His team has not played a meaningful game in five-plus weeks, but Nanaimo Clippers head coach Mike Vandekamp likes the situation the sa国际传媒 Hockey League club is in, heading into the Crescent Point Western sa国际传媒 Cup which begins Saturday in the Harbour City.
As hosts, Nanaimo is the only club of the five competing to not to have won a league championship.
鈥淎bsolutely, I do [like where we are],鈥� said Vandekamp, whose Clippers will face Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champs, the Yorkton Terriers, tonight at 7 p.m at Frank Crane Arena. 鈥淲e鈥檝e felt good about our team all year long.
鈥淲e鈥檝e faced a lot of adversity this year and I think that鈥檚 strengthened our team,鈥� added Vandekamp, whose injury-riddled Clippers finished with a 32-20-0-4 record. 鈥淲e showed a lot of resiliency in the second half of the season. Our team chemistry is really strong and I think our kids are as excited about it as anybody, and we鈥檙e prepared.
鈥淲e really believe in ourselves. We鈥檙e going to relish the role of being an under-dog. We鈥檙e the only team here that didn鈥檛 win a championship and from Day 1 we need to prove that we belong, and that will be our mission.鈥�
This is the first ever Western sa国际传媒 Cup, with the Clippers and Terriers joined by BCHL champs the Surrey Eagles, Alberta Junior Hockey League victors, the Brooks Bandits, and Manitoba Junior Hockey League winners, the Steinbach Pistons.
The Bandits, who have held the No. 1 ranking in the Canadian Junior Hockey League since Week 2, are seen as favourites on paper, defeating Spruce Grove for their second straight AJHL title last week. Brooks will meet Surrey 鈥� which toppled the RBC-champion Penticton Vees for their crown 鈥� at 2 p.m. Saturday to start it all off.
The Bandits were 53-4-3 in regular-season play, out-scoring their Alberta opponents 289-113.
General manager and head coach Ryan Papaioannou has 11 of his Bandits back from last year鈥檚 team, which lost the Doyle Cup to the Vees in the former BCHL-AJHL crossover qualifier for the Royal Bank Cup.
鈥淏ack-to-back titles, but it鈥檚 kind of nicer this time in that we鈥檝e got a bit of a different focus,鈥� he said. 鈥淔rom the start of the year, we鈥檝e always said that experience would help us in getting to this point and then, getting us past this point, it would spring-board us. Hopefully that all comes to fruition.鈥�
The Bandits are now 65-6-6, but they鈥檒l get a tough test today in the Eagles.
鈥淲e know the four teams we鈥檒l be playing against and obviously Surrey is a champion in their own right,鈥� said Papaioannou, who leads a defensive-minded team, unafraid of attacking.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no extra pressure,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e known from the start of the year that teams would be gunning for us, just because of our record and the fact that we were favourites in our league again. I don鈥檛 necessarily know if we鈥檙e the favourite.
鈥淚 know there are going to be four league champions and a real hungry host team. We鈥檙e trying to have a mindset of not under-estimating anybody and being ready to play.鈥�
The same goes for Eagles general manager and head coach Matt Erhart.
鈥淓verybody is pretty much coming in on a high, winning their league titles, and then 鈥� on top of that 鈥� you鈥檝e got a team that lost like four [regular-season] games all year,鈥� Erhart said of the Bandits. 鈥淗opefully, the momentum we got from beating Penticton continues on into the tournament.鈥�
And no one is taking the host team for granted in a tournament that will end next weekend with the championship team moving on to the RBC Cup and the runner-up having to take on the winner of the No. 3 vs. 4 game (much like the Page Playoff in curling) to earn the second RBC spot.
鈥淲e鈥檙e making sure with our guys that they aren鈥檛 looked at as the team that came in the back door,鈥� Papaioannou said of the Clippers. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at them as the team that gets to play in their home rink, sleep in their own beds and play in front of their own fans.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e had a lot of prep time [out since March 20 when Nanaimo lost to Alberni Valley in Round 1 of the BCHL playoffs] and if everything goes well for them, I can see them having a good tournament.鈥�
