The Beaver Valley Nitehawks had their second last look at some young players as they succumbed to the Nelson Leafs 3-0 in KIJHL exhibition play at the Beaver Valley Arena on Sunday.
In an effort to identify the two 16-year-old players the Nitehawks will sign for the upcoming season, the team dressed a raft of rookies for its final home tilt against the Leafs. With just three veterans in the lineup, the rookie laden squad fared well against a Nelson team that will likely be their stiffest competition once the season gets underway on Friday.
The Nitehawks exhibition season has seen both good and bad results beginning with a 6-1 victory over the Creston ThunderCats last Sunday, followed by an 8-2 drubbing at the hands of Nelson Tuesday. However, after a 6-4 setback to Creston the next night, the Hawks bounced back with a pair of wins over Castlegar Friday, 4-2, and Saturday, 5-1.
The Nitehawks close out their preseason matchups against the Grand Forks Border Bruins in Grand Forks on Tuesday. They travel to Spokane for their first regular season game against the Braves Friday. The Nitehawks first home game goes Sept. 20 against the Bruins at 7:30 p.m. followed by a game versus the Summerland Steam on Sept. 21.
See the Tuesday edition of the Trail Times for more on the Nitehawks.