Last season, Rylan Ferster鈥檚 team played deep into the month of May and won a Canadian junior A hockey championship.

Ten months later, the coach and GM of the West 琉璃神社 Warriors is doing his best to process an early exit from the B.C. Hockey League playoffs.

The Warriors鈥� 2016-17 brief postseason run ended on Tuesday night in Merritt, as the rival Centennials swept West 琉璃神社 in four straight games.

In a season filled with adversity鈥攆rom roster instability to key injuries to the possibility of the team being relocated鈥擣erster said his team coped as well as could be expected.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 fault our guys on their effort, there were very few times I questioned that, I thought they worked hard all year,鈥� said Ferster, who is finishing up his sixth season with the club. 鈥淚 thought we had more adversity this year than any other year I can remember, so I was proud of the kids.

鈥淲e had pretty good luck last year and won a national championship, and this year we didn鈥檛 have much at all, but that鈥檚 hockey. You don鈥檛 make excuses, you lick your wounds and move on.鈥�

While the Warriors were relatively healthy early in the season, key injuries began to mount as the playoffs drew closer.

Perhaps the most crucial loss of all was that of captain Nicholas Rutigliano to a concussion. Without their inspirational leader in the lineup, the Warriors went 4-13, including 0-4 in the post season.

Puck luck clearly wasn鈥檛 on the Warriors鈥� side against Merritt either, as they suffered a pair of one-goal losses to open the series at home, including a 4-3 triple overtime setback in Game 2.

Still, Fertser gave credit where credit is due.

鈥淲e went into the playoffs pretty banged up and that鈥檚 a tough thing to do,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat really hurt us, but it鈥檚 not sour grapes. We were beaten by a good team in one of the best divisions in junior hockey and they were obviously very deserving.鈥�

Adding to Ferster鈥檚 challenge was the fluctuation of his lineup on a weekly basis. Fifty-one players suited up for West 琉璃神社 during the season, including eight goaltenders.

Also weighing on the Warriors since mid-January was the potential relocation of the club to another community following the 2016-17 season.

So when word came out last week that owner Mark Cheyne had found a group of investors to keep the team in West 琉璃神社, Ferster counted himself among the many who celebrated the news.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to see,鈥� said Ferster, who has two years remaining on his contract with the Warriors. 鈥淭his is a great place to coach and a great place to be a player. We play in a great division in a great league, there are just so many positives.

鈥淚鈥檓 proud of the fact we were able to win a championship last season, to be the best in the country, that was a credit to everybody involved, right from Mark Cheyne on down.鈥�

Based on the all the challenges the club faced this season, Cheyne said Ferster, his staff and the players all performed admirably.

鈥淭hat was a tough season right from the start, they did a great job of keeping things together,鈥� said Cheyne.

Ferster will be back on the ice in a little over a month when the Warriors host their spring camp April 21 to 23 at Royal LePage Place.