The Beaver Valley Nitehawks are back in action with a pair of games on the road this weekend.
Following a 10-day break, the Nitehawks hit the road and travel to Golden for a tilt against the Rockets on Friday night, then head to Invermere for a game against the Columbia Valley Rockies on Saturday.
“We got a weekend off, so we had a few guys go home get a few days off, and they came back hard this week to be prepared for this weekend,” said Nitehawks head coach Terry Jones.
B.V. is coming off an impressive 7-2 victory over the Spokane Braves on Nov. 19. The idle Hawks, however, slipped in the standings after 15-3-0-3 Nelson swept its games on the weekend to pull four points ahead and gain sole possession of first place in the Neil Murdoch Division. The Leafs rolled over the Grand Forks Border Bruins 10-1, and eked out a 4-3 victory over the Chase Heat.
Beaver Valley, at 13-3-1-2, has two games in hand, and will try to keep pace with the Leafs this weekend. The Nitehawks are on a modest three-game winning streak, and hope to extend that streak going into the East Kootenay.
B.V. tied the Rockets 3-3 in an earlier match at home this year, but Golden has struggled this season going 8-10-1-0 and sit in last place in the Eddie Mountain Division standings. The Rockies, meanwhile, are just two points ahead of Golden in fourth place with an 8-7-0-3 record. B.V. beat the Rockies 5-2 in their first meeting at the Hawks Nest on Oct. 11.
Beaver Valley defenceman Brock Wallace was highlighted as one of the three stars in ‘Hot in the KI’ this past week along with 100 Mile House forward Darian Long and Kelowna Chiefs goalie Michael Toole.
Wallace, 19, from Grand Prairie, Alta., earned the league’s third star honour after collecting a goal and three points in the Nitehawks win over Spokane. He helped set up Angus Amadio to make it 2-0, then scored the Nitehawks’ fifth goal and assisted on their final tally in the 7-2 victory over the Neil Murdoch Division rival.
“I feel that I played to the best of my ability for the team’s success,” Wallace said in a release. “It’s good to see our hard work in practice pay off in games.”
In 13 games, Wallace has three goals and 14 points and leads the Nitehawks defence in scoring despite missing six games at the start of the season. The six-foot-five defender is an intimidating presence on the Hawks blueline, and his booming slap shot an unlicensed weapon on the power play.
Jones hopes the more-than-a-week rest energizes the team and helps with the recovery of injured players Marty Ingram, Morgan Peace, and goalie Hunter Young.
“Ingy his wrist is still bothered, and Morgan will possibly be available after the break,” said Jones. “We just have to keep focusing on what we do, and have them (the opponent) react to us, rather than we react to them.”
Trail returns to the Hawks Nest on Nov. 29 with a Friday night match against the Kimberley Dynamiters.