As a turbulent 2021 winds down to an end, the PJHL is set for its final few days before the Christmas break and the Winter Classic to open up 2022.
For White Rock, a franchise record seven consecutive wins have shot the Pod up the standings into third in the Tom Shaw conference and fifth in the league overall. It will be a pair of home games against North Vancouver this weekend to wrap up the calendar year for White Rock with a chance to gain ground on second place Delta.
White Rock is 7-5 on the season in back-to-back games, with a pair of games set for Saturday night and Sunday afternoon from Centennial Arena. The league leading Wolf Pack are currently splitting the season series with the Whalers at 1-1, thanks to a Jacob Dorohoy hat trick the last time these two teams met on November 14th. That 4-3 victory was White Rock’s first win on this seven game unbeaten streak, with North Vancouver having lost two of their five most recent games.
Saturday’s clash with North Vancouver will be at 7:30 pm from Centennial Arena, with masks and vaccine passports mandatory to enter. Sunday’s game gets underway at 12:00 pm (noon), so be sure to arrive ahead of the early puck drop on Sunday. Both games will be streamed on HockeyTV as well, with Ben Righetti, Jordy Cunningham and Bailey Hoy on the broadcast.
Saturday’s game is also “Hockey Gives Blood” night, where fans are encouraged to sign up for blood and plasma donations at Centennial Arena. Both games this weekend will also be part of the Whalers annual food bank drive, where donation bins for canned and non-perishable foods will be set up at Centennial Arena for fans to donate to Sources BC.
Since 2018, just over $178,000 has been donated through Hockey Gives Blood which supports efforts to further engage and mobilize the hockey community in blood/plasma donation and the stem cell and organ donation registries.
left to right: Whaler Jacob Dorohoy kneels next to non-perishable items collected on behalf of Sources Food Bank with teammates Matt Burry, Sam Dowell and Bryce Margetson.
Following Sunday’s game, the team has a break over the holiday period before the Winter Classic at Minoru Arena, where they face the Abbotsford Pilots and the Mission City Outlaws on January 1st and 2nd respectively.