Oceanside’s Save-On-Foods Generals wrapped up their season Wednesday evening as parting teammates took to the ice for their final skatearound followed by a scrimmage.
If the mood was light then the smiles put it all back into perspective, and in the end the Oceanside Generals Jr. B Hockey Club is heading into the spring with lots to be proud of.
High octane rookie Brent Baltus, 18, said his first year of junior hockey “was a great experience.”
The gifted forward from Nanaimo was a fan favourite this season with his speed, moves and soft hands. He led the team in scoring with 23 goals and 22 assists and was called up to Jr. A where he played two games with the Nanaimo Clippers this season.
As for ‘Wolfy’, the Gens’ 20-year-old goaltender said he “had a blast,” and was glad to be able to end his junior career playing in front of family and friends. Stephen Wolff grew up in Logan Lake but finished his minor hockey career here and backstopped the Midget rep team, was signed by the Generals then later traded to the Fernie Ghostriders, and reacquired by the Gens at the start of this season.
“It was nice to be able to help my team and establish myself a bit more,” Wolff said of the campaign.
Stephen, who “stood on his cranium in the playoffs,” going 3-3 with two shutouts and posting a 1.84 GAA and 94.58 save percentage, said he hopes to continue on to university or college.
“It was a great season,” he said Wednesday. “We had our ups and downs but we have a good bunch of guys. It didn’t matter what, we always stuck together, and that’s why it was so great to put together a run at the end and show what the team was capable of.”
Generals’ long-time assistant coach Jason Dubyna pointed out that in keeping with the club’s mission to develop players, the Generals had 11 different players lace up for a total of 60 BCHL games for Nanaimo, Alberni Valley and Victoria, “and we called up nine different kids who played in 25 total games for us from the North Island Major Midget, Oceanside and Alberni Valley Midget teams.”
The Generals improved in many areas in the playoffs, not the least of which was on defence. Oceanside’s D was 35 of 36 on the PK for a 97 per cent penalty kill in the post season.
Offensivley, Kyle Yamasaki was the top goal scorer with five goals, two of those game-winners, to go along with two assists and Baltus led in points with four goals and five assists in eight games; Stephen Wolff
The Generals held their year-end awards banquet at the Parksville Community Center Thursday night. Check out next Tuesday’s News to see who earned team awards.