The newly-nomadic Hawkesbury Hawks played their first game in one of their interim home arenas—Alexandria’s Glengarry Sports Palace—on Saturday, the first of a “home-and-home” series with the league-leading Carleton Place Canadians.

The unfamiliar arena nonetheless produced the preferred result for the Hawks, as they skated to a 2-1 victory in a close contest. Scoring a pair in the first, courtesy of David Kaza and Michael Marleau, the Hawks would hold on through the next 40 minutes to take the win against the Central Canada Hockey League’s (CCHL) top team.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, Sunday in Carleton Place would not yield a similar result. Tied 1-1 going into the second-period, the Hawks looked like they had a chance to take two against the league-leaders. The Canadians had other plans; they would go on to score five unanswered goals over the next two periods to hand the Hawks a 5-1 defeat. Zachary Fournier was Hawkesbury’s lone goal-scorer in the loss.

Head coach Rick Dorval was pleased with the weekend’s results, noting his team is developing well early in the season.

“I’m very happy to take the split against the top team in the league,” Dorval said. “The boys are competing everyday. This is a team with 19 new players, so to have only lost to the top three teams in the league, I think things are coming along nicely.”

After the weekend, the Hawks now find themselves with 10 points, placing them in fourth position in the Yzerman Division standings. They trail the Ottawa Junior Senators (19 points), the Rockland Nationals (16 points), and Cornwall Colts (13 points); however, they hold three games-in hand on all three teams.

The Hawks play their next game on Friday, October 6 against the Nepean Raiders, once again at the Glengarry Sports Palace in Alexandria. They then play another home game against the Brockville Braves, this time at the Canadian International Hockey Academy Arena in Rockland at 12:30 p.m. on October 7.

On Friday, October 13, the Hawks will play a 1:30 p.m. matinee game against the Pembroke Lumber Kings in Vankleek Hill.

Hawkesbury will continue playing their home games in local arenas until the city completes repairs to the Robert Hartley Sports Complex. In a press conference held on September 25, the City of Hawkesbury announced that the rink in the Complex would be closed for a minimum of two months while work is done to clean up mold and remedy an air-quality issue.