After five days in Calgary at the Mac’s tournament, the Valley West Hawks will resume play in the BC Hockey Major Midget League next weekend.
The Hawks will face-off against the Vancouver Canadians, playing at 4:45 p.m. at the Richmond Oval Saturday and 11:45 a.m. Sunday at the Langley Events Centre.
Valley West, comprised of 15-17 year-old players from the Surrey, Semiahmoo, Cloverdale and Langley minor hockey associations, is in third place in the provincial elite league with a 17-8-1 (won-lost-tied) record, eight points up on the 13-12-1 Canadians.
The Hawks were winless in four games at the Mac’s competition, which featured the top Midget AAA teams from across Western Canada among the 25 teams competing.
Valley West began the tournament with a 5-1 loss to the South Side Athletic Club of Edmonton, with Luke Gingras of Langley netting the Hawks goal.
A day later, the Hawks played the Alaska Junior Aces to a 4-4 tie. Alaska had built a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes, with Trevor Ayre of Surrey scoring for the Hawks. Valley West came back in the third period with three unanswered goals, all of which were assisted by Surrey’s Matt Bradley.
Jordan Funk of Cloverdale began the rally with a pair, then Surrey defenceman Paul Savage scored the tying goal with 1:16 to play.
In the third game again the Prince Albert Mintos, the Hawks erased one two-goal deficit but couldn’t do it a second time. Shakeel Ebrahim of Surrey and Funk tallied to pull Valley West even at 2-2 by the midway point of the game before the Mintos netted two goals in less than two minutes to regain a two-goal lead. Surrey’s Mitch Newsome late in the second period and Funk with his second of the game with two minutes to play also scored for the Hawks, each goal pulling the B.C. team to within one. Prince Albert clinched the game with a shorthanded, empty-net goal with 25 seconds remaining.
A 6-2 loss to the Calgary Royals completed the tournament for the Hawks. Bradley opened the scoring then assisted on a goal by Funk which game Valley West a 2-0 lead in the first period. Davis Koch of White Rock assisted on both goals.
Bradley finished as the leading scorer for the Hawks with a goal and six assists. Funk was the top scorer, netting five to go with one assist.