Just got word that the North Island Capitals beat the Powell River Regals last night in Port Alice.

Game two just got under way in Port Hardy.

Maybe someone could fill us in on the details of these two games later. ie goal scorers, rosters, missing players, attendance, fights, ect

Seems like you guys have 3 evenly matched teams down there , great job. Should make for some great hockey and a serious shot at taking the cup this year. It would be great if you can get that 4th team going . Now if rosland and trail get going again and 1oo mile along with dawson it will once again be a trophy for the whole province to go for .

north island won both games by scores of 5-3 & 5-4. just looked at the powell river web site

good to hear the teams are playing good competitive hockey down there. The once powerhouse PR Regals are now 0-3? North Island 2-0 and Mid Island 1-0? Is there plans for a playoff between these teams to go to the Coy?

The games were good, clean & hard hitting. Both teams are formed with a large number of young local players who haven't played at that level before. The North Island is excited to have our team again and the fan support was good on Saturday night. There was 3 fights on Sunday, no bs, just a good fight and business as usual.
Not sure about our or the other teams intentions yet but there is definitely alot of potential to form and expand the Westcoast league.

Capitals put down Regals
Published: December 02, 2008 5:00 PM, North Island Gazette


PORT HARDY — The hits were back — and so were the fans — as the North Island Capitals men’s AA hockey team successfully returned from a long hiatus by beating the Powell River Regals 5-3 Saturday night at Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena.

The crowd was somewhat smaller but the hitting even more vigorous for Sunday's rematch in Port Alice, in which the Caps completed a weekend sweep with a 5-4 win.

"We weren't sure how it was going to work out, with all the new guys," Capitals general manager Jim Henschke said. "But we've absolutely got the nucleus of a contender for the Coy Cup."

The squad will return for a home series Dec. 20-21 against the Mid-Island Blazers, with a Saturday game in Port Hardy and a Sunday contest in Port McNeill.

On Saturday, Vince Devlin and Andrew Laming rang up four points apiece, with two goals and two assists each, as the Capitals played their first game in a North Island rink in three seasons.

The 9:30 p.m. start time — the game followed a daylong minor hockey tournament in the arena — did little to suppress turnout. A large and vocal crowd cheered loudly for each glass-rattling hit and each Capitals goal as the hosts ran to a 4-1 lead by dominating the first two periods.

Powell River battled back in the third, and closed to 4-3 when Randall Smisko beat Capitals goalie Greg Fox on a breakaway at 10:48.

The one-goal lead held until Regals goalie Brandon Henderson was pulled with 35 seconds to play. Just 12 seconds later, Laming gathered the puck at the circle in his own end, skated a couple steps toward the blue line and lofted a high, floating shot that dropped in the Powell River zone and slid neatly in for the empty-net clincher.

While the contact was vigorous, it was an extraordinarily clean game between two clubs that shared an occasionally bitter rivalry earlier in the decade. There were no fights, and only four minor penalties were whistled — three against the Regals.

Laming got the scoring started by converting Devlin’s centering pass on the power play at 2:34 of the first period. The Regals answered during their lone man-advantage opportunity, with Joe Calderone punching a point-blank rebound home at 15:48.

Devlin got the go-ahead score at 18:46 off a John Murgatroyd feed, and later netted the game-winner early in the third, after Chad Mackenzie pushed the lead to 3-1 on a slot laser through traffic.

Murgatroyd, Mackenzie and Lucas Noel each had two assists for the winners.

On Sunday, the play of the third and fourth lines helped carry the day as the Murgatroyd-Laming-Devlin line was shut out.

Ron Harvie scored two goals and Curtis Martyn, Marty Gage and Kurtis Grant each found the net as the Caps again jumped ahead 4-1 and held on through the third period.

Lucas Noel picked up two more assists and Derek Le Bouef got the win in goal.