Like a string of fresh firecrackers, the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs have made a lot of noise on the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League charts of late.
On the string of a 9-1 run, the 15-to-17 year old team has shaken off a 0-2 start to the season and landed into a two-way tie for second place on the provincial’s elite midget circuit.
The Chiefs added two more wins to the pile last week, defeating the South Island Royals 6-2 and 4-2 on consecutive nights at Burnaby 8-Rinks.
Leading the way was Burnaby’s Dante Berrettoni, who counted two goals in each game to jump into the league’s scoring lead, with 12 goals and six assists over 12 games.
In the first game, Maple Ridge’s Ben Fontaine opened the scoring six minutes into the game, and was followed by 17-year-old Berrettoni later in the period. Burnaby’s Kaidan Johnson and Berrettoni tallied 21 seconds apart midway through the second, with Johnson making it 5-0 with his second of the night.
South Island put its first on the board just before the period ended.
Defenceman Owen Philps completed the scoring in the third, while 15-year-old netminder Callum Tung of Port Moody posted his fourth win, while whittling his goals-against average down to 2.59.
A day later Jacob Myers gave the Chiefs the lead 1:45 into the second period, followed shortly by Berrettoni with back-to-back markers. The Royals would get a late goal in the middle frame, then midway through the third pull within a goal. But Fontaine iced it with an empty-net tally, locking up the team’s ninth win over the past 10 games.
The Chiefs, who draw talent from east Burnaby, New West, the Tri-Cities and Ridge Meadows zone, sit five points back of Okanagan, whose only loss came in overtime.
Fontaine sits seventh in league scoring with seven goals and eight assists over 12 games, tied with defenceman Jeremy Hanzel of Coquitlam, who has a goal and 14 helpers.
Burnaby’s Daniel Juca has missed two games but sits ninth in league scoring with five goals and 10 assists in 10 games, while Johnson has six goals and six assists over 12 games in his debut in the major midget loop.
The Chiefs’ next opponent is the Vancouver Northwest Hawks, who share the same 9-3-0 record. The two teams meet Saturday, 4:30 p.m. at Burnaby 8-Rinks, with Sunday’s follow-up as of yet without a designated rink.
