After getting the rare opportunity to score a goal on his head coach, Jeremy Hamaguchi will turn his attention back to opposing goaltenders and perhaps even winning the Pacific International Junior Hockey League scoring title.
The 19-year-old Seafair Minor Hockey product put a puck past Judd Lambert as the current edition dropped a 7-6 decision to past stars in the Richmond Sockeyes' 10th annual Alumni Game on Saturday night at Minoru Arena.
Finding the back of the net is nothing new to Hamaguchi who is poised to take over the PIJHL scoring race from the Delta Ice Hawks Spencer Traher who is on the shelf with an injury for at least the next week.
He will enter Thursday's home game against the Abbotsford Pilots (7: 30 p.m.) just want one point back thanks to a league best 26 goals, to go along with 32 assists, in 37 games. The third-year forward is already 16 points better than his total last season and he played a large part in picking up the scoring slack when Rudi Thorsteinson, Justin Rai and Kyzen Loo were sidelined with injuries for an extended period.
Hamaguchi crept within a point of Traher after registering a pair of assists in his team's 5-1 home ice win over the Ridge Meadows Flames last Thursday. Loo had a pair of goals, while singles went to Dominic Centis, Sam Chichak and Carter Popoff.
Icing.... Saturday's Alumni Game marked the third consecutive year the contest ended by a 7-6 score. Steve Howitt notched the game winner for the Alumni while defenceman Brad Swanson was named the team's Game MVP.
Rookie Dean Allison's two goals and one assist earned him the same honour for the current edition.
