Greater Vancouver Canadians will be looking to pick up right where they left off in the regular season when they host the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds this weekend in a best-of-three B.C. Major Midget Hockey League quarter-final series at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
In a battle of the league’s fourth and fifth place teams, the Canadians earned home ice advantage by sweeping the Thunderbirds to close out their league schedule two weeks ago with 7-4 and 4-3 victories.
Greater Vancouver will continue to lean on a potent attack, led by captain Scott Atkinson and impressive rookie Sasha Mutala.
Atkinson, a prospect with the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings, led the league with 38 goals in 36 games — seven more than his nearest rival. He also established himself as the club’s all-time leading scorer, finishing with 66 points and just missed out on league scoring honours.
The 15-year-old Mutala, who was taken sixth overall by the Tri-City Americans in last spring’s WHL Bantam Draft, was fifth in BCMMHL scoring with 63 points, including 20 goals.
Medicine Hat Tigers second-round pick Henry Rybinksi also enjoyed a solid campaign with 46 points.
Game one of the series is Saturday at noon and game two goes Sunday at 5 p.m. If necessary, a third and deciding game would be played Monday at 5 p.m.
