Giancarlo Nadeau

It’s the season’s fifth meeting between the North Vancouver Wolf Pack and the Delta Ice Hawks tonight at the Harry Jerome Arena. The Wolf Pack and Ice Hawks have played some very entertaining games this season, and the last game of 2023 at Harry Jerome should be another memorable one.

DELTA ICE HAWKS

OVERVIEW

General Manager/Head Coach: Steve Robinson

Assistant Coach: Carson Hemenway

Assistant Coach: Tyler McMinn

Assistant Coach: Dominic Passalacqua-Main

Assistant Coach: Quinten Wideski

Record: 25-5-0-2

Road Record: 10-4-0-2

Last Game: A 7-1 loss in Richmond on Thursday.

Goals For/Goals Against: 163 GF/79 GA (+84)

Power Play: 32/131  (24.43%)

Penalty Kill: 14/112 (87.5%)

Leading Scorers: Colin Jang (31GP – 23G – 28A – 51PTS), Carson Merriman (27GP – 18G – 29A – 47PTS), Payton Hu (24GP – 15G – 25A – 40PTS)

SINKING THE WHALERS

In a seesaw game in Ladner Tuesday night, the Ice Hawks came away with a thrilling win in the last minute to defeat the White Rock Whalers in the final home game of the season. Yuji Akimoto and Mateo Sjoberg scored goals 10 seconds apart to take a 5-4 victory before Jacob Zillich, who stopped 38 of 42 in his third start of the year.

NOTES

• The Ice Hawks are 7-2-0-1 in their past ten games.
• Delta is on a one-game losing streak.
• Delta is 15-1 at home and 10-4-0-2 on the road.
• Both shootout losses have come on the road for Delta.
• The Ice Hawks are operating at 30% on-road power play opportunities compared to 15.69% at home.
• Delta (425) has taken the fewest penalties in the league.
• Delta (81) has allowed the third-fewest goals in the league. They are second in goals scored with 185.
• The Ice Hawks and Knights are the only teams in the PJHL without an overtime victory.

NORTH VANCOUVER WOLF PACK

OVERVIEW

General Manager: Matt Samson

Head Coach: Mike Borrelli

Assistant Coaches: Matt Samson, Elias Godoy, Nathan Haaksma

Leadership Group: JJ Pickell (C), Ryan Hunter (A), Corson Penman (A), Matthew Carniel (A)

Record: 18-10-2-1

Home Record: 11-3-0-1

Last Game: A 5-4 overtime loss in Grandview on Wednesday.

Goals For/Goals Against: 123 GF/111 GA (+12)

Power Play: 28/151 (18.54%) 

Penalty Kill: 35/163 (78.53%)

Leading Scorers: JJ Pickell (31GP – 30G – 25A – 55PTS), Rylan Oatman (30GP – 14G – 37A – 51PTS), Matthew Carniel (30GP – 26G – 20A – 46PTS)

JJ PICKELL HAS 100 GOALS

The Captain is the first player in franchise history to score all 100 goals with the Wolf Pack. Pickell has managed to score 100 goals and collect 84 assists in 119 regular season games. Pickell leads the league with 30 goals in 31 games.

Alex Suprynowicz finished his PJHL career with 101 goals between the Wolf Pack and Ice Hawks. Other notable players include Lucas Barker – 74 (18-20), Dom Davis – 68 (18-20), and Marcus Houck – 65 (09-14).

NOTES

• The Wolf Pack have two power-play goals in their last eight opportunities.
• North Vancouver has given up four power-play goals on their last nine penalties.
• Matthew Carniel is on a 16-game point streak. In that span, he has 18 goals and 11 assists.
• The Wolf Pack and Trailblazers have played the fewest games in the PJHL (31).
• JJ Pickell (31-30-25-55) has a four-point lead for first in the PJHL with points. He sits first in goals (30), three goals ahead of Theo Kochan (27) in second place.
• Rylan Oatman (30-14-37-51) leads the PJHL in assists with 37, which is two assists ahead of Jakob Loewen, who has 35. He also leads all rookies in points.
• Jason Scott leads the league with 109 penalty minutes.
• Matthew Carniel (30-26-20-46) leads the PJHL with eleven power-play goals.
• Corson Penman (26-11-13-24) is first in the PJHL with three short-handed goals.
• North Vancouver has gone 4-3-2-1 in their past ten games.

 GAME NOTES

• Delta was 3-0-0-0 against North Vancouver last season.
• The Wolf Pack have a record of 11-7-1-0 against the Ice Hawks in the past five seasons.
• Tonight marks the fifth meeting of the season between these two teams.
• Both the Wolf Pack and Ice Hawks have two wins against each other this year.
• Twenty-six goals have been scored in the first four meetings this season. North Vancouver is outsourcing the Ice Hawks 14-12.

WHAT’S NEXT?

NV: will play Port Moody on Thursday at 10:00 am at Minoru Arena.

DEL: will play Port Coquitlam on Thursday at 1:00 at Minoru Arena.