Hopes of the Hawkesbury Hawks having home-ice advantage in the first round of the Central Canada Junior Hockey League (CCHL) are fading fast, after the team dropped three straight games last week.
The Hawks fell 6-3 on Sunday (March 12) to the Navan Grads (36-12-4-1), who clinched second place in the CCHL standings with the win. The road loss left Hawkesbury (27-18-4-3) sitting in seventh place overall in the CCHL, a full five points behind fourth place Brockville (29-16-4-4).
As it sits, the Hawks will likely finish seventh overall, although they could move up as many as two spots if they win their final three games of the season this week. If Hawkesbury finishes seventh, Navan will be the first round opponent.
Jakson Kirk, Nicholas Brennan and Alex Urbisci scored for Hawkesbury in Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Grads. The Hawks had been shut out in their previous two games – a 4-0 home loss to Kemptville on Friday, March 10, and a 2-0 loss to Renfrew on Wednesday, March 8.
The Hawks travel to Plantagenet to face the Lumber Kings (9-38-2-3) on Wednesday (March 15), before returning to the Robert Hartley Sports Complex to host the Rockland Nationals (20-20-4-8), who are still fighting for the eighth and final CCHL playoff spot. Hawkesbury closes out the 2022-2023 CCHL regular season on Sunday, March 19, traveling to Nepean to face the Raiders in a 2:30 p.m. afternoon contest.
