2015 Rose City Challenge Jan 17-19

The 2015 Rose City Challenge Bantam AA/A Hockey Tournament is coming up this Jan 17-19. I'm very excited to say that for the first time Portland will be entering a team into both the AA and the A brackets.

A quick breakdown of the brackets...
AA Bracket
Portland Jr Winterhawks AA, Portland, OR
SSAC United Cycle, Edmonton, AB
Peninsula Eagles, Saanich, BC
Coquitlam Chiefs A2, Coquitlam, BC
Delta Hockey Academy Varsity, North Delta, BC
Shawnigan Lake School, Shawnigan Lake, BC
Port Moody Panthers A1, Port Moody, BC
North Vancouver Storm A2, North Vancouver, BC
Mission Stars, Mission, BC
Capital Thunder, Roseville, CA

That's 10 teams from 2 states, 2 provinces and 1 island. A fine looking group. I look forward to getting a look at the Port Moody Panthers A1 team. They've been playing in PCAHA Flight 2 this year. The PJW Bantam AA team has won and lost against DHA Varsity and Shawnigan Lake this season. I expect them to play close. A good looking group of teams!

A Bracket
Portland Jr Winterhawks A, Portland, OR
Oceanside Generals, Parkville, BC
Campbell River Tyees, Campbell River, BC
Port Moody Panthers A2, Port Moody, BC
North Vancouver Storm A3, Vancouver, BC
Richmond Blues A2, Richmond, BC

6 teams from 1 state, 1 province, and 1 island. Another good looking group of teams. Oceanside and Campbell River both play on Vancouver Island in the VIAHA. A tough league, very competitive. Port Moody A2, North Vancouver A3 and Richmond Blues A2 all play in PCAHA Flights 6 & 7. This will be a tightly contested bracket. Very competitive.

2015 Rose City Challenge Schedule

2015 Langley Minor Hockey Shatter The Glass Tournament

Save Made vs Cloverdale Colts 1/4/2015 - Jay Birchill

The Portland Junior Winterhawks Bantam AA team competed in the 2015 Langley Minor Hockey Association Shatter the Glass tournament in Langley, BC last weekend. The Bantam AA's faced re-matches against the Comox Valley Chiefs and the Aldergrove Bruins in Round Robin play Friday, beating Comox 2-1 in OT and Aldergrove 6-2. The 3rd Round Robin game held Saturday morning was a 5-4 victory over the Chilliwack Bruins.

Saturday afternoon the team faced the Cloverdale Colts in the Quarter Final game beating them 6-3.

The Junior Winterhawks faced the hosting Langley Eagles A2 team in the Semi-Finals on Sunday morning, but couldn't make it over the hump, dropping the 3-0 decision.

5 games in 3 days with a short bench (12 skaters, 2 goalies) is nothing to sneeze at, but the rhinovirus going around the team could be. Nice job boys, and hurry up and get healthy. The Bantam AA's next games will be at their home tournament, The Rose City Challenge, January 16-19, 2015.

Video Links:

32 01-02-2015 PJWU14AA vs Comox Valley Chiefs AAA (2015 LMHA Shatter The Glass)
33 01-02-2015 PJWU14AA vs Aldergrove Bruins A1 (2015 LMHA Shatter The Glass)
34 01-03-2015 PJWU14AA vs Chilliwack Bruins (2015 LMHA Shatter The Glass)
35 01-03-2015 PJWU14AA vs Cloverdale Colts (2015 LMHA Shatter The Glass)
36 01-04-2015 PJWU14AA vs Langley Eagles A2 (2015 LMHA Shatter The Glass)

2014 SJHA Holiday Classic

PJW Bantam AA Champions 2014 SJHA Holiday Classic - Photo R. Munzel

The Portland Jr Winterhawks Bantam AA team brought home the championship in the Bantam division of the Seattle Junior Hockey Association's Holiday Classic tournament last weekend. The Bantam division had teams from Alaska, Idaho, British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington.

The Jr Winterhawks came out of Round Robin play unbeaten with a 9-1 win over SJHA Bantam A2 on Friday (Game MVP #12 Owen Ward), and a 4-1 win over the Fairbanks Arctic Lions AA on Saturday (Game MVP #31 Cam Birchill). Due to injury, illness, and vacations the Kent Valley Storm were only able to dress 6 skaters for the last game in RR. Kent decided to forfeit the game. An impromptu scrimmage was held instead, with a couple of Portland skaters dressing with Kent to even up the benches.

Portland played the Idaho Jr Steelheads Bantam AA team in the 7am Semi-Final game at Olympic View Ice Arena in Mt. Lake Terrace, WA. The Portland team jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on to win 4-2 sending them into the finals to face the Comox Valley Chiefs AAA (Game MVP #11 Sam Willman). The Chiefs beat Fairbanks in their Semi-Final game 3-1.

Portland jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period of the Championship game and held on to win 7-2 (Game MVP #5 Ryan Neilsen-Webb).

Video Links:
28 12-26-2014 PJWU14AA vs SJHA Bantam A2 (SJHA Holiday Classic)
29 12-27-2014 PJWU14AA vs Fairbanks Arctic Lions (2014 SJHA Holiday Classic)
30 12-29-2014 PJWU14AA vs ID Jr Steelheads AA (2014 SJHA Holiday Classic)
31 12-29-2014 PJWU14AA vs Comox Valley Chiefs AAA (2014 SJHA Holiday Classic)

Next up for the Bantams; the Langley Shatter The Glass Tournament, Jan. 2-5.

The Winterhawks Varsity Hockey League Select team was at the SJHA Holiday Classic competing in the Midget division. The Midget division had 2 teams from Idaho, 1 from British Columbia, 1 from Oregon, and 4 from Washington.

The Varsity Selects went 1-2 in Round Robin play, losing to the SJHA NW Admirals A1 team 6-2, and the Kent Valley Rainiers 5-0 before beating the Seattle Midget A's 6-0. They faced the Tacoma Jr Rockets in their consolation game, beating them 4-1.

Portland Jr Winterhawks Bantam AA vs SnoKing Bantam A2

The Jr Winterhawks Bantam AA team played SnoKing Bantam A2 last Saturday night at SnoKing Ice Arena in Renton, WA. SnoKing Bantam A2 is playing in PCAHA flight 3 this year, which is a jump up from flight 5 last year.

Seattle beat the Jr Winterhawks in two games back in September, 7-3 and 10-1. This game ended tied 2-2. Two competitive teams. They'll get the chance to see each other again at some point this season.

Follow the link below for full game video.

27 12-06-2014 PJWU14AA vs SnoKing Bantam A2