Ermolai Yarygin (#91) corrals the puck in Cloverdale HC’s 5-2 win over the Abbotsford Pilots Feb.22 at The Barn. The win gave Cloverdale a stranglehold in the series, putting the expansion club up on the Pilots 3 games to 1. Yarygin, who hails from Delta, is averaging 1.25 points per game in the playoffs, netting 1 goal and adding 4 assists so far in the series. | Photo: Jason Sveinson
Cloverdale HC has had a great start to their playoffs.
After four games, Cloverdale is up on the Abbotsford Pilots 3-1 with Game 5 set to go Feb. 24. Cloverdale dropped Game 1 by a 7-3 count, but followed with three consecutive wins (8-3, 4-3, 5-2). The team’s first ever playoffs come after a respectable inaugural season. Cloverdale managed to go .568 over 44 games as an expansion club, posting 28 wins and 18 losses with 2 shootout losses—good for 50 points and a fifth-place finish (3 points behind the fourth-place Pilots).
The team has come a long way to earn that record, having to overcome some adversity not many hockey players have had to face—if any at all. Just days before the Cloverdale Jr. Hockey Club was set to begin its inaugural season in the Pacific Junior Hockey League, the league ripped their red carpet and ceremonial first puck drop out from under them. At the time, PJHL commissioner Trevor Alto sent out an email noting the team would not play their inaugural season and that all players on the Cloverdale roster were available to play for other clubs. The team’s operations were suspended, their schedule was cancelled, and the expansion squad was scrubbed from the PJHL website. There was little to no hope for the players to land on other clubs either, as all the teams were formed and rosters full.
A massive fight got underway, which included a court case, a lot of hard feelings, and the kids got caught in the middle. The PJHL had suspended Cloverdale’s operations back in September related to the failure of the PJHL to move into two leagues—both Junior A Tier 1 and Junior A Tier 2—something that was announced earlier this year. Eventually, it all got resolved—with the league splitting into two conferences and not two tiers—and it was “game on” for Cloverdale HC.
The puck will drop Feb. 24 for Game 5, 7:30 p.m. at MSA Arena in Abbotsford. If needed, Game 6 will be back at The Barn Feb. 26, puck drop at 7 p.m. To follow the team, visit pjhl.net.
