In 1996, New Westminster took 2 teams to Prince George for the annual
championships. When I look back on the few notes I have, it looks like we had a total of 20 players for both teams,
which meant a lot of floor time for everyone. I don't have any score sheets for information, but I do have 2 press
clippings from that year. In one article, it tells how Sapperton won the "B" division final over Prince George Old
Stylers on the sensational goaltending from Don Smith, who just stoned the P.G. team. According to the article, Wayne
Bellwood, Dean Callard, Don Smith, Phil Thomas and Mark Benson all had good games for Sapperton during the tournament.
In the other article, it says the Hyacks lost to Nanaimo in the "C" division final 5-1 (there was probably a long,
late beer night the night before). The story the players talk about is the game between Port Coquitlam and the Hyacks
when the NW goalie, Dean Johnson, stopped a shot with his mask. The ball was shot so hard that it stuck in Dean's
cage, just coming to rest before pushing his eyeball back through his head. New West played the rest of the game with
Phil Thomas, who was unbelievable in goal.
