CapsSuperFans.com Registration Information

Capitals thankful to see end of the road

Sarah Simpson - Cowichan Valley Citizen
October 14, 2009

The Cowichan Valley Capitals are thankful for the end of their Thanksgiving road trip, which featured one win out of four opportunities.

The Caps took off for a four-game Interior road swing, facing the top three Interior teams and the No. 8 seeded Trail Smoke Eaters.

The Cowichan boys started off on the right foot, splitting their first two games, falling to the top-ranked Penticton Vees by a 6-1 score on Oct. 7 then beating Trail 3-2 a couple of days later.

But then things took a turn for the worse.

"It was a tough, tough weekend obviously with maybe one of the worst hockey games we've ever seen," said Head Coach Scott Robinson on Monday afternoon.

The particular game Robinson mentioned was an Oct. 10 loss to the Vernon Vipers the second-ranked Interior Conference team in the B.C. Hockey League.

The Caps fell 14-0 and were out-shot 45 to 16 on the night, but the pucks they did fire on net were all turned aside by the league's leading goalie -- 20-year-old Graeme Gordon.

Meanwhile, Vernon managed eight goals in the first period alone, including a short-handed marker from Vipers standout Conner Jones, whose five goals and one assist earned him accolades as the game's first star.

The Caps finished up their road trip with a 6-1 loss to the Westside Warriors.

"We did get two points out of the eight," said Robinson, finding a silver lining in the otherwise cloudy trip. "We're still trying to tweak things and trying to figure out who can play and who can't."

While it wasn't much fun at the time, the coach said the team will try to use the experience to their benefit.

"It's certainly something we want to use to motivate ourselves for getting better in the future," he said.

The Caps are currently in the basement of the Mainland division, but are just two points behind their rivals, the Nanaimo Clippers.

Next up is a meeting with the Victoria Grizzlies on Friday night at Bear Mountain Arena.

The puck drops at 7:15 p.m.