The Strathcona Toyota Midget Tyees hockey club began their quest for a provincial berth last weekend.
The first game in the North Island Division round robin schedule called for the Comox Valley Chiefs to visit the Brindy on Saturday.
On the first shift of the game Sage Lim took a pass from Seth Parker and ripped a shot past the Comox goaltender. Lukas Lund extended the lead as he found the net twice, assisted by to Owen Boyd on both goals. Jacob Hartley and Tyler Dickson then added goals to give the Tyees a comfortable 5-1 lead at the half.
As the second half got under way, it was clear that the Tyees were too fast and much more skilled than the visiting squad, at least on this night. The home squad poured on the pressure, outworking and out-skating their opponents for the entire game. The Tyees extended their lead with two goals from Braydon Kratzmann, and singles from Boyd and Dickson. The star of the game was clearly Lund as he netted his third and fourth goals in the third period, and the team skated off with a convincing 11-2 win.
On Sunday, the Tyee caravan traveled to Parksville to take on the Oceanside Generals.
Oceanside would take the lead early in the game on a goal mouth scramble, and would then take advantage of the Tyees getting themselves into penalty trouble, batting a puck past Tyees goaltender Dominic Bellefleur on the power play for a 2-0 lead.
Lim then decided that he’d seen enough. While still short-handed, he took off down the wing and with two defenders on his back, snapped a wrist shot top corner to make the score 2-1. Mid-way through the second period, Hartley broke down the wing and fed Kratzmann who then found Dickson streaking to the net to tuck it home to complete the passing play.
The Tyees continued to get drawn into penalty trouble, but managed to stay disciplined enough to score the next three goals.
Lim continued his hot hand and Lund found the back of the net, as well.
The parade to the penalty box continued in the third, but thanks to Bellefleur’s performance in net, the boys were able to kill two 5-on-3 power plays, and survive a late onslaught from the Generals to pull out a 5-4 victory.
“I’m pleased with the kids this weekend, we moved the puck well and competed for the entire game on Saturday. On Sunday we faced a lot of adversity, as we’re missing a few forwards due injury, and the boys fought through and stayed focused on the overall goal,” said head coach Brent Cross after the weekend’s games.
The Tyees are back in action Saturday at 6:15 p.m. at the Brindy, as they host the Nanaimo Clippers.