Consecutive weekends playing against the two weakest teams in the BC Hockey Major Midget League was expected give the Valley West Hawks a boost in the standings.
But one win and three ties in those four games left the Hawks in sixth place in the 11-team league, but while still headed for a playoff position, they lost an opportunity to gain ground in the race for home-ice advantage in the postseason.
After a win and a tie on the road against a Kootenay Ice team that had won just two of 20 games in the first half of the season, Valley West played to a pair of draws at home to the Thompson Blazers, losers of 19 games.
The two teams played to a 3-3 tie Saturday night in the South Surrey Arena, then drew 4-4 Sunday morning at the Surrey Sports and Leisure Centre in Fleetwood.
The teams traded goals in Saturday’s game, with the Blazers taking one-goal leads in each of the first two periods, and Valley West tying the score on tallies by Darien Craighead and Jake Fletcher.
Jakob Stukel of Cloverdale put the Hawks in front for the first time early in the third period, but Thompson earned their first tie of the season with a goal with 87 seconds to play.
Sunday morning in Fleetwood, the Blazers used three power play goals to earn another draw.
Rhett Wilcox of Surrey netted the first Hawks goal, which left the teams tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
The Blazers took a 3-1 lead midway through the game, but Addison Bazian got one back for the home team before the second intermission. Wilcox and Ian Bennett scored for the Hawks early in the third period, giving Valley West a 4-3 lead.
The Blazers got the tying goal with six minutes to play, earning themselves their first undefeated weekend of the season.
The Hawks are in Kelowna next weekend for two games against the third-place Okanagan Rockets.