Anyone would be thrilled to head south to the warm weather, sunshine, beaches and relaxation after the crazy winter we've had! And many of us have made that trip.  For five (5) Midget Rec players from the Penticton Minor Hockey Association, their trip south isn't about swimming in the ocean or playing in the pool; they are there for a different reason altogether.

Mason, Ben, Tom, Kiver and Liam are traveling by bus from snowy Penticton to the quaint town of Vincente Guerrero, Baja California, Mexico where they will build two (2) houses for families in desperate need.

While Mexico has experienced some gains in the past decades and is no longer considered a developing country by international standards, there are still many people who are living in incredibly difficult conditions. Many of the families living in the area are forced to construct their small homes out of whatever they can find: scraps of wood, cardboard and plastic.

These young men are providing a beacon of hope and better future, a place of security and shelter from the elements for families they have never met. Not only will they build a lasting impression in the lives of Mexican families, those families will leave a lasting impression on these selfless teens.

With the regular season in the book and the playoff matchups determined, the Major Midget League (MML) teams will embark on a journey to the MML Championship, where one (1) team will clinch the Cromie Memorial Trophy and earn a trip to the Pacific Midget Regionals.

Teams will compete in a best-of-three series, with game three (3) an if necessary tie breaker.

#1 Cariboo Cougars vs. #8 Kootenay Ice

Game 1:	March 10	3:30pm	Kin Arena
Game 2	March 11	2:30pm	Kin Arena
Game 3:	March 12	10:15am	Kin Arena

The Cougars (34-5-1-0) had the best goals-for record in the league, notching 214 goals in 40 games - an average of 5.35 per game. Daine Dubois (Williams Lake) led the Cougars offensively with 67 points (27G, 40A) in 40 games, tied for the league scoring title. Cariboo was back-stopped by the tandem of Marcus Allen (Prince George) and Zack Wickson ( Prince George), helping the team to a league best 75 goals against on the season. Wickson had the lowest goals against average (GAA) at 1.70.

This is the first time in the club's history that the Kootenay Ice(18-21-0-1) have made the MML playoffs, after a four (4) game win streak to complete the 2016-2017 season. Offensively, the team was led by Christian Macasso (Montrose) and Aiden Jenner (Castlegar), who scored 39 and 38 points respectively, both over a point per game.

#2 Vancouver North East Chiefs vs. #7 Valley West Hawks

Game 1:	March 10	8:00pm	Planet Ice
Game 2:	March 11	7:30pm	Planet Ice
Game 3:	March 12	11:00am	Planet Ice

The Chiefs (32-5-0-3) set a franchise record of 67 points in a season, earning them a second place finish in league standings, just two (2) points shy of the Cougars. The Chiefs had a dynamic offensive attack, scoring 211 goals, led by Ethan Leyh (Port Moody) who was fifth in league scoring with 58 points, and second in both goals (30) and points per game (1.79). Goaltender Kolby Matthews (Coquitlam) posted a league best 21 wins on the season.

Last year's MML champions, the Valley West Hawks  (20-15- 1-4), look for redemption after a pair of  losses to end the regular season against the Chiefs. The Hawks had balanced scoring with five (5) players registering 10 or more goals on the season with Tyler Ho (Surrey) leading the way with 49 points (19G, 30A).

#3 Okanagan Rockets vs. #6 Vancouver North West Giants

Game 1:	March 10	6:30pm	Capital News Centre
Game 2:	March 11	3:00pm	Capital News Centre
Game 3:	March 21	9:45am	Capital News Centre

The Rockets (27-10-0-3) look to bounce back after dropping their last two (2) regular season games against the Cougars. They will face a Giants team that they last met in the playoffs in the league final. The Rockets had three (3) players in the top 10 league scoring; Coleton Bilodeau (Coldstream) racked up 58 points, Max Kryski (Kelowna) netted 53 points and Rayman Bassi (Kelowna) put up 49 points.

The Giants ended the regular season with a pair of wins andare looking to continue that success as they  travel to Kelowna for the first round matchup. The Giants were led by league leading scorer Liam Kindree (North Vancouver), who had an impressive 67 points from 28 goals and 39 assists in 40 games.

#4 Greater Vancouver Canadians vs. #5 Fraser Valley Thunderbirds

Game 1:	March 11	12:00pm	Richmond Oval
Game 2:	March 12	5:00pm	Richmond Oval
Game 3:	March 13	5:00pm	Richmond Oval

The Canadians (22-13-3-2) and the Thunderbirds (21-15-3-1) are separated by only three (3) points and will meet in a first-round matchup in Richmond. Greater Vancouver is led by two (2) of the league's top four (4) scorers in Scott Atkinson (Vancouver) with 66 points and Sasha Mutala (Vancouver) who scored 63 points.

Fraser Valley (21-15-3-1) finished the regular season in the same spot as last season, fifth place. They were only one (1) of three (3) teams to hold opponents under 100 goals against this season.

The four (4) winning teams will advance to the semi-finals, taking place March 17 - 19, 2017.  The winners will then face off in the MML championship series, March 24 - 26, 2017.

Forty-five wounded, ill and injured military members from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia gathered in Whistler, BC last month for the Soldier On Allied Winter Sports Camp. Organized by the Canadian Armed Forces, Soldier On is a program that supports currently serving members and veterans to overcome their physical or mental health illness or injury through physical activity and sport.

The busy week included activities such as alpine and nordic skiing, zip lining, dog sledding, bobsled, luge and of course, sledge hockey! Coach Jim Babcock, Canadian women's sledge hockey team athlete Peggy Assinck and former Canadian men's sledge hockey team member Bruce Reding taught the participants the basics of the sport over three (3) days at Meadow Park Arena.

While there was some nervousness when the athletes first saw the equipment involved, the tense faces quickly turned into smiles and laughter as they got in the sleds and pushed themselves around the rink. After some quick skills sessions featuring skating, passing and shooting, the athletes went right into a scrimmage. Full contact!

As the only team sport of the week, the friendly rivalry quickly developed between the red and black teams. "It was like bumper cars out there," said United States Army Sergeant First Class Will Naboa. "But whenever someone tipped over on their sled, there was someone there to help them back up."

After two (2) days of skills sessions and a couple high-intensity scrimmages, the athletes were glad they got the opportunity to try sledge hockey, and many were interested in continuing to play back home.

Although Soldier On events are primarily focused on sport or other physically challenging activities, promoting an active lifestyle is only part of their mission. Soldier On not only supplies members with equipment and coaches to meet their needs, they also provide members with a safe environment to challenge themselves to get inspired in ways that they may not have thought possible.

For more information about the Soldier On program, please visit the website.

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!

The regular season is in the books and the playoff matchups have been determined. The Greater Vancouver Comets and Thompson-Okanagan Lakers have earned first-round byes and will face the winners of these quarter-final series.

Teams will compete in a best-of-three series, with game three (3) an if needed tie breaker.

#3 Northern Capitals vs. #6 Fraser Valley Rush

Game 1:	March 10	2:00pm	CN Centre
Game 2:	March 11	3:15pm	Rolling Mix Concrete Arena
Game 3:	March 12	12:15pm	Rolling Mix Concrete Arena

The Capitals (14-13-3) started the season strong with four (4) straight wins and were in several close games including six (6) one (1) goal games and three (3) ties. Offensively, they were led by Caily Mellott (100 Mile House), who tied for the league lead in goals and finished second in scoring with 31 points (20G, 11A).

The Rush (3-21-6) had a tough season, however one (1) of the team's three (3) wins came against their first-round opponent. One of the bright spots on the season was affiliate player Katie Chan (Richmond) scoring three (3) goals in two (2) games.

#4 Kootenay Wild vs. #5 Vancouver Island Seals

Game 1:	March 10	2:45pm	Cominco Arena
Game 2:	March 11	4:45pm	Cominco Arena
Game 3:	March 12	8:00am	Cominco Arena

The Wild (10-14-6) are led by two (2) of the league's top four (4) scoring forwards in Reece Hunt (Nelson), who tallied 31 points (16G, 15A) in 29 games along with Kelsey Patterson (Castlegar) who tied for the league lead in goals with 20 to go along with eight (8) assists.

The Seals (6-16-8) were led by captain Maryna Macdonald (Port Alberni) who led all defencemen in scoring with 12 goals and nine (9) assists in 30 games. She was the lone Seal to have more than six goals on the season.

#1 Greater Vancouver Comets (29-1-0)

The Comets dominated all major statistical categories this season, suffering only one (1) loss (Northern Capitals), after stringing together 22 straight wins to start the season. Jenn Gardiner (Surrey) led the league in scoring with 34 points (15G, 19A) in 30 games, while the goaltending duo of Cassie Shokar (Surrey) and Brooke Vail (Port Moody) had a combined GAA of 1.13 on the season.

#2 Thompson-Okanagan Lakers (13-10-7)

After starting the season with four (4) straight losses, the Lakers then rattled off 11 straight games with a point including six (6) wins and five (5) ties. They also ended the season with a pair of wins over Vancouver Island to secure a first-round bye.

I skate. I pass. I shoot.

Shoot shoot shooooot the puck.

Sneaky down the ice,

Slip it past the goalie,

Wouldn't that be nice!

By Giovanni Rinaldi, Port Alberni Minor Hockey Association - Novice Alberni Devil

c/o Women's Hockey Life

Referring can be harder than it looks, but it is still a valuable and enjoying learning experience, something which Lenny and Lauren Tham, a mother-daughter referee duo from Vancouver, have been learning as they don the black and white stripes together.

Mother-daughter referee teams are rare as can be for female officials. A 2013 Canada Heritage publication states that while the number of women officiating amateur sports in Canada increased from 1992 to 2010, male officials still outnumber female officials 3:1.  

Lauren, who is in her second year of Bantam, was the first to start referring; Lenny got on board a year later after attending an information session.

"I actually take Lauren to practice almost all the time, like all her game and practices and her reffing stuff, so I'd watch. I noticed emails that were sent out asking for female adults to join as well," explained Lenny. "So I decided to attend an info session and I kind of got excited and hooked from there."

At the start it was difficult to get used to calling penalties and dealing with angry coaches, but while working together they build each other up and benefit from their mother-daughter connection. "I like doing it with Lauren because she's good and I'm confident she'll make the right calls," said Lenny. "There's more communication. I guess because we're mother and daughter, we have that connection."

Still somewhat new to refereeing, the Thams are in a constant mode of learning, discussing rules with each other, asking their referee mentors questions and paying attention to NHL referees when watching game on TV. They have both noticed their referee experience impact their game play as well.

"I can understand what the refs are calling," explained Lauren, who plays for the Vancouver Girls Ice Hockey Association.

"Now I have much more respect for referees," said Lenny, who plays for an adult rec league. "For me, playing as a player now, I am more aware about what's going on and the calls."

While Lauren and Lenny usually referee female Atom games, they hope to maybe referee at higher levels in the future, and as Lenny pointed out, "They need more females refereeing at the higher levels for the girls."

The Vancouver Girls Ice Hockey Association has been very active and successful in increasing the number of female referees in the city, which has been promising for the future of female hockey in the area and has provided important role models for younger female players.

"We have girls at the Atom age who say they want to referee too," said Lenny. "It's good to see more girls do it. I notice that for Lauren's games it's a lot of men, but it would be good to see more female officials at that level [Bantam]. They can grow the sport and do it into their young adult life, even when they are older too."

Throughout this past season, Lenny and Lauren have had memorable experiences refereeing at tournaments and special exhibition series together, and as the season comes to a close, they are starting to look towards other opportunities to keep learning and getting experience on the ice.

"This is my first year so I kind of want to come out next year and be better and stronger," said Lenny. "There's always something you can learn because every game is going to be different. For me, sometimes I get really nervous going to a game, but when I am on the ice, I am fine. I just have to challenge myself and go out and do it."

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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