A little bit of help and two victories over the last-place team has the Valley West Hawks on the verge of clinching a B.C. Hockey Major Midget League playoff position.
The Hawks were in Castlegar last weekend defeating the Kootenay Ice 5-2 and 4-2 in a pair of games. The four points, combined with the North Island Silvertips and Fraser Valley Bruins splitting their series in Nanaimo, has the Hawks tied with the Bruins for sixth place, one point up on North Island.
Valley West, now with an 18-17-3 (won-lost-tied) record would win a tiebreaker with Fraser Valley, as they have more wins in league play. The Hawks close out the season this weekend, hosting the 3-28-7 South Island Thunderbirds Saturday and Sunday at the Langley Sportsplex.
Two wins would clinch sixth place and a playoff position for Valley West.
Daniell Lange and Danton Heinen of Langley, and Surrey’s Mitchell Friesen each had a goal and two assists in Saturday wins. Ram Brar of Surrey netted a pair of goals, and defenceman Austin Bietenbeck of Langley collected three assists.
The two teams were tied 1-1 after the first period, but the Hawks led 3-1 after 40 minute and were up 5-1 before the Ice tallied their second goal with three minutes to play.
It was a closer game Sunday, with the score tied 1-1 and 2-2 at the period breaks. Heinen scored the winner five minutes into the third period, and notched an insurance goal with 10 minutes to play. Friesen and Langley defenceman Justin Klimek also scored.