The Nanaimo Clippers is a team that has found that golden touch right when it matters the most.
The Island hockey club is on a sizzling hot streak and it’s taken them all the way to the BCHL finals for the first time since 2015.
“We kind of came together at the right time and like I said a lot of work to do still but we got better every game and we’re really excited for the next couple of weeks,” said Clippers Sean Donaldson, who has a team-leading 19 points in this year’s playoffs.
It hasn’t been an easy road to get to this point either as the team has battled adversity all season.
Back in February, its two coaches were placed on administrative leave as the league investigated breaches of its code of conduct.
Their head coach never came back but Associate Coach Colin Birkas did and since his return, the team started rolling, closing out the season with 22 wins, four losses and two ties.
“They kept it positive when I was away obviously when I returned they were eager and ready to take their game to the next level,” said Birkas.
In the playoffs, the team hasn’t lost in 12 games sweeping each of their first three rounds.
One of the standouts has been goalie Cooper Black. Standing 6’8 inches, he didn’t allow a goal for 12 straight periods and came within seven minutes of breaking the BCHL shutout record.
“Cooper the goalie’s been fantastic but you know the team in front of him has really sacrificed to minimize the damage,” said Birkas.
The final is slated to be a battle against the Penticton Vees who finished the season with the league’s best record. They too have won their last 12 games.
“We’ve got to respect our opponents but not too much. We’re just going to go in dictate the play and see what happens,” said
The two teams have met six times in the finals over the years with each team winning three of them.
Game one of the Fred Page Cup finals is in Penticton Friday.
Kendall Hanson
