DELTA, B.C. – At risk of falling into an insurmountable hole, the Delta Ice Hawks put everything on the line on Tuesday night, storming to a 9-1 victory over the Port Coquitlam Trailblazers in Game 4 of their Stonehouse Cup Playoff series. The high-octane win hoisted them out of a 2-1 series deficit, truncating the balance of the series into a best-of-3 showdown to advance to the Tom Shaw Conference Finals. Recent history has favoured the home side, though neither team can be accused of being slouches on the road. Buckle up, and get your popcorn ready: this is can’t-miss hockey at its finest.
~~~
PLAYERS TO WATCH
• Port Coquitlam Trailblazers goaltender Keiran Caughran has been a foundational piece of the puzzle for his team, starting six consecutive games in his club’s first playoff berth. He and his comrades contained the North Vancouver Wolf Pack in the Survivor Series play-in round, and he provided a steady presence in the first three games of the series against Delta. Caughran was pulled from Tuesday’s Game 4 after allowing five goals, though he is expected to return to the starter’s role for Game 5 on Thursday night. How he will respond to this spat of adversity is sure to be the topic on everyone’s mind
• Delta Ice Hawks forward Evan Fedele has yet to collect his first point of the playoffs, though one could imminently sense a post-season awakening for the graduating 2004-born forward. The junior hockey veteran from Coquitlam totalled 52 points (17 goals, 35 assists) in 49 regular season contests between the Port Moody Panthers and Delta Ice Hawks, matching his exact point total from his 2023-24 campaign with the Ridge Meadows Flames. Fedele at 6’5″ combines size and skill better than most, and looks poised to be the next breakout performer for the birds of prey.
~~~
FIRST PERIOD
At one end of the ice, Port Coquitlam Trailblazers goaltender Keiran Caughran returned to the crease after being pulled from the previous contest. At the other, the series’ incumbent winning netminder Merik Erickson skated into position. Undeterred by the later-than-typical start time of 9:00 PM, the Delta Ice Hawks and Port Coquitlam Trailblazers hit the ice raring to go and ready to burn the midnight oil. Mateo Sjoberg was so eager to get the ball rolling that he scored the game’s opening goal in only 41 seconds, assisted by linemates and fellow starters Danylo Bereza and Grady Lenton.
The Hawks set to work immediately to shore up the lead, shooting on Caughran in bunches. Trailblazers forward Derek Leroux collided knee-on-knee with Hawks forward Louie Sim near the Poco blue line, and the ensuing kneeing minor to Leroux introduced the first power play chance of the game. As the Trailblazers cleared the zone, Tye Hemenway picked up the puck and dished it to a smooth-skating Lenton who carried it across the centre ice logo, toe-dragged around a defender and buried the puck in close to double the Hawks’ lead. Lenton wrote his verse of a classic hockey poem: forehand, backhand, post and in.
Delta blueliner Nick Goyer, fresh off an exemplary performance in Game 4, wheeled the puck back from the blue line and re-entered the zone with a head of steam and challenged Caughran immediately, but was denied by a well-placed pad save.
Hawks forward Marcus Bromhead was sent to the box for interference on Trailblazer Ryan Caughlan, giving Poco their first opportunity with a man-advantage. Erickson was at his busiest, with Port Coquitlam controlling the zone for most of the power play.
With Bromhead back on the ice, the purple-and-gold jerseys pressed hard to gain and maintain the zone, with short spurts of activity in the neutral zone and back in the Trailblazers’ zone. Hemenway sent a shot that glanced off the shoulder of Port Coquitlam forward Cam Trolland and went out of play. Delta staged a late breakout from the zone, as the buzzer sounded on the first period with the home team Hawks up 2-0.
SECOND PERIOD
The middle frame began with a healthy dose of back-and-forth play, with Hawks affiliate forward Alexander Laing coming remarkably close to scoring, testing Caughran early on. Trailblazers defenceman Tait Humphries took a slashing penalty, his first of three eventual infractions in the middle frame, and put his team down a man against an awakening Ice Hawks power play. Delta appeared to convert on the power play, as forward Evan Fedele picked up on Goyer’s rebound and took a shot in close from his knees, but the goal was instantly and emphatically waved off by the officials for coming off a high stick.
Hawks forward Brogan Kennedy was busted for slashing behind the play, bringing the Poco power play out once more. Delta was effective on the penalty kill, with captain Hemenway on the ice for nearly all of the penalty. Fedele, storming down the track, cut across and looked for his shot but was clipped on the way by Matthew Biros, sending the 6’5″ Fedele’s stick soaring into the air.
Later on, Laing was the first to collect a rebound off of Erickson, fighting off a forechecking Trailblazer to boost the puck up the wall to Lucas Jakubec. Jakubec entered the attacking zone with numbers, side by side with Colin Jang. Jakubec dropped the puck back to Hemenway, who sniped the puck top-corner on Caughran to make it 3-0 for the Ice Hawks.
Swiftly thereafter, Poco affiliate forward Milin Aujla sent the puck across his own zone, only to watch his pass picked off by Bereza who proceeded to wind his way through hostile territory and find Lenton with a backdoor pass to pull Caughran out of position and send the goalie spinning.
Humphries returned to the sin bin, this time for roughing as he seemed to jump into Lenton late after the latter wired off a saucer pass. Delta’s Beckett Cross attempted to exit the zone to get back onside, colliding with Port Coquitlam’s Branden Pollock in the process and sitting for interference as a result. Two faceoffs into the power play, Trailblazers captain Markus Jack won the draw to his winger Charlie Gardiner, quickly sending it back to defender Braeden Wynne to unleash a long-distance shot on Erickson, deflected in by Jack.
Who else but Humphries, as the pesky Poco defender antagonized Lenton once again with an offensive-zone slash. Lucas Baxter shuffled the puck off to Biros, pressing Erickson to make a seismic short-handed save to keep the ‘Blazers in check. Ultimately, the Hawks finished the second period the same way they completed the first: setting up camp in the attacking zone; and though they did not come away with another goal, they made off with a 4-1 lead.
THIRD PERIOD
Riding into a consequential third period, Erickson and Caughran were both called upon to make saves on all sorts of situations, including a breakaway chance for Fedele. Biros slashed Sjoberg near the wall, giving Delta another look on the power play. Poco turned the puck over to Lenton, who immediate flipped on the turbo boost as he stormed in towards Caughran. Lenton’s attempt to bank the puck off the sprawling goaltender went through the crease and onto the stick of Bereza, who made no mistake as Delta’s power play clicked once again.
Biros was caught slashing again, this time on Laing, and more Trailblazers were sent to the dressing room with Brady Reed, Pollock, and Logan Meyer all earning 10-minute misconducts. A penalty to Delta’s affiliate Aaron Zulinick for tripping nullified the Hawks’ man-advantage, but Baxter’s roughing minor on Sjoberg moments later brought Delta back up a man.
Penalties were very much in vogue by this point of the match. Tensions boiled over as Aujla and Jang squabbled up. Aujla was dispatched initially for slashing (served by Fletcher Lucas) alongside a 10-minute misconduct, while the slashed Jang was given a 10-minute misconduct of his own.
Zulinick made a return trip to the penalty box for cross-checking with 1:40 remaining on the clock, well after all the prior penalties had expired. The Trailblazers opted to get under the nails of their opponents, but even with Jack and his cohorts looking to save some face and cut into the four-goal deficit, Erickson and the Delta Ice Hawks would prove victorious.
In the words of legendary frontman of The Doors, Jim Morrison, “five to one, baby.” The Delta Ice Hawks push the Port Coquitlam Trailblazers towards the brink in the Tom Shaw Conference Semifinals, now only one win away from the Conference Finals.
~~~
NOTABLE NOTES
• A pair of affiliates suited up for the Hawks, with defender Aaron Zulinick (#5) subbing in for fellow right-handed d-man Dylan Stafford and forward Alexander Laing (#27) in to cover Declan Warburton’s usual spot.
• Likewise, the Trailblazers added two affiliates to their lineup, with forward Milin Aujla (#68) making his playoff debut and Shay McVicker (#35) riding the pine as backup goaltender.
• Elsewhere in the Tom Shaw Conference Semifinals, the Richmond Sockeyes were victors of their own Game 5. The Hawks’ most notable rivals defeated the White Rock Whalers by a margin of 4-1, pulling ahead in their series three games to two. Not to editorialize too much in a review article, but imagine if the Tunnel Series were to continue into the post-season…
~~~
THREE STARS
• Delta Ice Hawks defenceman and captain Tye Hemenway assisted on Grady Lenton’s first period power-play tally and added a goal of his own for insurance in the second period, earning third-star honours.
• Delta Ice Hawks forward and alternate captain Grady Lenton was omnipresent, pitching in on all but one Ice Hawks goal. His first period power play marker stood as the game-winner, and Lenton concluded the night as the second-star.
• Delta Ice Hawks forward Danylo Bereza was a crucial contributor all night long, assisting on goals for his linemates Mateo Sjoberg and Grady Lenton in the first and second periods respectively, before adding a coffin-nail of a power play goal in the third to secure first-star accolades.
Though Delta swept the three stars, worthy of recognition was Port Coquitlam Trailblazers forward and captain Markus Jack. Captain Jack had his club’s lone goal, his eighth of the post-season, and disrupted the Ice Hawks’ hopes for a shutout.
~~~
STONEHOUSE CUP PLAYOFF SERIES SCHEDULE
• Game 1 @ Delta: 7-3 W, DEL leads 1-0
• Game 2 @ Port Coquitlam: 7-4 L, series tied 1-1
• Game 3 @ Port Coquitlam: 4-2 L, PC leads 2-1
• Game 4 @ Delta: 9-1 W, series tied 2-2
• Game 5 @ Delta: 5-1 W, DEL leads 3-2
• Game 6 @ Port Coquitlam: Sunday, March 2nd, 7:00 PM @ Jon Baillie Arena
• Game 7: @ Delta: Tuesday, March 4th, 7:35 PM @ Ladner Leisure Centre *
*=If necessary
~~~
