Four Former GPAC'ers Champions
By LOGAN CLOW
Daily Herald-Tribune
McKoy Hauck, Tyler Hartman and brothers Damon and Tallon Kramer are KIJHL champions. (All four former Grande Peace Athletic Club bantam, midget or both players.)
The Swan City foursome, playing for the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, captured the junior B league title on March 30 with a 5-2 victory over the Chase Heat to complete a three-game sweep.
“It’s amazing. Definitely, for my last year, it’s a good way to go out,” said Hartman, of winning the league title.
“It’s super surreal,” added Tallon. “It still doesn’t really feel like we did it, but it’s pretty unreal that we accomplished it.”
Hartman, 20, led the Nitehawks in playoff scoring with a six goals and 11 assists.
Tallon, 20, the team’s No. 1 goaltender, went 14-2 in the KIJHL playoffs, and posted a 2.01 GAA.
The Nitehawks finished atop the league in the regular season with a 38-5-1 record.
Hartman led the team in regular season scoring with 17 goals and 33 assists. Hauck, 21 led the team’s defencemen with 14 goals and 26 assists. Damon, a rookie, also registered eight goals and 15 assists.
In net, Tallon finished as one of the top goaltenders in the KIJHL with a regular season record of 28-5-1, along with a 1.81 GAA in his second season with the team.
Team depth and Kramer’s play in net were key factors in the team’s success this season, Hartman and Damon noted.
“First off, it starts with Tallon on the backend. If we weren’t playing well, he’d pick us up, and then after that we had four lines that could really contribute,” said Damon.
In the post-season, the team swept the Grand Forks Border Bruins and Nelson Leafs, while also knocking out the Kimberley Dynamiters in five games. The three series victories set up the KIJHL final against the Chase Heat.
Tallon and Damon said it was extra special in being able to play and win the league title together.
“It makes me wonder why we didn’t play together every year,” said Tallon, with a chuckle.
“It was a totally new experience. I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was awesome. It was a lot of fun (all season) to wake up and go to the rink and see him there,” added Damon. “Just to get a picture of him and I with the trophy was pretty special.”
The victory qualifies the Nitehawks for the 2017 Cyclone Taylor Cup (aka the British Columbia Junior B Provincial Championships) on April 6-9.
“We need to play a full sixty minutes, roll four lines and we’ve got to hit and get shots on net.” noted Hartman, of playing at the event.
“We just want to keep it simple. Every game there is a must win and everyone has to come play and be ready,” added Damon.
Hauck was unavailable for comment as of press time.
