Bowen this year.

Friday, January 13, 2017 was perfect; a gap in games and practices left a hole in the team schedule. The ice was 'in,' the skies were clear, the temperature minus five (5) and a bright moon helped boost the 'stadium lights' on the local pond. The North Vancouver Pee Wee A2 Storm rep team descended en masse on the 4:30pm ferry from Horseshoe Bay.

The evening was spent doing what many other Canadian hockey players get to do all winter long: play until you are forced to quit! (or, lose all your pucks - but, supplies fortunately held out) The last ferry pulled away at 10:00pm and the lights were turned off, leaving only the echoes of the sounds of hockey and happy memories of the Bowen Island Outdoor Classic - the first, and hopefully not last, time that minor hockey came to Bowen Island.

Recently, the Prince Rupert Pee Wee rep team collected pledges from the community with the intention of giving half of the monies raised to a local charity.

To receive pledges, the team ran the 4K Resolution Run on New Years Day and then jumped into the frigid ocean for the Polar Bear Swim. Together they raised over $2,000! The players voted and decided to give just over $1,000 of their money to the local oncology unit at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital.

Team staff and parents are extremely proud of their effort, team work and thoughtfulness. So is BC Hockey - way to go team!

BC Hockey is proud to offer the membership an easy way to shop for our favorite gear. The BC Hockey Locker Room  offers a wide variety of apparel and other small hockey items for men, women and children.

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