BCJALL Review: Delta Islanders

DELTA ISLANDERS

LAST SEASON: 3-18 - 8TH - MISSED PLAYOFFS

163 GF 253 GA -50 GD

There’s a lot to like with the way the Delta Islanders are trending. Despite a season that saw them win only three games, solidifying the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 BCJALL Midget Draft, the Islanders played a lot of teams quite tough, and did well in the role of spoiler in the stretch run. Much like the Lakers, Delta shipped off some of its talent to give them a run at playing in a National Championship. 

The Islanders are still rebuilding off the 2016 Minto run they made, but the hope is that 2020 will be the year they can start their ascent back up the BCJALL standings. One of the things Delta has going for them is the infrastructure in place off the floor. From GM Matt Disher down to the experienced coaches of Kyle Groundrey and Andy Ogilvie, the team is in good hands. 

The next step will be to take that youth and inexperience and start translating it into wins. One way they can help speed that process up may be to turn to its Junior B1 ranks. That team defeated the Coquitlam Adanacs in a best-of-three series to win the B1 league banner and were arguably the deepest club in that league. Ben Mcdonald and Rhys Porteous finished first and third in league scoring, respectively, putting up a combined 156 regular season points. Goaltender Ashton Leclair was stellar in the playoffs as well, finishing that run with a 7-3 record and .800 SV %.

Mark Booth of the Delta Optimist has been hearing much of the same things. He recently wrote, “The contributions from the younger talent throughout the postseason run was perhaps the most encouraging thing of all as Delta looks to gain traction in the BCJALL after missing the playoffs for a third straight year.”

One area Delta will need to improve upon if playoffs are realistic possibility: defending. The team allowed the most goals in the league with 253 - and were second-to-last in goal differential at -90.