Just because people expect a team to win the championship doesn't mean it will come easily.
The Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League were ranked first in the country for most of the season, had a 42-game winning streak and cruised through the playoffs to get to the RBC Cup in Humboldt. The Vees capped it all off with a 4-3 win in the final Sunday.
"It feels good. We can actually enjoy it now," said Vees forward Bryce Gervais a day after winning the trophy. "So many people expected us to win, and we were maybe the favourites to win it, and it would have been disappointing if we would have lost. But we wouldn't have looked back on the season as a bad one."
The Vees had nine of the top 15 scorers in the BCHL's regular season. Gervais was 12th overall with 42 goals, the most in the league, and 33 assists.
Gervais, a Battlefords product, was in his second season in the BCHL and was traded from the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 20 games into the season to the Vees, where he could tell early in the season something special could happen.
"It was a shock. I didn't think I was going to get traded, especially that early in the season. I went to a great team. They had a lot of skilled guys there already and I wasn't sure where I was going to fit in. But I got some playing time there with (Joey) Benik and (Steven) Fogarty. We just kicked off really well and didn't look back from there."
Gervais was the lone Saskatchewan product on the Vees roster and was excited at the opportunity to return to play in Saskatchewan. His last games in the province were in a Prince Albert Mintos jersey in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.
"It felt good to play back in Saskatchewan. It felt just like I was at home and I was pretty comfortable. It was pretty cool. I had a lot of family there and a lot of support, so it was pretty awesome."
Gervais' biggest goal of the season came midway through the third period of the championship game. He pounced on a loose puck in the crease to score his first goal of the RBC championship and tie the game with the Woodstock Slammers at 3-3.
The Vees earned a power play in the final minutes of the third period and scored to clinch the championship.
"We have been in that situation lots. No one panicked. We just said 'calm down,' I thought we were all over them in the third," said Gervias thinking back on the championship game. "Our guys know how to face adversity. One shot on goal is all we need. Once we got our tying goal there it was a boost for us and there was no stopping us after that."
After starting the tournament 0-2 the Vees won their final two round robin games to clinch the second spot and went on to beat the Soo Thunderbirds in the semifinal.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy. There were five great teams there and they all earned their spots to play at the RBC Cup. The first game there we played pretty good, but I don't think we played up to our potential. Against Humboldt we had a really good game. We told ourselves we needed to calm down and play the way we were playing all year."
The Vees will have a celebration parade back in Penticton Wednesday, as well as their team awards banquet. Within a week Gervais plans to be back in the Battlefords, working, spending time with family and friends and preparing for next season when he will join the Minnesota State hockey program on an NCAA Division I scholarship.
As for now, the city of Penticton, the Battlefords and hometowns of all the other players are excited to look back on a record-setting season for the Vees.
"We all had fun. We had a great season and winning that championship capped it all off and now we can enjoy it and think back and have lifetime memories," said Gervais.
