Hoping for a hockey miracle
Wild card position difficult to secure for Avon View after 4-1 loss to Horton
Luck would need to be on the Avon View Avalanche’s boys’ hockey team’s side in order to clinch the wild card position — the fourth and final playoff spot in the Valley High School Hockey League.
The boys were scheduled to play Feb. 23 and Feb. 25.
Even with two wins, they would need a couple of small miracles in the final regular season games played by their rivals in order to clinch the wild card spot.
Avon View’s final regular season games were against Park View and Central Kings; however, both of those teams had relatively easy matches over the weekend.
Horton 4, Avon View 1
Avon View had hoped for a win against Horton on Feb. 17 but after a hard-fought battle, lost 4-1.
The Avalanche started the game off tied 1-1 after the first period. Scoring were Will Caines, from Dan Lord and Ethan Salsman, and a power-play marker by Horton’s Zach Moore, from Blake Deacon and Hunter Woodland.
The Griffins scored in the second, thanks to Woodland, from Deacon.
The third period saw the Griffins score twice more near the halfway mark. Goals went to Noah Barrett and Dean Vial.
Avon View encountered penalty difficulties throughout the game, playing two men short on two separate occasions.
Tyler McMillan was in nets for Horton and recorded the win while Ryan Jillett, who made several great pad saves, was tagged with the loss.
Avon View 3, Barrington 2
In a hard-fought game in Southwestern Nova Scotia on Feb. 16, the Avalanche defeated the first place Barrington Barons (16-3-0) in the western division by a score of 3-2. Zack Eldridge put the Avalanche up 1-0 after the opening period before Ryan Coleski and Salsman made the score 3-0 less than four minutes into the second period.
That was all the scoring the Avalanche would do and they played tight defensive hockey for the remainder of the game. Barrington moved to within a goal (3-2) by scoring a pair one minute apart in the final two minutes of the second period.
Bidding farewell
The Avalanche paid tribute to seven graduating players at the start of the Feb. 17 home game with Horton.
Recognized were: Brendan Walker, a solid defenceman who plays with a lot of intensity; Julian Coldwell-Wile, another steady presence on the blue-line who was famous for his old-fashion hip-checks; Liev Ryan, who always played a rugged style of hockey; goaltender Ryan Jillett, who was selected to the Valley High School Hockey All-Star team and was a steady wall behind the Avalanche defense; Quinten Rafuse, who showed steady improvement in his three years with the team; Jacob Caldwell, who was one of the fastest players in the league and offered a tremendous offense to the Avalanche; Liam Parker, who showed strong hockey knowledge and considerable puck sense; and captain Jonny Parker, who proved to be a leader both on and off the ice.