The seven graduating Cloverdale Hockey Club players (born in 2005) are #55 Troy Wansink, #16 Jeevin Bal, #15 Carter Nailen, #14 Zach Johns, #13 Max Lyons, #6 Cole Perry and #1 Ben MacLeod.
By Connor Baldwin
As the 2025-26 PJHL playoffs approach, the Cloverdale Hockey Club hosted their final regular season home game on February 12th against the visiting North Vancouver Wolf Pack at Cloverdale Arena.
This game marked the first ever “Cloverdale Grad Night”, celebrating the junior hockey careers of the seven 20-year old Cloverdale players. Each of these players were recognized in a special pre-game ceremony before they played in their final home regular season PJHL game.
Before taking a closer look at each of the seven Cloverdale grads, here’s a quick recap of the game which took place after the pre-game ceremonies on February 12th. The 5th place Cloverdale Hockey Club battled against the 7th place North Vancouver Wolf Pack, as Cloverdale needed a win to still have a chance at 4th place in the conference, which would give them “home ice advantage” in their 1st round playoff series against the Abbotsford Pilots.
The game was a chippy and fairly tightly contested battle throughout the 60 minutes, and in the end Cloverdale left the home crowd celebrating a 4-1 win. Wolf Pack goalie Gregory Sichitiu (one of the two Wolf Pack grads) made 48 saves on 52 shots to earn the night’s 3rd star. Cloverdale captain and grad Zach Johns earned 2nd star honours with a goal and an assist. Cloverdale goaltender Ben MacLeod, another one of Cloverdale’s grads, earned 1st star after making 27 saves on 28 shots.
It was a good team win for Cloverdale, but the highlight of the night was the pre-game festivities and presentations for the Cloverdale graduates.
The seven graduating Cloverdale players (born in 2005) are #1 Ben MacLeod, #6 Cole Perry, #15 Carter Nailen, #55 Troy Wansink, #13 Max Lyons, #16 Jeevin Bal and #14 Zach Johns. Each of these players are set to leave their legacy as the first members of the Cloverdale Hockey Club alumni. Prior to the Cloverdale game against the Wolf Pack, I took the time to reach out to each of the graduates. I asked each player their favourite memory as a member of the Cloverdale Hockey Club, their favourite all-time minor hockey memory, their plans after this hockey season, and a lesson or skill that they’ll take away with them for the rest of their lives that they learned during their time in Cloverdale.
The seven graduating Cloverdale Hockey Club players (born in 2005) are #55 Troy Wansink, #16 Jeevin Bal, #15 Carter Nailen, #14 Zach Johns, #13 Max Lyons, #6 Cole Perry and #1 Ben MacLeod. | Photo courtesy of David Stevens Photography.
No. 55 | Troy Wansink
After starting his junior career with the Surrey Knights for parts of two seasons, Troy played for Simon Fraser Univeristy for two seasons before joining Cloverdale this season. Troy played 39 games this season, scoring 5 goals and 19 assists for 24 points.
Troy was a reliable two way defender all season for Cloverdale, and led Cloverdale defencemen with 5 goals. | Photo courtesy of Sawyer Hrasko photo
Troy’s favourite memory during his time with Cloverdale was their team’s rookie dinner, which was a great bonding moment with the team full of laughs and good times.
A standout memory from Troy’s minor hockey career was during a tournament with his Burnaby minor peewee A1 team. As captain, Troy blocked a shot that was headed for their own empty net, and soon after Troy scored, tying the game late. His team went on to win in overtime, and he said it was his best game ever.
After this season, Troy plans to continue his business degree at SFU, and he hopes to possibly play for their BCIHL hockey team. Troy was very proud to be a part of the Cloverdale organization, and the biggest lesson he learned was the importance of setting goals and maintaining a positive mindset for success.
No. 16 | Jeevin Bal
Jeevin started his minor hockey career across the lower mainland with West Van, Delta, Valley West and Greater Vancouver before playing two full seasons in the PJHL with the White Rock Whalers prior to joining Cloverdale this season. Jeevin played in 40 games this season, scoring 30 goals and 48 assists for 78 points, which is the most points in the Harold Brittain Conference and 2nd in the entire PJHL this season.
Jeevin finished the 2025-26 4th in the entire PJHL in points with 81 in 41 games. Jeevin was 2nd in the league in points per game (1.98). | Photo courtesy of David Stevens Photography.
Jeevin’s favourite memory as a member of Cloverdale was scoring his 1st junior hat trick in Cloverdale’s first ever home win against the Abbotsford Pilots on September 25th. During his minor hockey career, Jeevin’s favourite memory was winning the AAA Arizona Cactus Cup tournament on the Cloverdale peewee A1 team.
After this season, Jeevin will be going into his 4th year at Simon Fraser University, majoring in business.
This season with Cloverdale, Jeevin learned the importance of staying upbeat and positive, even when things don’t go your way.
No. 15 | Carter Nailen
Carter appeared in over 111 junior hockey games across various leagues in Canada, including Valley West, the SHL and the MJHL. Carter began this season with the Ridge Meadows Flames before being acquired by Cloverdale prior to the trade deadline. With Cloverdale, Carter has appeared in 14 games, scoring 6 goals and 15 assists for 21 points.
Carter made an instant positive impact for Cloverdale after being acquired from the Ridge Meadows Flames prior to the trade deadline. | Photo courtesy of Jason Sveinson.
Carter’s favourite memory during his time with Cloverdale was scoring his 1st PJHL hat trick against the Mission City Outlaws on January 1st.
Carter’s favourite memory from minor hockey was getting to travel to Beijing, China for a hockey tournament. After his hockey career is over, Carter plans on continuing to work full-time in trades. Throughout his time with Cloverdale, Carter said he learned the importance of always staying positive, no matter the situation.
No. 14 | Zach Johns
After playing four full seasons with the White Rock Whalers, Zach joined Cloverdale this season and was named the team’s first ever captain. In 30 games this season, Zach scored 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points. Zach recently played in his 200th career PJHL game, an accomplishment achieved by only a handful of players in PJHL history.
Captain Zach Johns joined Cloverdale this season to cap off a very successful PJHL career after four seasons with the White Rock Whalers. | Photo courtesy of David Stevens Photography.
Zach’s favourite memory as a member of Cloverdale was when Cloverdale played their first home game after finding out they were allowed to play this season, with a special excitement in the locker room and an unforgettable atmosphere in the arena that night. Zach’s all-time favourite memory growing up with the Cloverdale Minor Hockey Association was competing in the Cactus Cup tournament in Arizona. That team featured many players from Cloverdale this season so it was a full circle moment, and they ended up winning that tournament. After this season is over, Zach plans to become an RCMP officer. Zach will be joining some friends on a rec team for ice hockey, and he definitely wants to play some roller hockey too.
Zach’s biggest takeaway from this season was learning how to become a leader during the first month of the season when it looked unclear if they would have a team at all.
Zach and his teammates learned resilience and he said it was impressive to see everybody keep their heads held high, and in the end things worked out. This experience showed Zach that adversity can build strong character and create a strong bond with his teammates.
No. 13 | Max Lyons
Max began his PJHL career briefly with the Surrey Knights before playing two full seasons with the White Rock Whalers prior to joining Cloverdale this season. Max played in 37 games this season and is currently 2nd on Cloverdale in points with 54, scoring 17 goals and 37 assists.
Max was a scoring threat every night with Cloverdale this season, finishing 2nd on the team in points with 58. | Photo courtesy of David Stevens Photography.
Cloverdale’s first game of the season was Max’s favourite memory during his time with Cloverdale, as the team didn’t know prior to the game if they would still have a team or not.
His favourite all-time minor hockey memory was going to provincials with his U-18 Cloverdale A1 team. After this hockey season is over, Max plans to continue his schooling, and he hopes to continue to play hockey. A skill that Max learned while playing on Cloverdale was always trying to be positive and supportive of his teammates, as it can go a long way.
No. 6 | Cole Perry
Cole played in parts of two seasons with Sharpshooter Academy in Langley, followed by a season with the Ridge Meadows Flames and a brief time with the Langley Trappers before joining Cloverdale this season. Cole appeared in 30 games this season, scoring 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points.
Cole Perry brought the physicality for Cloverdale this season, and was a reliable shut down defenceman. | Photo courtesy of David Stevens Photography.
Cole’s favourite memory as a member of Cloverdale was beating captain Zach Johns in sew. In warmups, the team plays a game (called sew) with a soccer ball where each players gets eliminated if they drop the ball. Cole’s all-time favourite memory from minor hockey was travelling down to the states and winning Gold in a minor hockey tournament. After Cole is done with hockey, he’s looking forward to fully pursuing a career in the RCMP.
The best lesson that Cole learned while with Cloverdale was learning to have fun with the game of hockey again.
No. 1 | Ben MacLeod
After a season with Sharpshooter U-17 Prep in Langley and then a few seasons later a year with the Niagara Predators, Ben joined Cloverdale this season to play in his hometown. Ben appeared in 14 PJHL games this season (prior to the February 12th game), winning 7 games with a 3.34 GAA and a .888 SV%. Ben earned 1st star on February 12th with 27 saves on 28 shots.
Ben enjoyed every moment of his time with Cloverdale, and provided great leadership for the other Cloverdale goaltenders. | Photo courtesy of David Stevens Photography.
Ben’s favourite memory as a member of Cloverdale was being able to play in front of the community he grew up in, and his family was a huge part of why he was blessed to be able to play for his hometown.
Ben’s favourite minor hockey memories were playing in the Cactus Cup in Arizona, winning this tournament, and the provincial run for his U-18 team as they went on to finish 3rd place. After this season, Ben plans to continue to play hockey at post-secondary school. When he’s done with hockey, Ben wants to go into forest fire fighting. Ben’s biggest takeaway from this season was learning the mental part of the game.
Ben learned to play through any situation, whether that was starting in net or on the bench, and he said he made sure to do his role for the team whatever that may be.
After each player had their moment in the spotlight, they were called up one by one to take photos and collect their Cloverdale Hockey Club jersey alongside volunteers and family members. The presenters at centre ice were Lou Fuchs, who works at the front desk and has been a volunteer in the PJHL for over 26 years, Sue Robinson, the team administrator, Marty Jones, the game day coordinator and long-time president of Cloverdale Minor Hockey Association, and Matt Bright, the live score timekeeper for Cloverdale and father of Cloverdale defenceman Calvin Bright.
At the end of the pre-game festivities, Travis Smythe, current Cloverdale assistant coach and former White Rock Whalers teammate of Zach Johns joined Zach at centre ice. Travis presented Zach with a special commemorative plaque recognizing 200 regular-season games played in the PJHL, a feat achieved by only a handful of players. After the night was complete, the Cloverdale Hockey Club look ahead to two regular season games on the road before preparing for the playoffs. Cloverdale will play the Abbotsford Pilots in round one, with the schedule to be determined.
A big thank you from everyone at the Cloverdale Hockey Club organization for making Cloverdale’s first ever “grad night” a success, and a big congratulations to seven graduating players on their successful junior hockey careers.
Travis Smythe presents Zach Johns with a special commemorative plaque recognizing 200 regular-season games played in the PJHL.| Photo courtesy of Jason Sveinson.
