A banner season
Avon View wins regional championship, sets sights on provincials in Brooklyn
“It’s amazing. Right away, it brought tears to my eyes. I’ve never seen them play with more heart than they did that game.” Julia Fisher
jason.malloy @saltwire.com @JasonMa47772994
Julia Fisher’s long wait is over.
The 17-year-old Centre Burlington resident and her Avon View Avalanche girls’ hockey team won the Western Region Division 1 championship March 23 in Bridgewater. They defeated the Park View Panthers 8-1 to sweep the best-of-three final.
“It’s surreal,” she said March 24. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long. It’s all worth it.”
Fisher, a Grade 12 student at the Windsor-based school, is in her fourth season with the Avalanche. They made the regional final each of the past three years before losing to the Panthers. One year, the Avalanche were also eliminated from provincials in a semifinal shootout to Park View in Bridgewater.
It made this year’s victory very meaningful for the team’s veterans.
“It’s amazing. Right away, it brought tears to my eyes,” Fisher said, noting her teammates played their best hockey in the final game. “I’ve never seen them play with more heart than they did that game.”
Head coach Rob Davies said he was pleased for the girls, particularly the team’s veterans.
“For our captains and the girls that have been through all that heartache over the years, I’m super happy for them. I am proud of them, they certainly deserved it, and they worked hard to get there,” he said March
24. “They’re a pretty happy bunch today.”
REGIONAL TITLE
The Avalanche, Panthers and Horton Griffins played a round-robin, with the top two teams advancing to the regional final.
Avon View, who finished first in the round-robin, defeated Park View 3-2 in Game 1 on March 21, with assistant captain Emma Greenslade scoring the winner with about 80 seconds remaining to break a 2-2 tie.
Game 2 was tight early on, with Avon View holding a 1-0 lead after the first period, but the Avalanche had a big second period to take a 5-0 advantage to the third.
“I think once the opportunity presented itself for (March 23) to be the clinching game, our senior players stepped up, our beginners stepped up and they all did everything they had to do,” Davies said. “It starts with Julia. … She was on a mission.”
Fisher said they took away the Panthers’ time and space in the offensive zone.
“As soon as they got it over the blue-line of our zone, there was at least three of us going for it. We were not letting them anywhere near our goalie.”
She remembers being among the seniors on the ice in the dying seconds.
“We all just stared up at the clock and the buzzer went, and everyone just went crazy,” she recalled.
BOND
Fisher said the players all got along this season and the bond helped them be successful.
“All the leaders stepped up and made sure everyone felt comfortable and it was just smooth sailing from there,” she said.
The team is a mix of veterans, including seven Grade 12s, returnees and rookies. Some graduated from the school’s junior varsity team this season.
Davies said they are lucky to have a strong leadership group this season that has included Fisher, Kate Lowthers, Morgan Hennigar, Greenslade and Halle Smith.
“They’ve been great role models and mentors for the younger players,” he said. “This is a team that really supports each other on and off the ice. … When your team is tight, when you jell, it certainly carries you a long way. We’re super thrilled. It’s been a long time coming.”
NEXT STEP
But the season is far
from over.
“Now we’re on to provincials, and we’re definitely not going down without a fight,” Fisher said. “We’re definitely not going to go in as underdogs. They might think that, but I know we’ll try our best.”
The provincials will be held April 1 to 3, and in an unusual twist, they are in Avon View’s backyard.
Halifax West is hosting the championship at the GFL Centre in Brooklyn.
The six-team tournament will see teams divided into two divisions.
Each team will play a round-robin inside their division, with the top two teams advancing to the semifinals.
The final will take place April 3 at noon.
Having the tournament in Brookyln is expected to help boost fan support for the Avalanche.
“We definitely have a lot of people wanting to come out,” Fisher said.
“The boys’ team really wants to come out, but we have provincials on the same weekend, so we’re going to hop back and forth to each other’s games.”
The Avalanche boys are hosting the eight-team championship in Windsor. Fisher said there is a lot of support between the two squads.
“We went to their homeopener and cheered them on, and they came to ours with airhorns, flags and everything.”
Davies said he’s pleased the players will get a chance to play at provincials and noted it is a great opportunity for the team’s younger players to gain experience.
“We’re going to play some real stiff competition, but I think that’s important to kind of take things to the next level.
“You want to play against the best teams and we’re certainly going to get the opportunity to do that next weekend. There are some great hockey teams coming in.”
BANNER PROUD
A permanent reminder of Fisher’s final hockey school hockey season will hang in the Avon View High School gym forever.
But she won’t have to return to the school to relive the moments that led to the banner season – they are forever etched in her memory.
“I don’t think I’m ever not (going to) be able to picture that moment in my head. The big smiles on all of the girls’ faces and going into the huddle knowing that we were regional champions,” she said.
“That (banner) just symbolizes one of the best years of my life for hockey.”