North-South Rivalry Begins Anew as T-Birds Resume Exhibition

South Island Thunderbirds, September 04, 2009

Whether in exhibition play or in the regular season, it is never just a hockey game when the Island’ s two major midget teams hook up.

It is classic North vs South passion, that you can probably trace right back to the American Civil War if you really want to get carried away.  But whatever the reason or source, there is no denying the underlying battle of egos and need to prove which area of the Island deserves the most respect for its athletic prowess and supremacy, physically and artistically, on the ice.

There is a lot of history involved, and not just at the major midget level as these players have been playing each other six or eight times per season since they were first introduced to the game.  Teams from the South love to beat their counterparts from the North and vice versa.

In the first couple of years for the South Island Thunderbirds, they struggled against the North Island Silvertips and lost the four game regular season series.  Two years ago, the tide turned as T-Birds took 3 of the 4 games and finished ahead of the North in the standings for the first time.

Last season, the teams split a total of seven games right down the middle.  The Silvertips swept a three game exhibition series but again came out on the short end in the games that mattered most as the Birds earned 7 of the 8 points up for grabs in the regular season.  Those points were huge for the South Island squad as they edged into the sixth and final BCMML playoff spot for the first time with 41 points, while the Silvertips finished well back in 9^th place with 26 points.

Regardless of the ebb and flow of the outcomes, every game played between these two teams in the past two years has been close and decided in the third period.  And you can bet that the Silvertips will use last season’s disappointment as huge motivation to re-assert themselves in this relationship heading into the 2009-10 season.

The two teams are still in the process of making their final roster selections as they begin a four game exhibition set that kicks off on Saturday, September 5^th at 5:30 PM at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.  The second game goes Sunday at the “Big Stick” in Duncan at 2:30 PM.  The third and fourth games in this series go next weekend, Saturday September 12^th back at the Nanaimo Ice Centre at 5:30 PM and then Sunday, September 13^th at UVic’s Ian Stewart Complex (home of the Victoria Racquet Club).  Both teams start the regular season on Saturday, September 19^th.

Pre-season?  Sure.  But don’t think that changes much between the trenches.  It is still hockey that matters and it is fun to watch the fireworks on display.