In front of more than 500 Sunshine Coast hockey fans, Madeira Park's Joe Antilla put on quite the show last Sunday night in Vancouver.
Antilla and his Kootenay Ice ended the Vancouver Giants six-game winning streak with a 4-1 win at the Pacific Coliseum.
Antilla had a goal, one assist and a fight registering the Gordie Howe hat trick. A Gordie Howe hat trick is a variation on the hat trick (three goals) wherein a player scores a goal, records an assist, and gets in a fight all in one game. It is named after Howe, well known for his skill at both scoring and fighting.
Antilla now has three goals and 16 points this season, a season that has the Ice battling for top spot in the Central Division of the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Red Deer Rebels. The Ice won the WHL championship last year and lost in the semifinal of the Memorial Cup 3-1 to the Mississauga St. Michaels Majors.
The Sunshine Coast Minor Hockey Association used Sunday's game as a league fundraising, selling 500 tickets.
Two teams from the tyke division entertained the crowd during the first intermission and SCMHL president Sean Gray said lots of the association's players got a chance to meet Antilla.
"It was a great game and a great turnout from the Coast. There were tons of kids from all the teams wearing their Sunshine Coast hockey jerseys," Gray said.
"My son is 12 and plays on the peewee rep team. He and his buddies were sitting really close to the ice and when Joe scored he jumped up against the glass and kind of acknowledged the boys and let them know he appreciated their support. I think the kids all got a big kick out of that."
Antilla also gave back in another way by stopping by the dressing room and meeting with the young tyke players before they took the ice.
"It was nice that he came by and sat and talked with the kids," added Gray. "He's a nice guy and it's great for the kids to see someone doing so well from the Coast - someone that they can look up to and aspire to be maybe one day. It was nice to see him win. All the kids were very pumped to be at the game."
