HL - Major Atom - A4, 2015-2016, HL-U11 (West London Minor Hockey)

The Hawks met up with the formidable Bandits B4 in the semifinals, and despite an outstanding team effort from the Hawks, some goal-scoring heroics from Theo Enns, and player of the game Brendan Walsh standing on his head in the net, the Bandits proved a little too much for the Hawks to handle defensively. The Hawks held a 3-1 lead with six minutes left, but allowed the Bandits to score three unanswered goals as the Bandits, led by an outstanding defenceman who is likely the league's MVP, poured it on.

The West London Hawks A4 had a statement game tonight, winning 6-2 over a Bandits team that had embarrassed them 11-7 the last time they met. It was a great team effort, personified by player of the game Cody Michiels, whose strong two-way play on the blue line was rewarded on the score sheet with three assists. More importantly still, Michiels broke up several rushes and moved the puck out of his zone with authority to help stave off the Bandits' attack.

In the absence of Coach Geoff Read, away for work (and maybe a little fun) in Nashville, the Hawks put together back-to-back wins to put themselves in the driver's seat in the playoffs. With the two victories, against West D4 and Bandits D4 respectively, the Hawks put their playoff record at 2-1-2 and can almost certainly clinch a spot in the final four on Easter weekend with a victory in their final round robin game.

The Hawks faced a stiff challenge this weekend, facing the second-place West C4 and first-place Bandits B4 in back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday, and they did so short-handed, missing defensive stalwarts Cody Michiels (vacation) and Josh McCarvell (flu-like symptons) for both games and physical D-man Brendan Walsh (monster truck rally... yes, really) for the first contest. Although the results weren't quite what they'd hoped for, the Hawks showed they can skate with the league's top teams, dropping a tough 6-5 decision to West C4 and following that up with a gritty 6-6 tie against the ...

With two members of the coaching staff, including your intrepid correspondent, away on a scouting expedition to northern Vermont, the Hawks earned a 3-3 tie on the weekend against their fellow West London Hawks B4. B4 was missing its usual goalie Miigizens Kicknosway but C4 goalie Zach Allen more than ably filled in holding B4 in a game where our Hawks carried much of the play.