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January 2007 Welcome back to the second half of the season! We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and wish you all the very best in 2008! This edition of the newsletter is full of exciting news from our teams attending Christmas tournaments and some very exciting individual accomplishments as well. And as we look forward to playoffs, we are excited about the second half of the season as well! Please take a few moments to read about the successes of our Association! BC BEST EVER U16 TEAM SELECTED –

CONGRATULATIONS RICHMOND PLAYERS SELECTED!

Congratulations to our players selected to participate in the BC Winter Games to be held in February in Cranbrook as part of the BC Best Ever U16 Zone 4 team: Forwards: Corey Tasaka, Jessie Siemens, Sam Harkness Defence: Chris Manhas, Conrad Edward, Adam Nishi RMHA TO HOST JUVENILE FINAL FOUR

RMHA is pleased to announce that is the host Association for the Juvenile Final Four. The winner of the Final Four earns the right to represent the lower mainland at the BC Provincial Championships. With our Richmond Juvenile A1 team currently sitting in 2nd place in Tier 1, they have a very good chance of being that team, and hosting the final four will hopefully give them the “home ice advantage” they need.

The Final Four will be held March 7-11th, with the final schedule to be determined.

REFEREE REPORT

Wednesday evening Jan 2nd at the RIC, our referee-in-chief Simon Hunt conducted another on ice session for our rookie officials in preparation for the Richmond-Seafair Hockey 1234 Tournament held January 5-6th weekend. As you can tell he had a great turn out. Simon wishes to thank officials Duncan Brow and Jordan Kelly who also came out and helped with the on ice drills. Duncan, Jordan, and Neil Brow also have been most helpful this season with the shadowing program for our new officials.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR RMHA NIGHT AT THE VANCOUVER GIANTS

February 9th is RMHA Night at the Vancouver Giants! The Vancouver Giants will be facing the Kootenay Ice in WHL league action. Tickets are available for purchase at $15 each. Please contact June Gill at junegill@shaw.ca Tel: 604-417-6100 for more information. This would make a great team bonding activity, while at the same time promoting RMHA to the hockey community at large. Come out and support our Initiation Players who will be facing off in a Timbits game in the first intermission! RMHA also needs 20 to 30 volunteers to assist with selling programs and 50/50 tickets. You get a free ticket to the game for helping out. Please contact June Gill at junegill@shaw.ca Tel: 604-41706100 to volunteer.

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MIDSEASON COACHING EVALUATIONS

Midseason coaching evaluations have now been sent to the teams for distribution to the parents. If you have not yet received yours, please contact your team manager. As in past seasons, the evaluations will be done on-line and are confidential.

CHILDRENS FITNESS TAX RECEIPTS

The Department of Finance released information indicating that programs providing ongoing physical activity (minimum of 8 weeks duration with a minimum of one session per week or in the case of children’s camps, five consecutive days) for children under age 16 years, are eligible for this tax credit. Tax receipts will be issued to members by the end of February.

MIDGET REP TOURNAMENT A HUGE

SUCCESS! RMHA was again proud to host the International Midget Rep Tournament – fielding 60 teams playing 174 games over 5 days! With many thanks to the huge commitment of the volunteers supporting this tournament, there was some exciting hockey action, capped by the Midget B1 Generals taking the bronze championship in the AA/B division. The Midget AAA team was tops after the round robin, but lost a heartbreaker to Surrey in the playoffs. The Midget B2 team had a chance to play some top competition and did admirably against some very tough teams. In particular, Wendy Steadman and the entire Organizing Committee deserve a hearty congratulations and thank you for your dedication to minor hockey!

MIDGET C2 SABRES SHOW WELL IN

RIDGE MEADOWS

The Richmond Midget C2 Sabres participated in the Ridge Meadows Minor Hockey tournament held in Maple Ridge on December 28 – 30th. They finished the tournament with 2 wins and 2 losses, defeating teams from Surrey and Ridge Meadows, while losing to two tough teams from Langley. The Sabres learned that they are able to compete with the highly-touted Valley teams and their strong showing sets the stage for a good second half.

BANTAM AAA BLUES TAKE SILVER AT BURNABY TOURNAMENT

The Richmond Bantam AAA Blues, coached by Ron Popoff, Ryan Windsor and Cam Gardner, showed that they can play with the top teams in the province, when they shocked the Burnaby Winter Club Bruins 5-4 in the Burnaby International tournament quarter finals. They went on to defeat the Phoenix Firebirds, the defending champions, 4-2 in the semi finals before falling to the North Shore Winter Club 5-2 in the final game. The Bantam AAA Blues, now ranked 8th in the province, will take this positive experience forward into the second half of the regular schedule. One player, Corey Tasaka, deserves special mention, as he was named not only to the tournament’s first all-star team, but the five-foot-seven, 120-pound centre also picked up the top forward award. Tasaka finished the tournament with 16 points, including nine goals. The Blues are Corey Tasaka, Sam Harkness, Jesse Siemens, Connor Martyniuk, Shawn Hanley, Chris Manhas, Trevor Lum, Travis Robinson, Adam Nishi, Quinton Bradley, Troy Stecher, Conrad Edward, Turner Popoff, Justin Wong, Jordan Cronier, Brodie Burdeny and Nick Steel.

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BANTAM B1 CHIEFS WIN NORTH DELTA TOURNAMENT

The Richmond Bantam B1s won their second tournament of the season in North Delta, Dec 27 - 30th. The Chiefs went 4 - 0 in round robin play and then beat cross-town rivals, Seafair Bantam A, 5 - 1 to advance to the final. The Chiefs went on to defeat the Seattle Sno-Kings 5 -2 to win the tournament. Strong offensive play from the entire group of forwards resulted in 29 goals during the 5 games. Crushing defensive and consistent goal-tending limited the opposition to a mere 6 goals against. The Chiefs are: Dexter Allen, Jonathan Bailey, Matthew Bailey, Josh Bonnar, Trevor Bradley, Bryan Chiang, Jeremy Chiang, Allen Hoegler, Troy Kaczynski, Chan Woo Lee, Braydon Low, Bryan MacAulay, Brandon Minhas, Mark Pearlman, Brad Sullivan, Tony Yang, and Matthew Yonin-Eldridge. The Chiefs are coached by Norm MacAulay, Ron McIntyre and Bryan Downey BANTAM C1 WARRIORS RUNNERS-UP

AT NORTH VAN TOURNEY The Bantam C1 Warriors finished as runners-up at the North Vancouver Christmas tournament falling just shy with a 7-5 loss to West Vancouver. In round robin play, the Warriors defeated North Van Convicts 5-3, Seafair 9-2, North Van Blues 3-0 and Everett Silvertips 10-0. The Warriors are backstopped by Julian Lee, while the forwards and defence, Daniel Charach, Jaskaran Kahlon, Eric Wilson, Adrial Chan, Matthew Champion, Leroy Ho, Holly Danicke-Rybicki, Geordie Yang, Mathew Berenger, Taran Dhesi, Mark Johal and Danny Hawkins were outstanding. The Warriors were missing Nico Mattu, Sammy Blanchard and Connor Palylyk.

PEEWEE AAA CHIEFS WIN VANCOUVER TOURNAMENT

The RMHA PeeWee AAA Chiefs are competing in Tier 1 of the Pacific Coast league, and have compiled an impressive 6-3-3 record, standing currently in third place. The Chiefs are also the 6th ranked PeeWee team in the province. The Chiefs cruised through the round robin portion of the tournament outscoring the opposition 30-4 to take the top seed in their pool. In the Championship game, Richmond met up with Mission, another undefeated team, but Richmond was too strong for Mission, eventually defeating them 9-2. Up front for the Chiefs, Anthony Ast, Justin Uyeno, Glenny Gawdin, Carter Popoff, Cody Nass, Ben Kiang, Travis Ingram, Harjun Gill and Alex Whitwham were on fire. On the blueline, it was Trevor Okino, Leah Lum, Justin De Graauw, Nick Lightfoot, Connell O'Brien and Nathan Mak keeping the front of the net clear, and Matthew Gromer and George Eliopoulos were solid in nets for the Chiefs. The Chiefs also won the Consolation Final at the North Delta Tournament, defeating Seafair 7-0. Although the Chiefs did not qualify for the Championship Final, a highlight was a victory over the Burnaby Winter Club AAA Bruins 3-2 in round robin action, proving that, when they want to, they can play with the best in the province.

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PEEWEE B ROUGHNECKS NOTCH GOLD IN NORTH VANCOUVER

The Richmond PeeWee B Roughnecks took the Gold Medal home at the North Vancouver Christmas Tournament with a decisive 5-1 victory over Abbotsford. The Roughnecks were undefeated in the tournament. The Roughnecks are Adam Cronier, Jodi Gentile, Evan Hunt, Colin Phang, Kevin Coates, Tyler Yip, Daniel Merlo, Roman Pallone Brendan Mullin, Aaron Bell, Josh Chambers, Matias McDonald, Erick Hansen, Eden Dubchak, Ryan Molina and Chandler Bradley. Bubba Nathu was missing for the tournament.

PEEWEE C1 ICEBREAKERS TAKE THUNDERBIRDS TOURNAMENT TITLE

The PeeWee C1 Icebreakers won the Vancouver T-Birds Christmas Tournament with a 4-3 victory over the very fast Langley Blues. The

Icebreakers beat out teams from Kent Valley, Poco, Port Moody and North Delta. The Icebreakers were strong throughout the tournament being 6-1-0. They have also done very well in the first half of regular league season with a record of 17-1-2. The Icebreakers are Hasret Sidhu, Danica Lum, Isaac Driscoll, Alexa Mah, Thomas Furland, Niklas Kuramoto, Tyler Georgelin, Thomas Thiessen, Connor Larson, Muhammead Abdul-Baasit, Tristan Bagri, Sebastian Robitaille, Matthew Lavoie and Scot Zemke.

ATOM A1 DEVILS WIN NORTH DELTA TOURNAMENT

Strong team play and timely goals by Ethan Archibald, Sam Twaites & Connor Kluthe-Tasaka helped the Richmond Devils Atom A1 team defeat the Burnaby Winter Club 3-2 and win the Silver Cup at the North Delta Atom A1 Christmas hockey tournament. The Richmond Devils are Rajan Beryar, Marcus Dhesi, Connor Kluthe-Taskaka, Graham Fleming, Tyler Hait, Tyler Yan, Sam Twaites, Holly Gill, Ethan Archibald, Justin Schwartz, Gerchetan Dhaliwal, Arjun Badh, Alex Bernardini, Marcus Verhoeven, Nicholas Nimi, Adam Gilker & Jacob Latrace. Head coaches Glen MacNeil & Mike Thompson. Richmond Devils goalie Jacob Latrace won the tournament skills goaltending competition being the only goalie to stop all 10 of the breakaway shooters he had to face.

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H1-4 TOURNAMENT SUCCESS!

By all accounts, the H1-4 tournament was a huge success! It was a full weekend, full of great hockey and great fun! The H3-C1 team, pictured above, asked a few of the kids what the best part of the tournament was. They replied "Lunch at Boston Pizza". One parent, on the team, Sheri Morishita noted the following: “Thanks to Lily (Myles Hamson's Mom) for taking the picture of the boys. Look at the smiling faces! We spent a lot of time as a team together this weekend. The kids had such a good time. Regardless if we won or lost. They will have great memories to look back at!”

ALUMNI NEWS Former RMHA player, Jeff May, has been traded from the Prince Albert Raiders to the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL.

Former RMHA player, Ethan Cox, continues his hockey career, playing for the Colgate University Raiders in Division 1.

UPCOMING EVENTS Sun. Jan. 20th 1:30-4:30 pm Coliseum PCAHA Midget Scholarship Tournament Game Sun. Feb. 3rd RIC Coach Mentorship Program Sat. Feb. 9th RMHA Night at the Vancouver Giants vs Kootenay Ice Game Fri. March 7 to Tues March 11 PCAHA Juvenile Final Four Hosted by RMHA Sat. March 8th RMHA Volunteer Appreciation Night Richmond Curling Club Fri. March 14th Last day of Regular Season Ice Sat. March 16 to Tues March 18th Atom and PeeWee C Tournament Richmond Ice Centre Tues. March 18 to Fri. March 21st Bantam and Midget C Tournament Richmond Ice Centre and Minoru Thurs. March 20th to Sun. March 23rd PeeWee AAA and B Tournament Richmond Ice Centre Sat. March 29 and Sun. March 30th Presidents League Banner Day H1-4 and Atom to Midget C Richmond Ice Centre TBA RMHA Annual General Meeting

For more information, check out the RMHA Website at www.richmondminorhockey.com