Captain Kyler Kovich accepts the Island Cup trophy at the Q Centre. Nanaimo won 13 of their 18 exhibition games en route to the cup. (Gary Dorland)

By Dan Marshall

Island Champions

Clippers win Island Cup with 5-4 victory over Grizzlies

Nov 18, 2020 | 11:07 AM

NANAIMO — The BCHL regular season won’t start until December but the Clippers have already won a championship.

Nanaimo captured the Island Cup on Nov. 17 with a 5-4 victory over the host Victoria Grizzlies at the Q Centre.

Coach Darren Naylor applauded the effort of his group, especially the veterans, in progressing through an eight week tournament and finding a way to win.

“Those guys have experience, especially the players who were here last year. At the beginning we were a little young but I think we’ve got a nice balance now.”

All five Clipper goals in the final came from players with more than a year of junior hockey already under their belt. The team also leaned heavily on their veteran goaltender Jordan Naylor.

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The return to play journey began for the players with day one of training camp back on Sept. 8.

Nanaimo went 2-0 in a short exhibition season, 9-5 in the Island Cup round robin and then 2-0 in the playoff round to win the title.

There are still seven players on the roster who suffered through the disappointment of losing the 2020 BCHL playoffs to COVID-19.

Naylor said those players still talk about their former teammates who have since moved on and really wanted to win the Island Cup for them.

“It’s good to see that camaraderie, it’s a chain link kind of thing. The guys are staying connected to the past and it goes to show how much last year’s team meant to our program and our franchise moving forward.”

The Clippers are scheduled to being the 32 game BCHL regular season on Friday Dec. 4.

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77