There was a lot to smile about for the U17 Prep team as they spent the past weekend in Vernon, BC. The team went a perfect 3-0 over the weekend and started to climb the CSSHL Standings.

Despite competing in their previous 5 CSSHL games, the U17s entered the weekend looking for win. Injuries, suspensions and awaiting player visas have decimated the U17 roster up until this point this year. With their AP Rostered players in Green Bay this weekend, Coach Butters and his crew went to BC knowing their roster would be thin. The 17s mustered all they had and performed well throughout.

The team opened up on Friday morning with a game vs. the Indigenous Sports Academy. CDA built a strong 3-0 lead into the latter stages of the 2nd period and seemed to be in complete control. A couple of penalties and the loss of two more players may have played a factor in the team's 3rd period let down as ISA tied the game with 7:00 to play. Despite several CDA scoring chances, the red, white and blue couldn't out the game away. After a scoreless 5:00 minute overtime period, the game went to a shootout.

Brody Asuchak ended up as the only player to score in the shootout and CDA squeaked out a 4-3 shootout victory. Zane Hill went the distance, stopping 28 shots, including all 3 shooters he faced in the shootout, for the victory.

Game 2 of the weekend saw CDA jump out of the gates to another 3-0 lead. This time, the Wenatchee Wilderness were the opponent. CDA kept pushing and built a 6-0 lead before giving a late goal to end the game capturing a 6-0 victory.

The final game of the weekend saw CDA face of against the always tough OHA Edmonton. CDA scored a power goal with just 1 second left in the first period. OHA tied it up in the middle frame and that's the way it looked the game would end before Alex Clark converted on a nice pass from Cyril Mitsopoulos to take a 2-1 lead. 3:00 minutes later, newcomer Jesse Arendt scored his first of the season with a sneaky snap shot that gave CDA a 3-1 lead. With and empty OHA net, Alex Clark sealed the game with his second goal of the contest, ending the game 4-1 in favor of CDA.

CDA Head Coach, Mike Butters, was pleased to see the team come out of the weekend with 8 of 9 possible points and a 3-0 record. "It was good to see our group limit our goals against this weekend and I felt our defensive play was a primary factor in our success." Butters added, "We had offensive contributions from a wide array of players and it was especially nice to see our young guys and newcomers play a part in our scoring."

The 17s will return to Okanogan Valley next weekend for a 2 game set against OHA.