The Greater Vancouver Canadians are hoping their late season momentum will carry over to the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League playoffs.
The Canadians closed out their schedule by winning 10 of 12 games and will travel to Coquitlam this weekend for a best-of-three quarter-final series against the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs in a match-up of fifth and fourth seeds.
After a tough January stretch, the regional rep team turned its fortunes with an impressive two game sweep of the Chiefs. The Canadians went on to post a 22-15-3 record to finish the same spot in the standings as they did a year ago.
Greater Vancouver swept the Okanagan Rockets then gave eventual champion Vancouver Northwest Giants all they could handle in a heartbreaking semi-final series loss that saw the deciding game determined in overtime. A similar path awaits them.
"We would love another chance to play the Giants but right now our focus is on trying to beat a good Chiefs team," said Canadians head coach Leland Mack. "We have been playing some good hockey down the stretch, to the potential I thought this group was capable of. Hopefully we will continue it."
Greater Vancouver closed out its league schedule last weekend by taking a pair of games from the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds (5-1 and 6-1). Among the goal scorers was Austin Adamson who notched his team-leading 22nd of the season. That's a significant improvement on his eight goal rookie campaign and the 17-year-old Seafair Minor Hockey product has been awarded by signing with the WHL's Saskatoon Blades.
"Austin has worked so hard for this, especially his time off the ice," said Mack. "We took him on a year ago because we thought he would be a good player for us one day. He went to Seattle's camp last summer and now has taken his game to another level where Saskatoon signs him. I'm really glad it's worked out for him."
