It’s special for Ethan Coventry to have his name linked to the KIJHL Commissioner’s Award as the Most Valuable Player for the Teck Cup playoffs.
“It’s pretty nice,” says Coventry, 19. “It’s a good honour to have and mostly everyone could have got that award. It was nice to get it.”
The Calgary product collected six assists in the Revelstoke Grizzlies’ sweep of the Fernie Ghostriders to win the league championship. He surpassed North Okanagan’s Nolan Kelly (1.82 points per game average) for top spot in points with 24 in 19 games. Coventry says that the championship round was more physical with little room on the ice.
Here’s a statistical breakdown on Coventry each series:
Chase – 2G, 1A| +3
Kamloops – 7G | +6
Princeton – 4G (in last 3 games) 4A| +1
Fernie – 6A | +5
“It was nice to help out with producing and scoring some goals,” says Coventry. “I was playing a good 200-foot game and heading into the playoffs, that’s what I really wanted to do.”
Coventry, who joined the Grizzlies from the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys, enjoyed the celebration with his teammates at the Fernie Memorial Arena following their 7-1 win.
“Throwing our gloves in the air was pretty special,” says Coventry, who won a U18 provincial championship playing for the Calgary Buffaloes. “We had some fans drive up so it was pretty special to celebrate in front of them.”
Coventry says the Grizzlies have a special group with goaltender Jozef Kuchaslo as their “backbone.”
Now they get ready for the 2024 Mowatt Cup in Kimberley. Their first game is April 18 against the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League champion Saanich Predators, then Friday, April 19 against the Pacific Junior Hockey League champion Ridge Meadows Flames. They wrap up the regular part of the tournament against a familiar foe – the host Kimberley Dynamiters.
A few weeks ago, what the Dynamiters were doing to get themselves ready for the 2024 Mowatt Cup was “freakishly reminding” head coach-general manager Derek Stuart of the 2020-21 season impacted by COVID-19 that limited them to three games. It’s been a long break for last season’s Teck Cup champions after being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.
“The guys are doing a fantastic job. They have bought into the reset,” Stuart said at the time.
Fast forward to now and the Dynamiters are ready and excited.
“They are ready to get some game action,” says Stuart, who has 12 players on their roster that competed in the Cyclone Taylor Cup tournament last year and hoping that experience is an advantage for them. “I like the preparation, their focus and we have a lot of guys to choose from to see who gets to compete each game.”
Along with emphasizing the importance of winning the organization’s first provincial championship, Stuart has challenged his rookies to act like veterans.
“We have taken the approach that they’re not rookies anymore – having played a full season in our league and a playoff series,” he says, “we’ve challenged them to pretend like it’s next fall. Play like we want you to when you are coming back next year as a veteran.”
The response has been solid as they’ve had high tempo practices and “very high compete levels.” Stuart says many players who were rookies are key pieces who he hopes are “going to have a good tournament.”
Dynamiter fans will see a different team hit the ice next Thursday. It will be a group with better focus and determination and Stuart believes their compete and battle level “should be better.”
“I think they are going to see a more hungry team than they saw in the first round,” he says. “I think the results will take care of themselves. All we’re asking of them, all the community wants is to see them give their best effort.”
The adjustments the team has made have been geared towards the tournament and tailored to their roster. Stuart is also careful about giving too much information – focus is primarily on what they need to do and how they need to play.
