The Vancouver Northeast Chiefs balanced some good news with a few rough patches.
The B.C. Major Midget Hockey League squad last week secured a berth to the prestigious Mac’s AAA Midget Hockey Tournament in Calgary, thanks to being one of the top-five teams in the league standings.
Unfortunately, a pair of tight losses to the Valley West Hawks on the weekend bumped them down two notches.
The Chiefs were edged 3-2 and 6-4 by the Hawks in a home-and-home series where troubles in the third period tainted some strong performances. Take in mind that Valley West is currently tied with the Vancouver Northwest Giants and Cariboo Cougars for first place at 11-4-1.
In the opener, Vancouver fell behind 2-0 but rallied on goals by New Westminster’s Liam Ryan and Chong Min Lee. The Hawks grabbed the lead with 11:23 to play in the third.
A day later, the squad grabbed a 4-2 advantage midway through the third before a calamity of penalties put the Chiefs on their heels.
The Hawks’ powerplay took advantage on each opportunity, scoring four unanswered goals for the victory.
“It wasn’t a case of momentum, I saw it as more the fact we couldn’t stop taking penalties,” Chiefs coach Jamie Jackson said. “We were really good five-on-five but things went astray. The discipline wasn’t there and that’s one thing we’re going to be talking about this week.”
The squad was without top defender Jonny Sheardown on Sunday due to an illness. Jackson said Sheardown and fellow Burnaby product Sean Gulka continue to impress as rookies.
“Jonny has really taken off over the last three weeks, and been our best defenceman day-in, day-out. ...(Gulka) has been skating with two returning players and they’re slowly getting that offensive chemistry going. I think they are getting there but there is still a ways to go,” remarked Jackson.
The Chiefs play the North Island Silvertips in Nanaimo this weekend.
