The 8th annual Gil Walkus Memorial game was once again held at the Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena in Port Hardy in front of a packed hometown crowd, and in a change from years past, this time the Warriors went to battle against the Chiefs instead of their old rivals the Bulls.
The game is played in honour of former Warrior standout Gilbert Walkus Jr., who died in an apartment fire along with two other people on New Year’s day in 2010.
A tribute game between the Bulls and Warriors was played later that month, and the following year the memorial game was established as an annual event.
The memorial game was a hard-hitting barn burner right from the start, with both team’s goaltenders stopping tough shots and keeping the score close throughout the first period.
Darryl Coon Jr. opened the scoring for the Warriors at 13:40, and then Carson Porter scored in the second to give them a solid 2-0 lead.
The third period was more of the same, with the Warriors getting the better chances that led to Jake Colbourne finding the net at 12:56 to add to their lead.
Warriors goaltender Jason Saunders put in a strong performance, making some great saves up until there was less than seven minutes left in the game, when the Chiefs Thomas Coon finally managed to knock the puck past a sprawled out Saunders.
The Warriors would hold on till the end to win the game 3-1, which featured Gil Walkus’ son Braden getting to play in his first full memorial game.
