Last night the Langley Thunder won their second straight WLA championship in this article we will take a look back at Langley’s 2012 season.
Langley made a splash before the 2012 season by signing superstar Garrett Billings and trading for forward Lewis Ratcliff. Both these players were expected to make an impact this year and help add to Langley’s offense. Langley got off to a rocky start to the season as they lost their first game of the season 17-7 to Nanaimo as their defense fell apart. Langley would lose their next game as well giving Langley a 0-2 record to begin the season. Langley would get their first win of the 2012 season against Nanaimo as Langley’s offense began to click as they defeated Nanaimo 14-10. After the Nanaimo game Langley’s offense heated up as they went on a 5 game winning streak as they beat Coquitlam 7-6, Burnaby 13-7, New Westminster 12-8 and defeated Maple Ridge 13-10. Langley had got back on track and began moving up in the WLA standings.
Langley would then have their 5 game winning streak broken by Coquitlam as Coquitlam defeat them 7-6. Langley would rebound with a win over Maple Ridge but would lose 12-4 to Coquitlam in their next game. Coquitlam and Langley’s season series was very evenly matched with two of the games being decided by 1 goal. This series was a preview of things to come as these two teams would meet in the WLA final. Langley would then go on to win their next 4 games which gave Langley a record of 10-4 after 14 games and put them in first place in the WLA. Langley’s winning streak would come to an end against the New Westminster Salmonbellies. New Westminster would edge out Langley 10-9 handing Langley their 5th loss of the season. Langley would lose their next game as well as Victoria defeated Langley 11-10 in overtime. Langley would then win their next two games to end the season. At the end of the regular season Langley had a record of 12-6. Langley would finish first in the WLA and advanced to the playoffs in hopes of repeating as WLA Champions
Langley would then meet Burnaby in the first round of the playoffs. Burnaby proved to be no match as Langley quickly swept Burnaby in 4 games. Langley would then advance to the finals where they met Coquitlam. Langley got off to a quick start winning the first two games. Coquitlam would win game 3 though proving that they would not be a pushover. Langley would then go onto win game 4 in double overtime as they edged out Coquitlam 8-7. Coquitlam would stave off elimination in game 5 with a huge win but in the end fell to Langley in game 6 as Langley’s offense took control and never let up as Langley were crowned the 2012 WLA Champions.
Langley was able to succeed this year due to great play from rookies Shayne Jackson, Tor Reinholdt and Brett Hickey. All three rookies had great seasons but Shayne Jackson was the top rookie for Langley as he notched 39 points in his rookie campaign. Hickey would finish with 28 points while Reinholdt finished with 24 points. The three rookies success helped add to the depth of Langley’s offense and made Langley one of the best offensive teams in the WLA. The top three players in 2012 for Langley were Athan Iannucci, Lewis Ratcliff and Alex Turner. Ratcliff and Iannucci both finished with 57 points in the season while Turner finished with 53 points on the season.  Ratcliff’s great season also led to him cracking the top 50 for points in the OLA .These three were the main reason for Langley’s 2012 success. Langley also received great goaltending from the duo of Brodie MacDonald and Steve Fryer. Fryer would finish the season 5-0 with a goal against average of 7.84 while MacDonald finished 7-5 with an 8.69 goal against average.  The reason Langley won the WLA Championship was due to the fact they were good in every area of the game and were not utterly weak in any one part of the game. Langley was an offensive team first but their defense was capable of shutting out some of the top offensive teams in the WLA. Langley will now face their biggest test as the advance to the Mann Cup to take on Peterborough.
Comments are closed.