Coming off the 2021 Pod Season, the Cowichan Valley Capitals were rebuilding, busy recruiting new players to the team. However, there’s one who took an unconventional path and has specifically stood out in Duncan.
On Nov. 26, the Capitals signed goaltender McCoy Bidewell after he played for Cowichan Valley as an affiliate player against Langley and Coquitlam.
The Capitals lost both those games, but despite that, the team was impressed with Bidewell’s play. Before being signed, Bidewell was playing junior B with the Fernie Ghostriders of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League Prior to making the jump to the BCHL, Bidewell had only played one game of junior A hockey.
This article is about his path to Cowichan Valley. I’ll cover the teams he played for before joining the Capitals and talk about the effect Bidewell had on the team. Before that, let’s look at the Capitals goalie situation before Bidewell’s arrival.
Goaltending before Nov. 26
Before the 2021-22 season, the Capitals acquired 2002-born goaltender Will Gurski from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Winnipeg Freeze. He also had experience in the Western Hockey League with the Winnipeg Ice.
Before Gurski could join the Capitals, the WHL’s Vancouver Giants stepped in after trading a ninth-round pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft to the Ice for him on Sept. 13. Since then, Gurski has served as backup goalie to Giants starter Jesper Vikman.
Gurski wasn’t the only goalie with ties to the Giants and Capitals. 2006-born netminder Matthew Hutchinson played a pair of games for the Capitals this season before he signed a WHL standard player agreement with Vancouver in December. He also played three games with Cowichan after being inked by the G-Men.
Hutchinson is an underage player and because he was born in 2006, he was only allowed to play five games for Vancouver before the conclusion of the North Island Silvertips BC Elite Hockey season.
Since they lost Gurski and Hutchinson, the Capitals used a different goalie tandem in the net. Duties were split between Evan May and Ben Montgomery before Cowichan traded Montgomery to the Flin Flon Bombers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League on Jan. 8.
Bidewell’s path to Duncan
Bidewell started his pre-junior hockey career in his hometown of Grande Prairie with the Storm AAA program. During the 2016-17 season, Bidewell played 16 games with the U15 Storm before getting into 31 games for the U16 team. Before the 2018-19 season, Bidewell joined the U18 Storm and played 28 games over the course of the next two seasons.
For the 2020-21 season, Bidewell left Grande Prairie and joined the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Notre Dame Hounds but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he only played one game for the Hounds.
He ended up signing with the Fernie Ghostriders and in 12 games with them this season, Bidewell had a sparkling 1.60 goals-against average and a .959 save percentage. He was often one of the KIJHL’s top stars of the week and was even named one of the top stars in the month of October.
For the games on Nov. 18 and 20, Bidewell got an affiliate call-up from the Capitals. Cowichan Valley lost 4-1 against the Langley Rivermen in the first game and Bidewell made 41 saves. He was also named the third star in the game.
In the second game, the Capitals lost 5-3 against the Coquitlam Express as Bidewell made 34 saves on 38 shots. He was signed to a regular roster spot less than a week later.
On Nov. 26, Bidewell made his first start as a regular roster member. The Capitals lost 4-2 against the Rivermen. but Bidewell made 39 saves and was named the second star of the game.
An immediate impact
Since joining the Capitals, Bidewell played in 29 games and his final regular season record was 11-14-0-1. He compiled a 3.50 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage along with one shutout. Comparing Bidewell’s record to the Capitals’ record shows how important he was to the team.
The Capitals finished the season at 15-33-5-1 and Bidewell was in net for 11 of those 15 wins. He was also in goal for the one shootout loss. Before Bidewell’s arrival, the Capitals had three wins and sat at the bottom of the Coastal Conference standings.
Cowichan’s 15 wins were enough to get the Capitals into the playoffs, one point ahead of the Powell River Kings. The Mar. 18 win against Victoria earned the Caps their 15th win. During that game, Bidewell made 23 saves.
There is no doubt that Bidewell has been a great addition to the team. He’s been critical to their success on the ice because he’s given them stability in the crease, which is something the Capitals didn’t have at the beginning of the season as they had to scramble to replace goalies they lost to other teams.
Bidewell is 19-years-old and is eligible for one more season of junior hockey before aging out. It’s expected he has an even bigger impact for the Capitals as a returning veteran during the 2022-23 BC Hockey League season.
