Tonight at 7:35 p.m. the North Vancouver Wolf Pack take on the Delta Ice Hawks at the Ladner Leisure Centre for the sixth and final regular season meeting of the season between these two teams.
Delta Ice Hawks
OVERVIEW
Record: 24-9-1-3
Home Record: 11-3-1-2
Last Game: A 7-5 loss on Sunday night in Grandview.
Goals For/Goals Against: 183 GF/140 GA (+43)
Power Play: 46/167 (27.54%)
Penalty Kill: 46/151 (69.54%)
Leading Scorers: Dalton MacGillivray (32GP – 29G – 37A – 66PTS), Alec Scouras (33GP – 18G – 45A – 63PTS), Carson Hemenway (29GP – 19G – 28A –
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Not much separates Carson and Conner Merriman. The two forwards who are both from Surrey and who both have the same birthdays are third and fourth on their team in scoring. Carson, a left-hand forward, has 16 goals and 25 assists for 41 points in 32 games. Conner, a right-hand forward, has 15 goals and 19 assists which is good for 34 points in 31 games. Conner has two goals and two assists while Carson has three assists against the Wolf Pack so far. These two players hope to finish their season on a high note against North Van.
HAWK EYES
The Delta Ice Hawks will be hosting the Cyclone Taylor Cup this Spring and made trades and acquired players to bolster and upgrade their roster. The Ice Hawks currently sit in second place in the Tom Shaw Conference and third overall in the PJHL. The team also has two of its players, Dalton MacGillivray (29G-37A-66P) and Alec Scouras (18G-46A-64P), on the top ten list for most points amongst all players in the league. Tonight’s game against the Wolf Pack will be a tough test for the Ice Hawks, but a great way of showing where the team is at as they approach the end of the season. Delta will play six more games after tonight and hope to finish the season on the right wing. The Hawks have their eyes on one thing and that is the Cyclone Taylor Cup.
NORTH VANCOUVER WOLF PACK
OVERVIEW
Head Coach: Matt Samson
Record: 29-7-3-1
Road Record: 16-4-0-0
Last Game: A 3-1 win on January 24 in White Rock.
Goals For/Goals Against: 159 GF/99 GA (+60)
Power Play: 37/169 (21.89%)
Penalty Kill: 19/152 (87.5%)
Leading Scorers: David Coyle (39GP – 27G – 27A – 54PTS), JJ Pickell (40GP – 27G – 26A – 53PTS), Ryan Hunter (40GP – 14G – 31A – 45PTS)
WOULD YOU LIKE A ‘PICK’LE WITH THAT?
2003-born forward and alternate Captain JJ Pickell celebrated his 19th Birthday last week, but has also had many more things to celebrate this season too. The product of North Vancouver, BC heads into the weekend with 53 points (27G, 26A) good for second on his team and seventh in points in the PJHL. 9 of those 53 points have come against the Delta Ice Hawks in a span of five games. Pickell is also one of three Wolf Pack players affiliated to a BCHL team as he suited up with the Coquitlam Express earlier this season.
THE HOWL GETS LOUDER
The North Vancouver Wolf Pack have plans of finishing first in the league so that they can have home ice advantage when the playoffs begin and so far everything is working out in the Pack’s favor. With a record of 29-7-3-1 the Wolf Pack have 62 points in 40 games and that places the team in first place in the PJHL. The Wolf Pack have played at least three more games than any other team in the league and only the Langley Trappers have a better winning percentage than the Pack at 0.797%. Those teams will battle one another on Saturday night at Harry Jerome.
FINAL WORDS
The Pack have taken three of the five games that have already taken place against Delta. North Van beat Delta 6-1 on September 21, 5-4 in overtime back on the 24th of November, and 5-4 in regulation on December 11. Delta has two wins of their own against North Van as they beat the Pack 3-2 on December 4 and 6-3 on January 1 at the PJHL Winter Showcase in Richmond. The sixth and final meeting of the season takes place tonight. The Wolf Pack have a record of 12-7-1-0 against the Ice Hawks over the past five seasons.
