Courtenay Whalers Women's Hockey

Except if its four games in one day. The Ecofish Courtenay Whalers traveled to Nanaimo for the 2nd Annual Harbour City Hockey Classic Tournament last weekend. There were six teams competing in a double knock out set up! For those of you who are unfamiliar with a double knock out, it means you have to lose two games after the round robin to be knocked out of the tournament. So each team was guaranteed three round robin games with the potential of playing five more depending on their wins and losses. Simply put…there is a lot of hockey to be played whether you are in first or last place!!
The Whalers first game was against the Port McNeil Downpour. It was a close game resulting in a 3-1 win for the Whalers. Goals by Denise Davidson, Tera Kasubuchi (Ecofish Research Ltd) and Sky Zimmerman (Brian McLean) secured the win and a great start for the Whalers! Tera Kasubuchi was the Whaler’s MVP for the game.
Saturday was a big hockey day for the Whalers with the potential to play up to 5 games. The Whalers first meeting was the Nanaimo Islanders veteran team at 8:30 am. The Whalers knew it would be a rough game given the skill level of the Islanders. Despite the Whaler’s best efforts and a great performance by Jamie Banham in net, the score was 10-1 with Kasubuchi scoring the Whalers lone goal. It was a very busy game for the goalie and the defense. Shirlee Carver was the Whaler’s MVP for the game.
In the second game, the Whalers played against the Nanaimo Black Ice Intermediate team at 1:15 pm. The teams were evenly matched. The Black Ice came out fast and scored 2 in the first period leaving the Whalers to fight to catch up. The Whalers came back and scored 2 in the second with a point shot from Allison Abraham assisted by Zimmerman and Chanace Van Der Heide, and a quick shot from Josee Bureau (Flip Flop Shops) assisted by Kasubuchi and Kelly Roloff. The Black Ice scored one more in the third resulting in a 3-2 win for Nanaimo. Allison Abraham was the Whaler’s MVP for the game.
The Whalers found themselves in 6th place after the round robin and now had to start winning in order to stay in the tournament. Unfortunately due to where the teams placed, the Whalers had to play the Nanaimo Black Ice again at 7:00 pm. Energy levels were dwindling at this point for both teams. Knowing there was potential for a possible two more games in the same night, each team was trying to figure out the best strategy for conserving energy. After another highly defensive game for the Whalers, the Black Ice dominated the score board. The Whalers were unable to get past the Black Ice goalie giving Nanaimo the win. The Whalers were one loss away from being out of the tournament. Tera Kasubuchi was the Whaler’s MVP for the game.
The last game of the night saw the Whalers meeting their Valley rivals, the Comox Breakers at 10:30 pm. Both teams had spent the day in the arena having had the first game at 8:30 am and the last game at 10:30 pm. The Whalers and the Breakers faced elimination having one loss each in the double knock out. When the game started, both benches were fairly quiet as most players were exhausted! There were little spurts of energy from the Whalers but not enough to stop the Breakers from scoring 3 goals in the first period. The second period was much the same as the Breakers scored 4 more. The Whalers dug deep and found some energy when Denise Davidson started the Whalers scoring late in the second unassisted. Shortly after, Kasubuchi put in another one for the Whalers assisted by Lindsay “Robin” Neufeld. The momentum shift happened too late in the game and the third period remained scoreless for both teams. Lindsay “Robin” Neufeld was the Whaler’s MVP for the game.
In some cases the end result does not represent the effort put in. The Whalers left it all on the ice each game and had fun doing it. The whole team played really well together and made a lot of great plays! Spirits and attitudes remained positive and light the entire weekend. The Whaler’s defense were strong, the forwards were aggressive and the goaltending was amazing!
The Whalers will have the chance to redeem themselves in November when they play in the local 19 Wing Comox Base Tournament Nov. 18th-20th and in the Port Hardy Wild’s Women’s Hockey Tournament Nov. 25th-27th.