A spectacular performance in net and an offensive explosion has the surging Greater Vancouver Canadians closing in on third place in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League.
The Canadians came off the holiday break with a big series sweep of the Valley West Hawks last weekend. The regional rep team squeezed out a 2-1 win at the Richmond Olympic Oval, then rolled to an 8-2 romp in Langley. Greater Vancouver (15-12-1) has now won nine of its last 11 games to move within four points of the third place Hawks.
The difference in the series opener was goaltender Tyler Shugrue. The 15-yearold Vancouver Giants prospect turned aside 39 shots as his team rallied for the victory. Sean Gillespie tied the game at 1-1 in the early stages of the third period, then set-up Josh Murphy with 7:30 remaining.
The rematch provided far less drama as Greater Vancouver rode the hot stick of Dante Hannoun to a decisive win. The first round pick of the Victoria Royals in last spring's WHL Bantam Draft had three goals and two assists as the Canadians jumped out to a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes and never looked back. The productive outing moved Hannoun to fifth overall in league scoring with 43 points, including 18 goals.
Kyle Uy, Braeden Gurney, Gunnar Wegleitner, Owen Seidel and Cameron Ginnetti each added a goal and an assist.
Icing... Shugrue, Hannoun, defenceman Scott Munro and forward Alex Whitwham will be representing the Canadians in tonight's league all-star game in Langley. The showcase weekend also includes a pair of regular season games against the South Island Royals, including a Sunday morning (10 .a.m.) tilt at the Olympic Oval.
