The Midget B Bulldogs are primed and ready for this weekend’s provincial championship—only this one is being held out of town.
The eight-team Midget Tier 4 tourney is being held in Lillooet from March 17–22. Port Alberni is the only team competing from Vancouver Island.
(The midget A team is hosting the Tier 3 championships at the AV Multiplex during the same week.)
Other teams competing include Windermere, Chetwynd, Cranbrook, Semiahmoo, Whitehorse (Yukon), Kelowna and Burns Lake.
The Midget B Bulldogs earned their way to Lillooet by going 2-0 in their division playoffs and taking the Tier 4 district championship crown.
Playoff pools will be assembled once the team is in Lillooet so the Bulldogs don’t know who they’re facing yet, head coach Charles McDonald said.
Semiahmoo is fielding strong teams but McDonald says he knows little about the others such as the Yukon and Chetwynd.
Alberni has speed and size and can match up well with anyone, McDonald said. Forward Matt McLeod will be counted on for faceoff wins and power play defense. Gary Matin and Klaus Diaz will be looked to for major contributions as well, McDonald said.
It’s the first time some players on the team will be attending a tourney of this magnitude — a B.C. championship — and McDonald is clear about what it’s going to take to win.
“Discipline while playing under pressure, that’s the key to winning it,” he said.
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