Leafs face a pair of Murdoch Division rivals
By The Nelson Daily Sports
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Nelson Leafs are hoping to build on a mini two-game winning streak when the club plays a pair of Murdoch Division opponents in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League weekend action.
The Leafs travel to Fruitvale Friday to face the Beaver Valley Nitehawks before returning home Saturday to host the Grand Forks Border Bruins.
Saturday’s contest is the first home date in six games for the Leafs. The Nitehawks moved into a tie for tops in the Murdoch Division after Beaver Valley pounded Grand Forks Border Bruins 9-3 Wednesday night.
The game was payback after the Bruins upset the Hawks 5-2 in the Boundary City.
Beaver Valley is tied with Castlegar Rebels. However, the Hawks have played five more games than Castlegar.
Nelson is back after winning two of three games on the trip to the Shuswap Division. After starting the trip with a loss to Revelstoke, Nelson posted wins over Sicamous and North Okanagan.
Nelson, 10-10, trails third-place Spokane by four points in the Murdoch. The Leafs are 4-8 within the division and have yet to defeat Castlegar or Beaver Valley.
LEAF NOTES: The Leafs will be without sniper Connor McLaughlin, who was called up for a three-game northern weekend road swing by Trail of the B.C. Hockey League. McLaughlin is riding a four-game point streak. . . . Nelson is also missing Walker Sidoni, Cameron Dobransky, Adrian Moyls and Raymond Reimer, all out of the lineup with injuries. . . .To offset the missing bodies, the Leafs are looking to call up two affiliate players from the Okanagan Hockey Academy. One of the players is Nelson Minor Hockey grad Linden Horswill.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
