MAPLE RIDGE, B.C. – Prior to making the trek across the Fraser River to the Cam Neely Arena on Friday, the Delta Ice Hawks shuffled the deck on their leadership group.
In a social media post, the Hawks revealed that current captain Grady Lenton, the 2005-born forward, had approached the coaching staff during his injury recovery, and offered his Captain’s “C” to teammate and fellow 20-bomb Brandon Petrie. Petrie, notably, is one of only three remaining links to the Hawks’ 2023 Stonehouse Cup championship team, and is the next in a long line of Hawks defenceman to sport the “C”. Tye Hemenway was, of course, the most recent Delta player to captain the squad from the blue-line, ending his tenure in 2025 as he aged out of junior hockey.
Additional changes to the leadership group were announced: as Declan Warburton remains on the injury reserve, his letter goes to Landon Jassmann. Jassmann joins Brogan Kennedy in wearing a full-time “A”. Devun Olfert maintains his “A” when Delta wears their white jerseys, Keeghan Dunn sports the “A” when the team wears grey, and Colin Jang dons the “A” when the Hawks are clad in their gold alternates.
In tonight’s battle, with the Ice Hawks wearing white, the first game of the new-look leadership group sees the following players wearing letters:
- D 7 Brandon Petrie – “C”
- F 71 Brogan Kennedy – “A”
- F 10 Landon Jassmann – “A”
- F 44 Devun Olfert – “A”
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1st Period
Armaan Kaila took to the Delta net, facing down his Flames counterpart Nicholas Muc only 190 feet away. One of the newest Ice Hawks players, veteran PJHL forward Patrick Coopman skated to take the game’s opening faceoff.
A spat of penalties dotted the first period landscape, with Delta defender Ryder Dunn sent off for cross-checking. Ridge Meadows defenceman Jonathan Ruus caught a hooking call, his penalty would soon be off-set by Hawks forward Brogan Kennedy taking a tripping call.
The Flames broke the deadlock as the clock ticked below 4 minutes left in the frame, via Flames forward Joshua Bettesworth’s 20th goal of the campaign.
A cross-checking call against Flames forward Axel Anderson prompted another kick at the can for the Ice Hawks power play, though it would follow the same result as the last.
2nd Period
A lightning-fast goal from Ridge Meadows captain Zack Lagrange boosted his team to a 2-0 lead only 13 seconds into the middle period.
Delta found their answer through Beckett Cross’ 17th goal of the year, assisted by defencemen Ji Hyun Jang and Cohen Smith.
The jubilation of getting onto the scoreboard was tempered by a penalty to Keeghan Dunn, the second Dunn brother to be called for cross-checking at the Cam tonight. In the final seconds of the man-advantage, Flames forward Marco Oliviero cashed in for a special teams goal. Ridge d-man Erik Sollied tallied his second assist of the period on Oliviero’s marker.
More foul trouble for Delta emerged past the halfway point, with Teegan Sara busted for hooking and Ryder Dunn being handed a 10-minute misconduct.
Sollied’s momentum was halted by a cross-checking penalty, spurring another chance at the power play for Delta. Though Sollied was freed from the box by the time, the Hawks made the most of the extra ice and scratched back to within one thanks to Colin Jang nabbing his 16th goal of the season.
With the Hawks trailing 3-2 after 40 minutes, they had their work cut out for them going into the final period.
3rd Period
All the willpower the Hawks could muster eventually proved no match for the determination of the Flames, as Jonah Power-Smith buried the dagger to make it 4-2. Power-Smith’s goal added a third apple to Sollied’s basket, and would stand as the game-winner.
Undeterred, rookie Delta defenceman Cohen Smith scored his second goal of the year, cementing his already-strong game to once again hoist the Hawks back to within a goal of catching the hosts.
Not even half a minute after Smith’s goal, Lagrange was the next Flame to join the 20-goal club, with fellow 20-goal man Bettesworth providing the boost and regaining the two-goal advantage.
Down by two in the dying moments of the contest, Kaila received his summons back to the Ice Hawks bench in favour of the extra attacker. The opportunity for another goal would instead be claimed by the Flames, with Jacob Douglas burying the empty-netter. The defiant Delta Ice Hawks fought to the finish, but could not overcome the Ridge Meadows Flames in a 6-3 loss.
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3 Stars of the Game
- Delta Ice Hawks defenceman Cohen Smith, rattling off a goal and an assist, earned recognition as the game’s 3rd star.
- Ridge Meadows Flames defenceman Erik Sollied assisted on half of his squad’s goals, finishing with a 3-point night and 2nd star honours.
- Ridge Meadows Flames forward and captain Zack Lagrange scored twice, reaching the 20-goal plateau for the 4th consecutive season. Lagrange’s 3rd period back-breaker is his 125th goal (and 275th point) in the PJHL as the two-time Stonehouse Cup champion is four games away from 200 games in the league. He earned 1st star platitudes in the winning effort.
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Notable Notes
- Forward Justin Brar made his PJHL debut for the Flames. The former Fraser Valley Thunderbird played junior hockey for three teams in the United States last season, skating in four NAHL games split between the Chippewa Steel and New Hampshire Mountain Kings, spending most of his time with the Utica Jr. Comets of the NCDC.
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Next Game
The Hawks won’t have long to let this one linger, as they are set to host the Burnaby Steelers tomorrow night (Saturday, January 31st at 7:00 PM) at Sungod Arena.
