The Valley West Hawks had no trouble earning four points in Kamloops last weekend, scoring 17 goals in two games to defeat the Thompson Blazers by scores of 12-0 and 5-1.
The victories kept the Hawks atop the standings in the BC Hockey Major Midget League. Their record of 20-5-1 (win-loss-tied) has them even with the Cariboo Cougars on points, but with two fewer games played.
Valley West can take some huge steps towards nailing down top spot in the next couple of weeks. Next weekend, they will face-off against the third-place Vancouver Giants in a home-and-home series, then will play the Cougars twice in Richmond the following weekend.
Against the Blazers, Valley West had no trouble dominating a team that has won just twice in 28 starts. Saturday evening, they led 3-0 after one period and 6-0 after two, then tallied six more times in the final period.
"We came out all cylinders firing Saturday. We talked about the need for our us to play our way and our team delivered," said Hawks head coach Jessie Leung. "I liked how we attacked the game. We were relentless on the attack. We did a lot of the little things we talk about that our team does to be successful."
Michael Farren scored five times and added one assist to pace the Hawks, with Justyn Gurney adding a pair. Josh Bruce, Daniel Chifan, Carson Franklin, Ben Evanish and Christian Bosa netted one goal each. Luka Burzan contributed with three assists.
Valley West waited until the third period of Sunday’s game to pull away for the victory. Evanish had the visitors up 1-0 after one period, and added his second of the game midway through the second period to break a 1-1 tie.
Farren notched a pair early in the third period, then Franklin closed out the scoring. James Malm had a pair of assists.
The Hawks will visit the Vancouver Giants (16-6-4) Saturday evening at the North Shore Winter Club, then play a rematch Sunday morning at 11 a.m. at the Langley Events Centre.
"The Giants are the only team we have yet to tally a win on this season and we're anxious to change that," said Leung. "We've been playing really good hockey since the start of November. We're looking to continue that play through this next stretch where we play the other teams in the top four in the next four weeks."