It was a golden anniversary for hockey in the City of the Arts as the Port Moody Amateur Hockey Association marked its 50th year with three championship wins.
The under-18 C1 Port Moody Panthers won the league playoffs Sunday night, defeating Ridge Meadows 8-5.
“It was a pleasure having them,” says new coach Mark Larsen of his team. “They were very kind and respectful and welcoming to me as someone they hadn’t met prior to the year and it was a very good experience working with them.”
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Some of the athletes, ages 15 to 18, have been playing together for years.
After the regular season, the team was put into a playoff tier with four other teams, and after a series of playoff games, they qualified for the championship game against Ridge Meadows.
Winning the season championship means Larsen is officially 1-0 as a coach.
“I’m just a volunteer wanting to give back and hopefully inspire some of the kids to keep playing as they get older, as I have,” he says.
Larsen doesn’t have any kids of his own in the league but decided to coach as a way to continue being involved with hockey after playing for many years himself.
“I didn’t really know what quite to expect, but I had a lot of support from my assistant coach, Derek Larmour and the team manager, Shaunna Harper,” he says. “Those two were very helpful and a very key part to making the season go on and have a lot of success.”
The team’s oldest players will be moving on from the group as they graduate school. But Larsen is hoping to be back coaching some familiar faces next season.
The association’s U11 A1 team and U15 A2 team also won their playoff championships.
