Senior Tritons advance to CAF Nationals

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The Esquimalt Tritons senior hockey team are Canada West gold medalists again.

The senior men’s Tritons successfully defended their Canadian Armed Forces Old Timers Regional hockey title with a 2-0 victory over CFB Comox in the tournament championship game, Feb. 3 in Wainwright, Alta.

Esquimalt prevailed in a tight-checking gold medal game and, backed by solid goaltending from Petty Officer First Class (PO1) Randy Collens. Chief Petty Officer Second Class (CPO2) Glen Thompson and Master Corporal (MCpl) Marc Gagnon scored the only goals of the game. The Tritons registered five wins and one loss over six games with their only defeat a 2-1 overtime loss to Winnipeg. 

The Tritons outscored opponents by an overall margin of 22-8.
Master Warrant Officer (MWO) Paul MacQueen of 443 Helicopter Sqn, Esquimalt Team Captain and forward, said Comox and Winnipeg gave the Tritons their toughest tests in Canada West play.

“It feels great to win and more so this year than last because the competition was much better and some of the scores were much closer,” MWO MacQueen said. “By sticking with our game plan, we scored goals when it mattered most, and our head coach Rick Pyle deserves great credit for his calm presence on the bench.”

MWO MacQueen also credited PO1 Collens who does double goaltending duty, also playing with the Tritons men’s open age as key to his team’s success. He said CPO2 Ray Moore, CPO2 Marc Lavoie and MCpl Gagnon were some of Esquimalt’s other top players at the tournament.

With the victory, the Tritons move on to the Canadian Armed Forces Oldtimers Hockey Championship, March 23 to 28 at CFB Borden.

MWO MacQueen and PO1 Collens both said the team is taking a down-to-earth approach to their chances of capturing a national title. 

The Tritons men’s and women’s hockey team saw their hopes for a national title melt away in Alberta, with both settling for silver medals at their respective Canada West Regional tournaments. 

Our women’s team put together four consecutive wins to start their Canada West campaign at CFB Edmonton before suffering a 7-3 loss to the tournament hosts in the championship game.  

“All our players gave their best efforts and we had more shots on goal but Edmonton’s goaltending was excellent and deserved full marks for the victory,” said CPO2 Dave Hillier, Tritons coach.

The Tritons men’s team also finished runners-up in the tournament after falling 7-1 to hosts Edmonton in their gold medal game on Jan. 26. Esquimalt registered five consecutive victories in their path to the championship game, while outscoring their opponents 41-6.