The points do matter.
Unlike ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?,’ that’s the mentality behind the Northern Capitals, who return to BC Female Midget AAA League (FMAAA) action this weekend in the confines of Kin 2 Arena after a two-week absence.
As the Greater Vancouver Comets are well out of reach for the top seed, Prince George’s team has one goal in mind, that is to win all 10 games remaining in the 2019-20 season to finish second in the standings and clinch home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
The Caps have kept themselves busy since the Winter Classic series by playing six friendlies against the Okanagan Hockey Academy (OHA), much to the delight of Head Coach Mario Desjardins.
“I think the most important thing is that there were two weeks of exhibition and we didn’t take two weeks off,” he explained in an interview with PrinceGeorgeMatters as the girls mustered a 5-0-1 record.
“Playing OHA was nice, very competitive, [...] but just being able to stay on the ice for the last two weeks rather than off of it is going to make a huge difference as we finish off the season.”
.@NCapitalsfmaaa & @GVanComets put on a great weekend (Jan. 17-19) of hockey for the 2020 #BCWinterClassic 🏒
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) January 25, 2020
Here’s a brief photo thread 📸 | #CityOfPG #BCHockey pic.twitter.com/kuBh4reetL
He credits his players’ willingness to log hours of strength and conditioning, a key component of the team’s new strategy moving forward.
“The girls have been working hard on and off the ice,” said Desjardins.
“Every Monday, they’re going to dryland training and they’ve been working hard at that. Staying in game shape is most important, especially when we finish this part of the season. We did run a pretty short bench last weekend just due to injuries, but overall, the girls are pumped and ready to go for these next three games.”
The Northern Capitals are welcoming the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers, their closest geographic rivals, to their barn starting tonight (Feb. 7) and have the 4-0-1 season-series advantage.
Forward Hailey Armstrong, the youngest Capital, was blunt with PrinceGeorgeMatters about the high expectations she has for her squad getting back into the FMAAA routine.
“I expect us to take the six points out of this weekend and that’ll help us put us in second to have home-ice advantage for the playoffs. So we need to win these games these weekends for sure.”
Hailey Armstrong (#16) in action for the Northern Capitals against the Greater Vancouver Comets in Fort St. James (via Kyle Balzer)The 14-year-old has been one of the breakout rookies for Prince George, currently sitting fifth in team scoring with 11 points in 22 games including six goals.
One of which broke the 0-0 deadlock against the Greater Vancouver Comets during the second Winter Classic series game in Fort St. James, joining teammate Ella Boon and two other players across the league to accomplish that feat all year long.
“It was a pretty intense game,” said Armstrong, to which the Caps marked a late comeback that day to only lose 5-4.
“I think it was one of the better ones we played; we came out hard and wanted to win because it was a big weekend for us. So we thought we had to come out strong and we did just that.”
Armstrong hopes to nab ‘quite a few’ more goals this weekend to help her team get into a better playoff position, an attitude she believes players her age should abide by.
“You don’t see many 05’s playing [at this level] and it’s just a great experience to be able to come here so young and have so many years to develop,” the Dawson creek product explained.
“I think just being relentless because you’re out here to have fun. You can’t get scholarships for universities yet, so just do go out and give it your all and make sure to develop as much as you possibly can.”
The Caps are four points ahead of the Lakers for third in the standings, holding to a 500-record of 10-10-2, while remaining eight points back of the Fraser Valley Rush.
Tonight is also Pink in the Rink in raising cancer awareness and will be both Coach Desjardins’ and Armstrong’s first experience for the featured contest.
Armstrong is looking forward to wearing pink in honour of her grandmother who had cancer.
