A visit by the last-place Kootenay Ice gave the Valley West Hawks a chance to end a six-game winless streak, and the home team took full advantage.
The Hawks thumped the Ice 8-1 and 6-0 in a two-game set last weekend at the Langley Events Centre for their first victories of 2014. Valley West had gone 0-3-1 at the Mac’s tournament in Calgary over the holiday break, then were swept by the Vancouver Canadians when the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League schedule resumed Jan. 11.
The Hawks jumped on Kootenay quickly with four first-period goals on Saturday. They added four more in the third frame.
Ty Westgard of White Rock, Matt Bradley, Justin Wilde, Mitch Newsome and Paul Savage of Surrey, Jordan Funk of Cloverdale, and Langley’s Spencer Gerth and Luke Gingras were the goal scorers for Valley West. Langley forwards Jesse Lansdell and Eric Callegari had two assists each.
Callegari netted two goals in Sunday’s contest, in which the Hawks again scored four unanswered first-period goals. Westgard, Savage, Landsdell and Funk tallied once each with Bradley, Gingras and Newsome collecting two assists apiece.
Now at 19-10-1 (won-lost-tied) on the season, Valley West will face-off against the Vancouver Giants for two games next weekend. The Giants are tied for first place with the Okanagan Rockets at 23-4-1, and will host the first game Saturday night at the Burnaby Winter Club. The rematch is Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.