COWICHAN VALLEY 4 VICTORIA 0
New head coach Cam Keith has the Cowichan Valley Capitals on the rise in the sa国际传媒 Hockey League, which comes as no surprise to his down-Island bench rival Rylan Ferster of the Victoria Grizzlies.
The two matched wits in last season’s playoffs as Keith’s eventual Coastal Conference and BCHL champion Surrey Eagles outlasted Ferster’s Grizzlies in the conference semifinals.
“Nobody should be surprised about what Cowichan Valley is doing this season because Cam [Keith] is a very good coach,” said Ferster. “It’s all part of what is a very good conference.”
The Grizzlies (14-6-3) were over the Malahat on Saturday night to face the Capitals at the Cowichan Community Centre. The Capitals won 4-0 as Liam Sztuska recorded the 30-save shutout and Moritz Kukuk had a goal and assist. Keith has the Capitals at 12-9-3. They were 16-34-4 last season.
Keith, as head coach and GM of Surrey Eagles last season, led the Eagles to the BCHL regular-season and playoff championships last season before losing to the Brooks Bandits in the cross-over series against the Alberta teams that have joined the BCHL.
Keith was hired by the Capitals as head coach and GM in June. It brought the 43-year-old native of Nelson back to the Island, where he played in the BCHL for the Victoria Salsa (now Grizzlies), on a team that included future NHL players Matt Pettinger and Greg Zanon. That led to an NCAA Division 1 career at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and lengthy pro-hockey career in the AHL, ECHL and Germany, which included some classic ECHL battles as a forward with the Alaska Aces against the arch rival Victoria Salmon Kings.
“I have great memories of playing with the Salsa and all those match-ups with the Aces against the Salmon Kings,” Keith said when he was hired by the Capitals.
About his new project in Duncan, Keith said at the time of his hiring: “When I was playing in the BCHL, Cowichan Valley was an attractive program, but there have been some ups and downs. Now there is ownership in place [the five-person Island Capitals Sports and Entertainment Group, headed by John Dewar and including former NHL defenceman Clayton Stoner from Port McNeill], that is both hockey and community oriented.” So far so good as Keith has the Capitals pointed in the right direction with players such as team leading scorer Camden Bajzer, heading to NCAA Div. 1 Bowling Green University, and defenceman Frederic Deschenes to the Michigan State Spartans of the NCAA Big Ten.
Taking over from Keith on the Surrey bench is his former Eagles assistant coach and Eagles alumnus Scott Gomez, the former NHL rookie of the year and two-time Stanley Cup champion and ECHL MVP with the Aces. Gomez had the Eagles at 12-8-2 heading into Saturday night.
The Capitals are in Nanaimo on Friday to play the Clippers before hosting the Prince George Spruce Kings next Saturday. The Grizzlies host the Spruce Kings on Friday at The Q Centre.
