When I last wrote about the Cowichan Valley Capitals, they had extensively retooled their roster. Since then, the team has continued to mold its roster and several trades were made before the holiday break.
Before the pause, the Capitals sat ninth in the Coastal Conference, two points behind the eighth-place Coquitlam Express.
This article is about the moves they’ve made since the start of the season and which players have stood out for the team. Before that though, an update on the Lake Cowichan Kraken of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
Before the holiday break, the Kraken sat fourth place in the North Division. The overall record was 15-17-1-1, earning them 32 points. They are five points ahead of their expansion cousins, the Port Alberni Bombers.
On the move
Since my last article, several players were traded and a handful were added. The first of these new players is defenseman Jordan Edwards, who was acquired from the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Blackfalds Bulldogs. In exchange, the Bulldogs received forward Jason Siedam and future considerations.
Another player joining the team is defenseman Conner Elliot, who was acquired along with future considerations from the Prince George Spruce Kings. In exchange, the Spruce Kings received defenseman Nick Marciano.
Aside from Siedam, the Capitals traded another player to Blackfalds this season. In a three-team trade, defenseman Joe Harney went to the Bulldogs while Blackfalds sent forward Conrad Mitchell to the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Cowichan Valley received a player development fee in the deal.
Both Marciano and Harney were new to the Capitals after being recruited before the regular season started. Both transactions involved future considerations.
In another three-team trade, the Capitals shipped defensemen Owen Simpson to the Penticton Vees. In exchange, Cowichan acquired forward Shane LaVelle and future considerations while defenseman Luke Vardy went from Penticton to Coquitlam.
Standout players
There’s another notable departure from Cowichan. Matthew Hutchinson was a young 15-year-old goaltender who suited up for the Cap as an affiliate player. He got into two games before signing with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants last month.
This isn’t the first time the Giants poached a goaltender from the Capitals. Netminder Will Gurskie was set to play for the Capitals after committing to them during the off-season. However, the Giants signed Gurski to their roster, and he joined Vancouver instead.
A trio of rookies has also stood out for Cowichan. The first is forward David Jacobs, who leads the Caps in scoring. Number two of the rookie trio is forward Luke Haymes. He’s averaging three-quarters of a point per game as an 18-year-old. The final member of the trio is Massimo Sarantos Lombardi, who is third in scoring on the Caps behind only Haymes and Jacobs.
Two of the three have college commitments. Jacobs is off to Princeton University for the 2022-23 season while Haymes heads to Dartmouth College in 2023-24.
In the net, a new goalie has emerged. After starting out as an affiliate player, the Capitals signed goaltender McCoy Bidewell to their active roster. Bidwell began the 2021-22 season with the Fernie Ghostriders of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. In his first nine games with Cowichan, Bidewell’s record was 4-5-0 with a 2.97 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
In the playoff hunt
The regular season is now more than half over and the Capitals are in a battle with the Coquitlam Express for the final playoff spot in the Coastal Conference. Cowichan needs to keep winning in order to improve its win percentage in hopes of leapfrogging the Express.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the playoffs for 2020 went unfinished and the BCHL didn’t have a post-season in 2021. The Capitals were set for a deep playoff run before the 2020 Fred Page Cup playoffs were canceled and have designs on getting there once again.
