The Legion Br. No. 17 Peewee Tier 2 Chiefs were in action this past weekend in a pair of tiering games against Campbell River and Tri-Port as they get ready for league play at the end of October.
On Saturday against the Campbell River Tyees, the Chiefs showed some signs of rust as they fell 9-3 to the visitors. Assistant coach Don Behan commented, “The game in reality was much closer in terms of scoring chances, but they were able to bury their chances, while we didn’t. We need to be a bit stronger in front of our net to give our goalies a chance.”
The Chiefs welcomed back Levi “The Berlin Wall” Hoffman on defence after suffering a shoulder injury earlier in the season. In a post-game interview, defenseman Brayden Baker made the following observation: “I liked how our goalie, Colton (Zaleschuk) played today, we need to be a bit better in front of him, though.”
In a game filled with penalties, the Chiefs struggled to stay focussed and gave up a number of shorthanded goals. Brayden Baker, Zach Roach (a recent acquisition from the OHL), Liam Cursely, and Jordan Neufeld had strong games for the Chiefs as did Reid “The Hitman” Taylor.
The Chiefs were determined to get off to a better start Sunday and did so on their way to a 9-2 win over Tri-Port. The line of “Steamroller” Toal, “Buzzbomb” Benninger and “Swiss Army” Sutter set the tone early with strong forechecking and contributed with a few early goals. Joe Berry-Parrish, Bryce Behan and Iain Gillard had strong games on defence and managed to keep the puck deep in Tri-Port’s end.
According to assistant coach Shawn Murray, the team had been working on sustaining offensive pressure in practice and was glad to see it pay off on Sunday. “We worked on pinching the D-man on the wall with support this week, and our guys did a nice job of it today.” Brandan LeBrun, Jacob Murray, and the other OHL import, Jakob Gadja, worked well together with Gadja scoring two goals, one as a result of a great feed from LeBrun. Liam Tutte had a strong performance in goal for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs head to Victoria this weekend for a tournament as they continue to prepare for the regular season. Head coach Sean Toal sees this weekend as a great opportunity for bonding and for working on their game.
"These players have been working hard on and off the ice and it will be great for them to work on team chemistry as well as work on putting together a total team effort over the course of the tournament. They are making great progress as a group and this tournament will be great for our growth as a team.”