Dust off the record book because Michael Garteig, Mike Hammond, the Quesnel Millionaires and the Powell River Kings will all be a part of BCHL history, at least for this year.
Powell River goalie Garteig had an excellent year as he broke the record for lowest goals-against average in a season with a teeny-tiny 1.69 GAA. The previous holder was Vernon Vipers net minder Blake Voth, who just last year had a 1.79 GAA.
Garteig also tied Brad Thiessen’s single season shutout record with seven. Thiessen set the mark in the 2005-06 campaign with the Prince George Spruce Kings and the Merritt Centennials.
On top of that, Garteig set a record with a .934 save percentage in 48 games played this season. That broke a .931 mark held by two former BCHL goalies: Michael-Lee Teslak of the Prince George Spruce Kings in 2004-05 and Pete Brady of the Powell River Paper Kings in 1996-97.
Salmon Arm sniper Mike Hammond led the league in points this year with 93 – a nice number for 57 games played – but it set the league record for lowest point total by a league leader. Darcy Oakes, a former Powell River King, was the previous holder with 99 points en route to a Brett Hull Trophy in the 2008-09 season.
This year in the BCHL also saw a couple of team records broken as Quesnel set a new mark for fewest goals scored in a season with 140. The Millionaires actually erased their previous result which they set back during 2005-06 when they managed to score 142 goals.
On the other side of that, the Powell River Kings set a new league standard this year with just 115 goals against, narrowly breaking Vernon’s mark from last year when the Vipers allowed just 119 goals.
The BCHL would like to extend a large thank you to league historian Fred Hume for his work in helping us with this item.
