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Photo courtesy Richmond Sockeyes

The Richmond Sockeyes faced off against the Delta Ice Hawks in the Tom Shaw Conference Finals, as both teams strived towards the same goal.

Photo courtesy Richmond Sockeyes

Conference Finals Sockeyes vs Delta Ice Hawks

By Steve Erickson, Steve Daniel

Published 2:29 PDT, Wed March 26, 2025

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In the regular season, teams experience the pressure of making the playoffs. In the playoffs, additional pressure is added to the players and coaching staff, as they strive to keep their season alive and capture the ultimate prize.

Experiencing the end of a season without capturing the final prize can be hard on a team, especially for graduating players who are in their final season of Junior hockey, not knowing what their future holds.

The Sockeyes entered the second round playing against the White Rock Whalers who fought hard to keep the series alive that saw the Sockeyes score 25 goals to the Whalers’ seven goals, ultimately eliminating them in six games.

Heading into the second round, the Sockeyes would face off against the first-place team in the Tom Shaw Conference, the Delta Ice Hawks who finished three points (72-69) ahead of the Sockeyes in regular season play. With home ice advantage, Delta started Thomas Popa to face-off against Richmond’s Max Fowle, that would result in Delta outshooting Richmond 41 to 28.

Delta started game one scoring three goals in the first nine minutes of the first period before Sockeyes Captain Teo Lin got them on the board to make it 3 to 1. The first period would end after the teams traded goals again, making it 4-2. In the third period, Delta’s Danylo Bereza would score 3:36 into the period which would later on be the game winning goal, as the Sockeyes responded with a pair of their own.

There’s a saying that the series doesn’t start until a team wins on the road, heading into Game Two, the Sockeyes returned home to defend home ice. Their start would be less than ideal, as they found themselves trailing 5-0 after the first twenty minutes.

The second saw a goaltending change which saw them get off to a faster start opening with the first goal that saw the teams trade a pair of goals through forty minutes noting that both Sockeyes goals were on the power play. Delta managed to pull off a win taking a two nothing series lead in a “testy” contest that saw the final shots 44-43 for Delta.

Game three returned back to Ladner in a game that saw both teams play a fast paced game showcasing more talent which was missed from the previous game only to have the fans get entertained by electric overtime hockey.

Richmond kept up the pressure, only to come up short in the second OT 5:09 in, as Mateo Sjoberg scored the game winning goal. Sockeyes would head back home for game four in a 3-0 series deficit, with their aspirations of capturing the championship on the line.

You could sense not just pressure but urgency was on the side of the Sockeyes and from the opening face-off it was all Sockeyes with no letting up finishing with a 4-2 win trailing in the series 3-1.

Game five was played in the Sungod Arena in Delta, that saw the Sockeyes “give it their all”. Sadly, they would come up short, despite outshooting the Icehawks by a 44-36 margin.

Games are made up of stats and the Sockeyes are pleased to welcome Steve Daniel to the broadcast team who is the club's head statistician which features a much deeper look inside the game using 'analytics'.

Analytics have brought a whole new understanding for management, players and fans that creates a more nuanced view of any sports event which creates more game data that goes beyond the usual 'Shots on Goal' on the scoreboard.

We share several “key” essential data points for each player such as: Shot attempts and on goal, faceoff wins, plus-minus and some innovative graphics.

The shot chart graphic is especially fun to view and we have displayed on air exactly where each team's shots came from—often a very telling statistic.

A great visual that rides on the idea that getting to the danger areas in front of the net leads to success—and we have that in real time. So in addition to our play-by-play and colour analysis, we add more insight that other broadcasts don't.

Sadly the season has come to an end and now we focus on the upcoming 2025-26 season which offers not just excitement, but a deeper in depth look behind the scenes at your Richmond Sockeyes.

The entire Richmond Sockeye team, coaches and management would like to thank everyone, fans and sponsors for their support this past season. Next article: we’ll feature our year-end wrap-up from the coaches and graduating players.