* This story has been updated
SURREY 鈥� have soared through the preseason so far, possibly a sign of things to come for a team looking to return to league-championship form.
The new GM/head coach tandem of Stefan Burzan and Rob Evers has iced a strong 2017-18 team, undefeated in nine exhibition games following Friday night鈥檚 8-4 win over Everett Junior Silvertips.
The Hawks鈥� regular season starts Friday (Sept. 22) on the road in Prince George, against Cariboo Cougars.
Last season鈥檚 squad finished a disappointing seventh in the 11-team league, a year after the Hawks won their first provincial championship.
鈥淐omparing it to two years ago, the team is deeper 鈥� four lines deep,鈥� said Evers, who assumed head-coaching duties of the team in June, following the departure of Jessie Leung.
鈥淲e have a good team, and certainly our expectations are to compete for a league championship this year. There鈥檚 a lot of work to put in, but that鈥檚 the goal.鈥�
鈥� READ MORE: , from June 2017
The regional team, which plays most of its home games at 91原创 Events Centre, gives players from the Cloverdale, Surrey, Semiahmoo and North Delta minor hockey associations an opportunity to play and develop at an elite level, mostly close to home.
鈥淲e are the (premier) development program for elite, midget-aged hockey players working towards advancement to Junior A or Major Junior Hockey,鈥� says .
Hawks beat POE 7-5 outshootig them 50-17. Goals MacDonald (2), Bains, Creasy, Erickson, Krogfoss, Sourdif. Next up Everett Fri 7:30pm LEC.
鈥� Valley West Hawks (@vwhawks)
With the 20-man roster now set, this year鈥檚 Hawks squad includes nine Semiahmoo-zone players, including goalie Josh Dias, D-men Cam Newson, Jordan Hendry, Brayden Wick and Kiernan Bailey, and forwards Cam MacDonald, Tyler Chyzowski, Josh Pederson and Jackson Cooke.
鈥淚t turned out that a lot of those Semi guys departed and went their separate ways for bantam or U15 hockey,鈥� Evers noted, 鈥渁nd some of them played together when they were younger and are now on the same team again, so we have a tight-knit group, probably the tightest-knit group I鈥檝e coached in 20 years of coaching.鈥�
Four Surrey products are on the team (forwards Justin Sourdif, Arshdeep Bains and Walker Erickson, defenceman Braydon Clark), along with three Cloverdale players (forwards Kyle Forbes, Max Mohagen and Nolan Krogfoss) and one North Deltan (blueliner Trevor Isaksson). Joining them are Chilliwack-area forward Dustin Penner, 91原创 forward Caden Creasy and North Van netminder Jayden Shull.
Six on the roster skated full-time in the BCMML last year, including returning Hawks players Krogfoss, Isaksson, Wick and Pederson.
Surrey鈥檚 Sourdif, who played at Delta Hockey Academy last season, comes to the Hawks as the WHL Vancouver Giants鈥� .
鈥淲e鈥檝e got four lines that can score at any time, but Justin can certainly contribute points, and I expect him to have a good year and be among league leaders in points,鈥� Evers said.
鈥淏ut the unique thing about him is that every time he gets interviewed, he always talks about being a 200-foot player and wanting to be one. Well, he鈥檚 there, and him and Cam McDonald, two of our 15-year-old forwards, we relied heavily upon for penalty killing (recently in Kelowna), and between the two of them they scored three shorthanded goals. Both of them are threats on the ice and they鈥檙e both shortlisted for Team BC right now, so we鈥檙e looking forward to seeing if those guys can make that team.鈥�
鈥� READ MORE: , from May 2017
Last Friday鈥檚 final preseason game for the Hawks was against Everett at 91原创 Events Centre.
鈥淭hen we鈥檙e off on an overnight kayaking/camping trip, just for the guys to get ready for the start of the regular season next week, when we travel to (Prince George),鈥� Evers said Thursday. 鈥淲e鈥檙e there on opening weekend and the following weekend is the showcase.鈥�
Evers, who has been with the Hawks organization for three seasons, spent a lot of time recruiting over the past year, he said.
鈥淟ast year, once we kind of completed our team, we had seven or eight guys that ended up moving on to junior, and we expected only a couple to move on,鈥� he noted. 鈥淵ou know, we lost all of our 16-year-old forwards. Having a championship team the year before that, you know, 18 of those kids are currently playing Junior A or WHL, and from last year鈥檚 roster, even for a team that finished seventh, we were able to move 12 guys on to Junior A or WHL. That鈥檚 our goal, and those numbers mean something to us every year.鈥�
