Hawks ride early surge to third victory at Centennial Cup

A half-hour delay due to ice issues at the Max Bell Centre in Calgary didn’t deter the Hawks, as they picked up where they left off from Monday’s three-goal third period, fuelling a four-goal first period to a 6-2 win over the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

The Storm, runners-up to the host Calgary Canucks in the AJHL final, put the Hawks behind the eight-ball in the early stages.

Will Harris tucked home a backhand shot from a sharp angle off to the left of the Trenton net to open Grande Prairie’s account at 4:40, but things quickly took a turn in favour of the locals.

Cooper Matthews found an answer through good hand-eye coordination, batting a floating puck off a stopped Kyloe Ellis shot into the net behind Storm goalie Nicholas Jones.

Corbin Roach added another assist at 6:47 to move to a team-leading six points on the tournament.

The goals kept coming, with Fournier striking again on the powerplay to raise the lead to 4-1, picking up his fourth goal in two games.

Ryan Sanborn made his third start of the tournament perhaps his best, making several dynamic saves to hold Trenton in front in the second.

The Storm did find a way past him through Brandon De Haas, but Thomas Kuipers scored on a powerplay advantage in the final minute to restore the three-goal spread.

Devin Mauro added one more notch in the third period to cap off a three-point evening, seal the win and move Trenton to a 3-1 record in the round robin.

Taeo Artichuk added three helpers, along with two from Roach and Kyloe Ellis and one each from Matthews and Aaron Brown.

Following the win, Ellis said he has been impressed with the progression his team has made the last two games, particularly Tuesday’s ‘full 60-minute effort’ after a tough defeat Friday against Kam River.

The Brantford, Ont. native heaped praise on Fournier and Sanborn, who received Player of the Game honours for his 32-save performance on Tuesday.

“It’s awesome to see (Fournier) get his goalscoring touch back. He obviously had over 40 this year, struggled a little bit during the playoffs, but it’s nice to see him be able to get it back,” he said.

As for Sanborn, Ellis credited his goaltender for “making a lot of big saves that we probably don’t deserve sometimes.”

“He’s easy to play in front of, for sure.”

Ellis finished by thanking the group of fans who have filled the Duncan McDonald Community Gardens’ Kinsmen Bar for watch parties and who have supported them at home, on the road and out west this year.

“They’ve been awesome the whole two years I’ve been here. Seeing the videos of the watch parties is awesome,” he said. “They’re the best.”

The Hawks sit atop Group A and will await the result of Wednesday’s Grande Prairie-Northern Manitoba game to determine whether they will play in the quarterfinals or if they will go directly to the semifinals on Saturday.

Stay tuned for full scheduling details later this week.