The North Island Peewee Eagles came out flying against the Comox Valley Chiefs on Saturday at the Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena in Port Hardy.
From the first whistle and drop of the puck the Eagles worked together as a team and controlled all aspects of the ice, out shooting and out skating the visiting Chiefs in what turned out to be a dominant, one-sided victory.
It took a little bit of time to finally get on the scoreboard, but the Eagles offensive onslaught kicked off with 40 seconds left on the clock in the first period, thanks to a huge shot through traffic from defenceman William Harrison.
The Eagles continued the assault in the second period, with Tanner Livingston converting at 17:44, assisted by Kyle Rushton. Maddox Peterson would find the back of the net at 14:43, and then with three minutes left on the clock Carter Henschke scored twice (both assisted by Rushton) to make it a 5-0 blowout.
The third period featured more of the same.
Yuri Noel converted at 19:43, assisted by Peterson, and then Noel scored again at 18:45, before Livingston capped things off with one last goal at 7:43.
The Chiefs’ Carson Smith would get a bit of revenge by breaking the shutout with 4:15 left on the clock, but that was all she wrote as the game mercifully came to an end with a very lopsided 8-1 final tally.
After the game, assistant coach Kevin Livingston said the coaching staff was pleased with how the game went on Saturday, noting the team “played hard.”
He added that the Eagles have been putting in the necessary effort throughout tiering, but there is still “lots of work ahead of us before the season starts in three weeks.”
All told, the Eagles have posted a solid 2-3 record in preseason tiering, scoring 17 goals for and 19 goals against, with the game against the Chiefs being their most decisive victory so far.
Next up for the North Island Peewee Eagles will be a tournament in Port Alberni over Thanksgiving weekend, where the young athletes will get the chance to show off all the improvements to their skills.
