The Mission City Outlaws have proven to be regular season kryptonite to the Richmond Sockeyes.
The Pacific Junior Hockey League club has lost just eight times in 37 games and the fifth place Outlaws (17-17-1-2) are responsible for three of them. Mission City made it three wins in four tries against Richmond with a 5-1 win on Saturday night in the Fraser Valley.
After falling 3-2 to the Outlaws just over two weeks earlier at Minoru Arenas, the Sockeyes’ high-powered offence was once again shutdown, thanks to the 26 save performance from Jeff Veitch and the hot stick of Bryce Pisiak.
The game was tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes when Pisiak took over, recording a natural hat trick by the midway mark of the third period. The 19-year-old now has 36 goals on the season, two less than the Sockeyes Troy Kaczynski who also leads the league in points with 69.
Brodie Crawford had the lone Richmond goal, while Kurt Russell mad 21 saves.
Two nights earlier, the Sockeyes rolled to a 5-1 win over the Aldergrove Kodiaks in a rematch of last year’s league championship series.
Homegrown product Jacob Wozney led the way with a pair of goals. Matt Bissett, Kyle Dion and Kaczynski also scored. Russell made 27 saves.
Richmond (27-8-0-2) enters this weeks play four points back of the North Vancouver Wolf Pack in the Tom Shaw Conference. With all four playoff spots now determined in the division, only the opening round match-ups need to be decided with the Grandview Steelers currently six points ahead of the Delta Ice Hawks in the battle for third.
Delta will be the Sockeyes next opponent on Thursday at Minoru (7 p.m.).
Icing…
An important part of the Sockeyes’ season takes place Saturday when the club hosts its 13th annual Alumni Game. The event not only celebrates the team’s rich history in the city, dating back to the early 1970s, but serves as a fund raiser for a highly successful scholarship program to enhance educational opportunities for current players. Game time is 5:45 p.m. at Minoru.
The Sockeyes alumni team’s line-up will include: goalie — Aaron Oakley; defensemen — Rajan Sidhu, Chris Gilfillan, Scott Wessa, Adam Nishi, Dominic Centis, Matt Wagner, Kevin Kimura, Keenan Webb; forwards Rudi Thorsteinson, Jake Roder, Jeremy Hamaguchi, Trevor Hamaguchi, Sam Chichak, Sean Thorsteinson, Ryan Johnson, Patrick Hunter, Kyzen Loo, Stephen Campbell, Darryl Fowler, Kyle Nishi. Coaches — Doug Paterson, Maurice Lambert, Don Taylor. Trainers — Anson Barrows, Dale Isley.
