When your name is Dryden, your position in hockey seems destined. “My dad named me after Ken Dryden. It was meant to be,” said Dryden DeMelo.
Uncannily so, harkening to the former Montreal Canadiens goaltending great, whose rookie-season heroics led the Habs to upset after upset in the 1971 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Kerry Park Islanders, backstopped by DeMelo, recorded perhaps the biggest upset in Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League history by sweeping the South Division top-seed, league No. 2 and annual powerhouse Victoria Cougars 4-0 in the opening round of the playoffs. The Cougars were 35-11-3 in the regular season on 73 points to the Islanders’ 22-26-2 on 46 points.
“Everybody was expecting us to lose and so we felt we had nothing to lose,” said DeMelo, 17, an affiliate goaltender with the Victoria Grizzlies of the B.C. Hockey League.
“We were really motivated and didn’t let up. It’s amazing.”
The South Division No. 2 and league No. 4 Peninsula Panthers defeated the Westshore Wolves 4-2 in the other opening-round South Division series. The first game of the best-of-seven Panthers-Islanders series was in progress at press time Saturday night in Kerry Park. The second and third games are Monday and Friday nights at the Panorama Recreation Centre.
The VIJHL Jamie Benn MVP Award and Clayton Stoner Award for top defenceman, both named after NHLers, went to Panthers players Riley Braun and Matthew Seale respectively.
The Islanders know they must guard against the upset of the Cougars “being” their season.
“We realize we couldn’t get too high with that series win because that was just a step. Our ultimate goal is the league championship and we had to get ready right away for the next series,” said DeMelo.
“The Panthers are really good and we respect how they play. We can’t let up.”
The Panthers are 31-14-6 in the regular season.
The Port Alberni Bombers, meanwhile, are trying to eclipse the Islanders with an even bigger upset — and all in the same round in the same year.
The annual powerhouse Campbell River Storm (40-4-2) won the Andy Hebenton Trophy, named after the former NHL Ironman record holder and Victoria pro-hockey great, as regular-season champions.
But the Bombers (19-28-3) — who finished 41 points behind the Storm — are on the verge of a massive upset and lead the series 3-2 heading into Monday night’s sixth game at Weyerhaeuser Arena in Port Alberni.
If required, Game 7 will be Tuesday night at Rod Brind’Amour Arena in Campbell River.
Another upset was brewing with the Comox Valley Glacier Kings (28-20-1 in the regular season) leading the North Division No. 2 and league No. 3 Oceanside Generals (33-14-2) 3-2 in their opening-round series heading into Game 6 that was in progress at press time Saturday night.
