The Hawkesbury Hawks’ 2017-2018 season opened with a mixed result, as they went 1-2 over the long weekend in the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) Labour Day Showcase.
“I thought the team played well for two of the days,” head coach, Rick Dorval, said about the start to the season. “We had our chances to beat Carleton Place but made a late mistake which you can’t do against a team like that. We saw many areas to improve on but the future is bright.”
For their first game of the season, the Hawks faced-off against the Carleton Place Canadians, losing 2-1 in a close contest. Tied 1-1 entering the third period, the Canadians’ Ben Tupker would pot the game-winning goal around the 4-minute mark of the closing frame. Matt Gasiuk scored the lone goal for the Hawks, while Anders Johnson and Hunter Duchesne picked up the assists in the loss.
Hawkesbury had a better result in their second outing, defeating the Smiths Falls Bears 4-3 in another tight game. The Hawks took a 2-1 lead into the second period before the teams traded goals early in the third. However, just three minutes later, Fletcher Anderson would strike again to extend the Hawks’ lead to 4-2. The Bears would add a goal at the halfway mark of the period but the Hawks ultimately held on to notch their first win of the campaign. David Jankowski had two goals and an assist for a three-point effort in the victory , while Gasiuk and Fletcher each picked up a goal and an assist. Ryan Donovan, Zachary Fournier, and David Caza also each had an assist.
The Hawks’ third game was not as close as the previous two, with the Pembroke Lumber Kings doubling Hawkesbury 8-4 in a lopsided defeat. Trailing 5-4 at the end of the second, the Hawks found themselves within one despite finishing the first period down by two. However, that’s as close as the Hawks would get, as it was all Pembroke in the final frame, scoring four additional goals to hand the Hawks their second loss of the season. Joel Frazee, with two, Colin Stevens, and Zachary Fournier scored for the Hawks. Stevens also picked up two assists for three-points in total, while Gasiuk, Tanner Tarbell, Johnson, Nicolas Guillemette, and Anderson also had assists in the third and final game of the showcase.
The Hawks’ next game comes at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 8 at home against the Cornwall Colts. The game will serve as the Hawks’ official home opener for the 2017-2018 season. The Hawks will be back at it the next night at the same time against the Smiths Falls Bears.
