Beaver Valley Nitehawks ring in New Year in style, rally past Leafs 7-5 in clash of Murdoch heavyweights
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Murdoch Division is a lot tighter to start 2013 after the Beaver Valley Nitehawks put some serious hurt on the front running Nelson Leafs in the traditional New Year’s Eve classic Monday at the NDCC Arena.
The Hawks exploded for five third period goals en route to a 7-5 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League victory against the Murdoch Division leading Leafs.
The Hawks turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 advantage with four goals in a nine-minute plus span to move to within four points of the Leafs in the Murdoch Division.
Beaver Valley and Castlegar are now tied for second spot in the division.
The real damage came early in the third period when Beaver Valley scored three times in just over a minute — two goals coming from Kurt Black and a single from Dallas Calvin.
The three goals erased a Nelson 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Michael Bell increased the advantage to 6-4 with a shorthanded marker before Seth Schmidt stopped the bleeding for Nelson with a goal that brought the home side to within one.
However, Calvin, with his second of the game and fourth point, iced the game for the Hawks. The goal came with Nelson on the power play.
Nelson looked to be in complete control of the divisional matchup scoring three times in the first period.
Bryce Nielsen, from his knees, newcomer Conner Gross, with a nice foot to stick play, and Aaron Dunlap gave Nelson what appeared to be insurmountable momentum.
But in the second Connor Brown-Maloski started the comeback with a power play goal three minutes into the period.
Brandon Butlin made it 3-2 late in the frame before Major Midget affiliate Brandon Sookro regained Nelson’s two-goal advantage before the period ended.
Nelson out shot the Hawks 40-29. But almost half of those shots came in the opening frame when the Leafs dominated Beaver Valley 18-7 on the shot meter.
Travis Beekhuizen survived a shaky first period to register the win in goal for Beaver Valley.
The goaltending team of Brett Soles, who started the game, and Cody Boeckman, shared the loss for Nelson.
After finishing November with a 10-0-0-1 record Nelson completed the month of December with a 4-3-1 mark. Two of those defeats came against Murdoch rivals Castlegar (6-1) and Beaver Valley.
In the last four games Nelson is 1-2-1.
The road doesn’t get any easier for the Leafs as the club takes to the road this weekend for a pair of games in the East Kootenay, starting Friday in Fernie against the Eddie Mountain leading Ghostriders.
Sunday, Nelson, playing the next five games on the road, visits Castlegar in a 2 p.m. afternoon affair.
Next home game is Friday, January 18th against Columbia Valley Rockies.
Meanwhile Beaver Valley, 9-1-1 in December plays a home-and-home series against Kimberley Dynamiters, starting Friday in the Bavarian City.
MURDOCH NOTES: The Beaver Valley win puts the season series at 4-2 Leafs, but allows the Hawks to gain some revenge after Nelson rallied to a 7-6 victory in November at the Hawks Nest. . . . Sunday, Nelson completed another deal that saw forward Jacob Boyczuk traded to Revelstoke Grizzlies for future considerations. Boyczuk came to Nelson before the season started from Beaver Valley in a deal that saw Walker Sidoni shipped to Fruitvale. In 31 games this season for Trail native had 12 goals and 14 assists. Boyczuk is the second player off the Leafs top line that included Colton Schell and Colton McCarthy, to leave the team. McCarthy is now playing for Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League. . . .Nelson captain Schell continues to lead the league in scoring despite accumulating two points in the last four games. In two games against Castlegar and Beaver Valley, the Nelson sniper has been all but silenced, picking up only one assist against Beaver Valley. . . Nelson fans got a good look at newcomer Conner Gross. The Alberta native, traded from Grand Forks during the Christmas break, scored in his first game with Nelson. . . .Former Nelson head coach Simon Wheeldon was behind the bench again for the Leafs. Wheeldon was filling in for assistant coach Brent Petrick, who was suspended by the league following an altercation Saturday in Spokane.
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