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2005 - 2006 Season News

Apr 11, 2006 - Delta Belles Meet Finnish National Champions
Delta Ringette's Belle "A" Western Canadian Ringette Championships gold medal team played host to a terrific team from Finland. The Finnish team was in Vancouver fresh from their national title win in the 15- to 17-year-old age division. The "battle of the nations" featured the EKS team from Espoo, Finland supplemented by three LMRL players. The EKS club has a history of producing national and world championship teams and came away with a 6-4 win over the hometown heroes. Thanks to the EKS Espoo team and coaches for a fun and enjoyable evening of international ringette action and a special thanks to Larry Strohan for organizing the event. Let's do it again sometime!

Mar 28, 2006 - Delta Belles Win Western Canadian Championships
After last year’s stellar performance, Delta Ringette’s Belle "A" team wondered if they had anything left to prove. Apparently they did. Last season they lost just one league game on their way to a Lower Mainland Ringette League championship, a gold medal at the highly competitive Kelowna Sweetheart Tournament, and the Provincial championship title. Working with a team that was nearly identical to last year’s, head coach Nicole Tjepkema raised expectations for the team and the team responded.

This year the Belles, once again, lost just one game throughout the regular season and went on to win their second straight league championship title. They took the gold medals at the Burnaby Ice Breaker and Richmond West Coast Classic Tournaments. Then in late January, the team traveled to Calgary to take part in the prestigious Golden Ring Tournament featuring some 175 teams from around Canada. There they faced a tough, physical, and determined North Calgary squad in the division final and took home silver. With Calgary behind them, the team didn’t lose another game. The Belles finished the regular season dominating other teams in the league. They went on to take gold and the Provincial championship banner in Vernon.

Barely a week after the provincials, the Belles left for Winnipeg to take part in the Western Canadian Ringette Championships, facing the top provincial championship teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Undefeated in the round robin, the Delta team fell behind 3–0 during the first period against Team Alberta, the Medicine Hat Blaze. The Delta team rallied with characteristic heart and battled back in a final period effort to win 6–5 led by a four-goal burst from Eryn Floer and a two-goal effort from Surrey pick-up Stephanie Holt. In the process of recording just the second Westerns gold medal ever for British Columbia, three athletes from the team, Eryn Floer, Brandy Lietz, and Kate Murie, were selected to the prestigous 2006 Western Canadian Ringette Championship All-star Team.

Throughout the year the Delta Belle team boasted the stingiest defence in the west. Caitlin Barrows, Aynsleah Mensing, Sheena Mensing, and Kate Murie were consistently solid in front of goalie Gabrielle Descoteaux, and together they allowed the least goals against in both league or tournament play. The team also led the league in scoring and at the Westerns, three of the four top scorers, Brandy Leitz, Floer, and Rudy Krawchuk, were Delta gunners.

Led in the regular season by snipers Eryn and Caitlin Floer, Lietz, and Krawchuk, the forwards were fast, tenacious and deadly accurate around the net. Katie Doolan, Jacqueline Hamlin, Chelsea Mason, Emily Masters, and Danielle Strohan provided timely scoring, ferocious fore-checking and stunning set plays throughout the season. Stephanie Holt, Caroline Lester, Celestine Manning, and Tara Holmberg were pick-ups added to the roster for the Western Championships with Mason and Doolan off to other commitments and Caitlin Floer and Strohan ineligible due to their "AA" status. The pick-ups added needed depth and quickly adapted to Delta’s "team first" strategy.

Assistant coach Steve Krawchuk said, "We set out to win and we won as a team." Coaches Tjepkema, Krawchuk, Richard Barrows, and Carmen Castor and team manager Leilah Lietz are proud of the Belles’ "never say die" attitude and their commitment to one another both on and off the ice.

Mar 27, 2006 - Delta Tween C team wins Silver at Provincials
After battling through a very tough year, playing up in the Tween B division and going 0-14-1, the Delta Tween C Dynamite finally got their reward, a silver medal at the 2006 Provincials in Vernon, BC.

The team consisted of four players from last year’s Tween C team, eight newcomers up from Petite, and one brand new player. There was no Tween C division so the team gladly offered to play in the LMRL Tween B division. This was not to be an easy time and the team, won only one regular season game, a non-counter against the Petite AA Dev. The never gave up though, and one spark along the way, was a win against Vernon Tween C at the Burnaby Icebreaker. The team battled on entering in and narrowly missing several wins at the Richmond Icebreaker. They tasted victory again at the Sweetheart in Kelowna when they beat a the Prince George Tween C team who was also playing up in the B division. The team played very well from there till the end of the season and went up Vernon on a high note. They won their first two games, against Vernon and Prince George but lost the third one to Quesnel. They came back to beat Vernon in the semi-final and earned the right to re-battle Quesnel for the gold medal. Delta’s speed helped them get the early lead and though Quesnel tied it at one apiece, Delta had the early advantage. Delta again got the lead but began to tire against a very hard-skating team from Quesnel. Quesnel tied it with 2:44 to go in the game and though Delta gave it every last ounce of their strength, the larger bench of Quesnel prevailed and they won it with less than 2 minutes to go in the overtime period.

The Delta girls did their city proud by inviting their opponents to have a joint picture after each team had their own, and were also awarded the Fair Play medal as the most sportsmanlike team in the division. The team’s biggest accomplishment was how much the girls improved. In fact, a coach from a higher level who had helped evaluate the team at the beginning of the year, was heard to say in February, “where is that new player of yours?” She had progressed so far he could not find her among the others.

The coaches (Stephan Laflamme, Ellen Aono, Chris Niwinski, and Peter Noah), manager Debrah Burleigh, treasurer Denise Goldie, and all the parents are extremely proud of how the girls behaved and played.

Mar 14, 2006 - Delta Doubles Up at "A" Provincials
The Delta Ringette Petite and Belle "A" teams did us doubly proud at the 2006 BC Ringette "A" Provincial Championships in Vernon March 11-14. Both teams went undefeated in round-robin play to match up with tough Fraser Valley opponents in both Petite and Belle A gold medal games. The powerful Delta squads prevailed in the final game to proudly brought home the gold medal and another pair of pennants for the rafters.

Delta's Petite A 2006 BC Petite "A" Champions (Clockwise from left) Layla Belcourt, Melissa Wilson, Shawn Gorman, Kendel Floberg, Nicole Gerwin, Ashley Nasu, Jessica Pastro, Kimmy Barrows, Lisa Nakagawa, Miranda Harris, Sarah Bakke, Kristy Smith and goalie Anjuman "The Wall" Grewal. (Head coach: Terry Floberg)

In a repeat of last year's championship title run, the Belle A team dominated the tournament's Belle division, recording 69 goals for and only 13 against in just 6 games. Next stop for the Belle team is the Western Canadian Ringette Championships in Winnipeg on March 22-25. Congratulations to both the Petite and Belle A teams and good luck to our Belle team representing BC in Winnipeg!

Delta's Belle A 2006 BC Belle "A" Champions (Back row from left) Sheena Mensing, Caitlin Floer, Aynslea Mensing, Brandi Lietz, Danielle Strohan, Emily Masters, Jackie Hamlin, Chelsea Mason, Kate Murie; (Front row from left) goalie Gabrielle Descoteaux, Rudy Krawchuck, Eryn Floer, Caitlin Barrows; (Head coach: Nicole Tjepkema)

 

Mar 1, 2006 - Delta Players Help Medal at BC Winter Games
The BC Winter Games Zone 4 Flyers Ringette team is made up of 12 and 13 year old athletes from Delta, Richmond, Burnaby and New Westminster. After battling through round robin play at the games recently held in Nelson, the team qualified to play for bronze against Zone 5 (from Vancouver, North and West Vancouver and Howe sound).

The Flyers got a quick start and went up 2 – 0 but then ran into some penalty trouble which allowed Zone 5 to tie the game. The Flyers then broke loose with 3 unanswered goals for a final score of 5 – 2. Delta players included; Tory Cardinal and Tasha Haugen on defense, Joan Hayes, Jordan Wust, Kirsten Logan and Kajsa Cuthbert as forwards and Lauren Lavery in goal.

Feb 15, 2006 - Delta' Novice Ice Hawks Win Gold at Sweetheart
Delta’s Novice Ice Hawks extended their season long unbeaten string to 27 games by winning the prestigious Kelowna Sweetheart Tournament. Fifteen teams from around the province started play with dreams of capturing the gold. The Ice Hawks established themselves as early favourites on day one with convincing wins over Vernon and Surrey. After scoring goals in the opening games, Alycia Pankiw donned the pads for game three and led the Ice Hawks to a convincing 11-3 victory. The win secured first place in their division and a spot in the playoffs.

Championship Sunday began with an early morning 4-2 win over Quesnel. Sound defense from the trio of Lisa Salt, Indra Hayre and Adena Kaila along with superb goaltending from Chelsea Ezzy kept Quesnel at bay.

The victory set up a semi-final match against the previously unbeaten Kelowna Rockettes. The hometown favourites came out flying but their confidence began to ebb as Delta’s speedy forwards launched attack after attack. The first period ended with Delta ahead 3 to 1. Goaltending was strong at both ends with Delta’s Ezzy standing tall once again. Kelowna regained their swagger early in the second period by scoring two goals in the first 45 seconds of play to knot the game at three. However, Kelowna’s dreams were dashed on the next shift as Delta’s line of Ingrid Bakke, Jaidyn Mawhinney and Sydney Dunstan used their speed and tenacity to score three goals in the blink of an eye. The line would finish the game with seven goals as a rejuvenated Ice Hawk team went on to score an 8-4 victory and a berth in the final.

Kyra Savard and Katrina Olfert scored early and often to lead the Ice Hawks to a convincing 10-1 win over PoCo in the championship game. No doubt the tournament was a huge success and the players and parents are very pleased to bring the championship back to Delta. Coach Harold Bakke drew pride from comments heard from referees, opposing coaches and others that the team was a joy to watch with their combination of speed, work ethic and unbridled enthusiasm.

January 26, 2006 – Delta’s Belle Team Medals at World’s Largest Tourny
The prolific scoring team from the Delta Belle “A” division has recorded another notch on the ringette stick. Fresh from the 200-team strong 2006 Esso Golden Ring tournament in Calgary, the team recorded a solid 3-1 record in the round-robin, losing by a single goal to a powerful Calgary Soraya team. After defeating the 2005 Western Canadian Ringette Champion team from Medicine Hat in the semi-finals, Delta eventually met up with this same Soraya team in the gold medal game. A pitched battle resulted with the hometown hero succumbing to injury in a 9-7 loss to bring home the silver medal to Delta. Congratulations yet once more to this dynamic and powerful team.

Nov 30, 2005 - Delta's Belle Team at the Burnaby Icebreaker
"This is the second season now that Delta Ringette’s Belle “A” team has gone without a nickname; from the way they are starting to dominate the league maybe they should borrow a name from one the great sports franchises like the Canadiens or the Yankees. After an uncharacteristic start, the Delta Belles shook off the early season rust to win the gold medal at the Burnaby Ice-Breaker Tournament this past weekend. Outscoring opponents 31 to 13, the Belles looked like the Canadiens of old, playing an exciting fire-wagon ringette that tied up the opposing defense and gave the goalies nightmares.

Delta started the tourney with a convincing 9 – 0 routing of Vancouver. The Floer sisters, Caitlin and Eryn, led the scoring with two each. Eryn would finish the tournament with 11 goals and Caitlin with 6 to lead all Delta scorers. In the following game against the host, Burnaby-New West, it was Delta’s goalie, Gabrielle Descoteaux, who made the difference. She was brilliant, making several critical saves at key moments throughout the game that set up the opportunity for Rudi Krawchuk to score a late short handed goal to tie the game at 5 a piece. The next two games were must win for Delta and the combination of an overwhelming offense led by the Floers, Krawchuk, and Brandi Lietz and the stifling defense provided by Sheena and Aynsleah Mensing, Caitin Barrows, Emily Masters, and Kate Murie proved too much for both Vernon and Richmond.

The final was a rematch between Delta and Burnaby – New West. BNW had already beaten Delta earlier this season and their first game in this tournament had seen 10 goals scored and 40 minutes in penalties; neither team was taking this lightly. Those who watched the final saw the reason why Delta won last year’s provincial championship: team play. Head coach, Nicole Tjepkema, has instilled a great deal of confidence in her players. Delta has a deep bench and everyone contributes. Forwards Katey Doolan, Jacquie Hamlin, Chelsea Mason, and Danielle Strohan provided aggressive forechecking and great playmaking in setting up goals throughout the tournament. Strohan notched two tallies of her own and like all the forwards played sound two-way ringette. The defense constantly pushed forward and created offensive pressure. Gabi Descoteaux was probably the best goalie at the tournament. Delta won the game and the gold medal, defeating BNW 6-4.

Outside of the regular season games, the no-name Delta Belles, are taking part in the Richmond Classic in January and then flying off to Calgary to take part in the prestigious Gold Ring tournament. Head coach, Nicole Tjepkema, and assistants Steve Krawchuk and Richard Barrows, think it will be a good test for the Belles as they will face the best teams from the talent-laden prairies in preparation for the Provincial Championships in March and a possible berth in the Western Canadian Championships in Winnipeg. " (Provided by Robin Masters)

Nov 14, 2005 - Seeing Double: Delta Wins Gold Twice Over at Icebreaker
The Delta Petite A team, coached by Terry Floberg, trounced the competition to place first in the Petie A division at the prestigious 2005 Burnaby/New Westminster Ice Breaker Trounament, November 10-13, 2005.

The Petite win was matched later in the day with a second gold medal for Delta. For the third time in four years, the senior Delta team, coached this year by Nicole Castor and Steve Krawchuck, won gold in the Belle A division at the Burnaby Ice Breaker.

Congratulations to the coaching staff and the players on these powerful and talented teams. Delta is proud of you all! Best of luck to all of Delta's great teams on your quest for more hardware in the 2005-6 season!

Oct 1, 2005 - BC Winter Games Zone 4 Tryout Schedule Announced
The BC Winter Games (BCWG) Zone 4 Fraser River-Delta is comprised of the cities of Burnaby, Delta, New Westminster and Richmond. The 2006 BC Winter Games will take place in Greater Trail, BC, from February 23 - 26, 2006. Travel and accommodations for athletes and team staff are provided by the government of BC.

In preparation for the Winter Games, the zone 4 team will participate in practices and exhibition games. All registered ringette players aged 12 and 13 from the above associations are encouraged to attend the following tryouts for the zone 4 BCWG team.

October 22 1:45 pm, Sungod Recreation Centre, North Delta
October 22 6:30 pm, South Delta Recreation Centre, Tsawwassen
October 23 8:45 am, Minoru Arena, Richmond
October 23 1:00 pm, Burnaby Lake, Burnaby

Kurt Logan, Head Coach
Melody Arthers, Asst Coach

May 7, 2005 - Delta Coach Honoured Twice Over
The BC Ringette Association has selected their annual coach of the year. For 2005, BCRA has chosen Delta coach Larry Strohan for this prestigous award. More impressively, Strohan has also been selected by BCRA as head coach for BC's AAA entry into the 2007 Canada Winter Games.

In addition to his work as assistant coach on the 2005 league champion and provincial silver medalist Delta Junior A team, Larry coached BC's first ever entry into the National Ringette League (NRL), team BC Reign, placing sixth at the Canadian Ringette Championships. Larry started his ringette coaching career with Delta Ringette in 1997 and has coached a variety of "AA" and "A" teams from Petite to Open since that time, including bronze and silver medalists at the 2003 and 2004 Western Canadian Ringette Championships.

The Delta Ringette executive extends its congratulations to coach Strohan for his dedication and tireless contribution to the sport of ringette in Delta and throughout the province of BC and wishes him every success in his quest for gold in 2007.

May 6, 2005 - Delta Awarded BCRA Association of the Year
Delta Ringette has a lot to be proud of these days. Our dedicated volunteers have worked hard to establish Delta Ringette as the leading association in the Lower Mainland Ringette League. Now, the association has achieved the highest recognition possible by being awarded the 2005 BC Ringette Association of the Year award. Read on to find out why.

"The Delta Ringette Association (DRA) has built an excellent volunteer base and, with innovation and hard work, has managed to arrest and dramatically reverse a downward spiral in membership. In 2001, DRA suffered from the effects of the growth of female hockey and competition from other sports resulting in only 67 members. Through a concerted effort by a core of diligent volunteers, Delta is now the largest ringette association in the Lower Mainland, possibly the province, with 160 members, a 140% increase in three years!

To achieve this success, Delta Ringette constituted a promotions committee which implemented a series of recruiting and promotions policies and practices, including reduced fee structure aimed at encouraging younger members, free loaner gear, on-site recruitment practices at skating lessons and at schools, "try ringette" sessions, promotion and advertising in the local newspapers and on cable television, flyers, posters, a website, and many other tactics. These methods proved immediately successful and later became the foundation of the Lower Mainland Ringette League Promotions Committee, driven by Delta Ringette members. Under the leadership of DRA members, the LMRL promotions committee went on to organize and structure the job of ringette promotions in the LMRL and thus spur the growth of the sport of ringette in the Lower Mainland and throughout the province. Core advertising vehicles first implemented by Delta Ringette were adopted and a promotions guide was developed. Today the image of ringette in the Lower Mainland has evolved from that of a "girlie" lightweight sport to one that is cool, demanding and played by savvy and skilled high-caliber athletes.

Delta's volunteers annually host the Bunny Jamboree, a fun tournament targeted at our youngest members. This tournament has become the largest of its kind in the province and is one of the few guaranteed annual events where bunny-aged players can engage in the fun, comradery and competition of a tournament. In 2004, Delta Ringette hosted the Western Canadian Ringette Championships (WCRC) in an effort to further promote the sport by bringing in a high level of ringette for the Lower Mainland and the province to enjoy. Widely recognized as the best WCRC ever presented, the 2004 event raised the WCRC bar with innovations such as a well-organized and executed skills competition and player performance recognition awards with all-star team presentations. Delta continued this commitment in 2005 by stepping forward to help the BC Reign Open AA team in their bid to host the 2005 BCRA "A" Provincial Championships.

Each year the Delta executive ensures player and coaching clinics are provided to help develop coaches and players. The positive effects of this program can be seen in Delta's contribution to the sport of ringette at the highest levels. Delta coaches train and develop players not only at the local association level, but participate disproportionately in the AA program. For example, in the 2004-5 season, three of seven LMRL AA head coaches are from Delta. In previous seasons, Delta members have staffed AA and BCWG teams beyond their numbers in the LMRL ringette population, and many have posted respectable records. For example, the 2004 Zone 4 BC Winter Games championship team, comprised of ten Delta players, was coached by a Delta coach. Delta players have also demonstrated a high commitment to the sport by participating in AA team selection camps at very high rates.

Each year the Delta Ringette Association thanks its membership for their contribution to the sport by hosting the annual DRA Dance as an association fundraiser. This event brings this industrious association closer and develops the community bonds required to spur volunteer commitments. What a crowning achievement it would be for this group to be deservedly recognized as the 2004-5 Association of the Year for their many achievements and contributions to the sport of ringette!"