Great season ends on a downer for Nitehawks as KIJHL champs finish out of medals at 2012 Cyclone Taylor Cup
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The amazing run for the Beaver Valley Nitehawks came to a crashing halt Sunday at the Cylcone Taylor Cup in Abbotsford.
The Hawks lost 5-3 to Pacific Junior Hockey League champ, Delta Ice Hawks in the bronze medal game to finish fourth at the provincial junior B tournament.
The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League rep concluded the four-team tourney with a record of 0-3-1.
Dallas Calvin, Justin Niminiken and Ryan Edwards scored for the Hawks which squandered a 3-2 lead with six minutes remaining in the game. Delta scored three goals during that final span of time to steal the two-goal win.
Zach Perehudoff took the loss in goal for the Hawks, out shot 43-34 in the contest and 19-12 in the third period.
The high-powered Nitehawk offence struggled during the tournament, finishing the four days with seven offensive goals.
Beaver Valley opened the tourney with a 1-1 draw against the Ice Hawks.
Beaver Valley then lost 3-0 to Victoria Cougars from Vancouver Island before suffering a heart-breaking 4-3 decision to host Abbotsford Pilots.
Despite the showing at the Cyclone Taylor the Hawks can look back on the 2011-12 season as one of the best in franchise history as Beaver Valley finished the campaign with a 58-14-1-4 record.
The Hawks won the KIJHL regular season with a 42-7-0-3 record before going 16-4-0-1 in the playoffs to win the league title.
Rookie sniper Craig Martin, no doubt bound for the B.C. Hockey League next season, won the playoff scoring title while Dallas Calvin had one of the most memorable KIJHL finals finishing the four-game sweep of Kelowna with 14 points, including seven goals.
Abbotsford defeated Victoria 3-2 in overtime to claim the 2012 Cyclone Taylor Final and now represents B.C. at the Keystone Cup next weekend in Saskatoon.
First game is Thursday against the Thunder Bay Northern Hawks.
