The Delta Ice Hawks have done a little “home cooking” of their own to strengthen their roster and they didn’t have to wait long to reap the benefits.
Two weeks ago, the Hawks dropped a 7-2 home ice decision to the Richmond Sockeyes with a trio of players from Delta combining for six points to lead the visitors. The rematch 10 days later at Minoru Arenas saw the Ice Hawks skate to a 4-2 triumph with new additions leading the way.
Ladner’s Braedy Eurerby got his second straight win in net after making his Ice Hawks’ debut two nights earlier in a 4-3 overtime triumph against Aldergrove. He made it three-in-a-row in Sunday night's 7-6 win over the Grandview Steelers at the Burnaby Winter Club.
The Vancouver Giants’ prospect was Sockeyes’ property but requested a trade to his hometown team. The deal was finalized last week after Delta acquired goaltender Eric Clark from North Vancouver and immediately sent his playing rights to their cross-river rivals.
Hawks GM and head coach Steve Robinson also got an early Christmas present when d-man Carson Hemenway asked if he could sign with the team. The 19-year-old from Ladner has spent the last couple of seasons in the B.C. Hockey League and was back home waiting for a possible trade.
Hemenway scored against Richmond while Nick Kovacs was also among the marksmen in his debut. The 18-year-old North Delta blueliner comes from the Delta Hockey Academy.
Robinson says the club could be adding as many as four more players in the next couple of weeks as he patiently waits for BCHL teams to finalize their rosters. It’s a reflection of a league that starts regular season play way ahead of higher tiers of junior hockey.
“We were giving a lot of young guys the start because we knew we had the BCHL cuts (coming), so we had three weeks that were kind of auditions to see if they could stay in the mix,” explained Robinson. “It’s the dirty part of the business, but it’s just the way it is. We found all those kids (new) homes which is really important to me.
“It’s a bit of a musical chairs in the room, but I did prepare lot of the guys that this probably would happen over the first couple of weeks. It’s good new energy on the one hand, but I know it makes the guys a little jittery (about their roster spots). I kind of wanted to push it all into a two-week period. Hopefully another week we will be at 90 percent (finalized) and then we can start building chemistry. Literally, we have had a different group every game but we are getting a lot better on paper now.”
Captain Alec Scouras led the way against Richmond with a goal and three assists. Dalton MacGillvray also scored and added a goal and a helper against Grandview. Kyle Robinson also enjoyed a two-point night including his first goal of the season.
Delta takes a 5-3-0 record into Tuesday’s home date against Port Moody at 7:35 p.m. at the Ladner Leisure Centre.
