Mar 08, 2016 | GeoffRead | 778 views
Hawks Put Themselves in the Driver's Seat
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.
In the first game, against ex-Hawks Matt Hodgins and Zach Martin and their teammates on D4. The Hawks' defence pairings of Cody Michiels and Josh McCarvell and Pyper Baker and Noah Weber, played an outstanding game, holding the D4 snipers almost entirely off the score sheet as the Hawks triumphed 5-1. Reflecting that strong effort from the D, Pyper Baker took player of the game honours with her usual consistent strong two-way play. On the score sheet Theo Enns continued to lead the way with a hat trick and an assist and Owen Worby chipped in with two goals. Michiels and Trevor Commanda also contributed two assists each and McCarvell likewise picked up a helper. Matt Di Cicco missed the game due to illness, but the other forwards, Owen Verberne, Jacob Bamford, Zach Read, and Callum Knapp, contributed strongly to the victory by working hard on both the forecheck and the backcheck. Tenacity is what makes the Hawks a tough team to play against. In goal, Brendan Walsh had lots of help from his D, but also shone, especially in the third period when D4 surged in an attempt to mount a comeback and Walsh slammed the door shut.
In the second game, a nail-biter with the Hawks prevailing 3-2 over the Bandits D4, Enns did all the scoring potting a second consecutive hat trick. Bamford, Worby, and Weber all earned assists on Enns' goals. Verberne also got his name on the scoresheet with a two-minute penalty for hooking, which the Hawks successfully killed off. Walsh once again held the fort and the Hawks turned in a strong hard-working game at both ends of the ice to earn the victory. Unfortunately, Di Cicco missed a glorious chance to get his third goal of the season when he fanned on a cross-ice feed giving him an open net to shoot on. The player of the game was McCarvell who absolutely dominated play at the opposition blue line holding the puck in and pinching like Bobby Orr. McCarvell, like the other defensemen, seems to be benefiting from the Hawks' focus in practice on defending against the rush as he has mastered the art of backing up when necessary and coming up hard on the puck carrier when the opportunity to strip the puck presents itself.
On the whole, it was another weekend of great Hawks hockey and the Hawks can secure a spot in the final four with another strong game in the round robin's final weekend in roughly 10 days (the Hawks have the coming weekend off).