The Valley West Hawks won’t get much of a break from the BC Hockey Major Midget League schedule.
After facing off against the South Island Royals last weekend (Dec. 21-22) at the Langley Events Centre, they will begin play Friday in Calgary at the 36th annual Mac’s Midget AAA tournament.
The prestigious tournament annually features the top male and female Midget AAA teams from Western Canada, as well as the United States and Europe. Only the top 25 male teams and 15 female teams are selected to compete each year, chosen from a list of entries based on each team’s performance during the current season.
Valley West, which includes 15-17 year-old players from the Semiahmoo, Langley, Surrey and Cloverdale minor hockey associations, was among six teams from B.C. invited to play in the Mac’s tournament.
They are currently 15-8-1 (won-lost-tied) in league play, and are third in the 13-team provincial league.
Also invited to play at the Mac’s are the first-place Okanagan Rockets (20-3-1), Vancouver Giants (18-3-1), Vancouver Chiefs (11-9-4), Cariboo Cougars (9-13-2) and South Island Royals (8-13-3).
The Hawks have been placed in Pool 3, along with the Calgary Royals, the Alaska Junior Aces, the Prince Albert Mintos and the SSAC (Edmonton) Athletics.
The first-place team from each of the five pools along with three wild-card teams qualify for the eight-team playoff round. In the Alberta Midget Hockey League, the Calgary Royals are second among nine teams in the Chrysler (South) Division with a 15-6-3 record, while the SSAC Athletics are tied for fifth in the Dodge (North) Division at 11-8-3.
The Prince Albert Mintos are currently in second place in the 12-team Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League at 18-6-4.
Scores and standings are available online at http://macstournament.ab.ca