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Teo Lin and the Richmond Sockeyes earned a hard fought 7-4 win against the North Vancouver Wolf Pack.

Screen grab from Sockeyes Instagram

Richmond Sockeyes—playoffs are coming

By Steve Erickson

Published 11:03 PST, Wed February 12, 2025

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As the PJHL season fast approaches the final week of competition, for all fifteen teams, some have achieved the success they started last fall while others continue to struggle in various areas. The Richmond Sockeyes continue to play at a high level of competition with the players embracing the change that the coaching staff have worked diligently on.

If you ask any of the coaches they will tell you that everyone has to buy into the system, play as a unit while playing a full sixty minutes with a “one shift at a time” routine.

If you ask any of the players the one game that they never played as a unit was the game against the Knights in a contest that saw them give up five unanswered goals before getting one of their own, but losing the game by a 5-1 margin.

In conversation with some of the players that game was one of their low points of the season which was followed by a hard-fought battle against the Steelers, unfortunately coming up short on the scoreboard.

It was back to the basics for their next contest against North Van that saw Max Fowle get the start in net, while North Van started Remy Quintoro who was replaced in the mid-part of the second by Shayne Kermany.

Bryce Strand started the scoring off at 16:07 of the first period on a power play, taking a 1-0 lead to the dressing room after twenty minutes in a period that saw North Van outshoot the Sockeyes by a narrow 9-7 margin.

The second period saw the Sockeyes get another quick start grabbing three early goals from Alex Kielmann, Dawson Sucke and Burke Newton who assisted on the two previous goals.

North Van’s David Yoon shot one past Fowle at the 13:07 mark in the second period, only to have Teo Lin respond with a goal of his own. To follow up his captain, Alex Kielmann scored his second of the game on the penalty kill, heading into the dressing room with a 6-1 lead after 40 minutes.

The third period seemed to be a ‘wake-up’ call for the Wolf Pack, as they scored two goals to start the period; one at even strength and another on the powerplay, the Sockeyes responded with a goal in the third period.

At times the game got somewhat physical and aggressive but the officials kept control of all “testy” situations when required.

The game ended by a score of 7-4 in favour of the Richmond Sockeyes despite being outshot by the North Van Wolf Pack by a narrow margin of 39-35. Sockeyes’ Alex Kielmann was named the first star, recording two goals and one assist, Burke Newton the second star, recording one goal and two assists, and Dawson Sucke the third star, who recorded one goal and one assist.

In the month of January, the Sockeyes played a total of eight games, scoring 31 goals but allowing 29, looking forward to a productive February as the regular season came to a close.

With the regular season drawing to a close the Sockeyes are again in the playoff hunt for a PJHL championship win.

When you look behind the scenes for the Sockeyes one person who seldom gets recognized is Will Kump, director of operations and GM so it’s only appropriate that we wish Will a very happy birthday and thank him for all his hard work.

Stay tuned—the playoffs are around the corner.