The Sunshine Coast Bantam Blues started league play last weekend, splitting a pair of games.
The Blues opened up with a 4-1 win over Chilliwack at the Sunshine Coast Arena on Nov. 20, then followed that with a 7-3 loss against Surrey at home on Nov. 21.
In the win over Chilliwack, the Blues scored twice in each of the first two periods and led from start to finish.
Cameron Graham got the party started for the Blues, scoring 8:44 into the first. Shayne Newcombe followed with a goal at 5:50 and the Blues led 2-0 after the first.
Michael McLennan scored the first of his two goals at 5:58 of the middle frame. He followed that up with another goal at 2:27 and the Blues were in control up 4-0.
Chilliwack broke the shutout for goalie Chad Ketting with a goal at 3:17, but it wasn't enough.
Graham Marsh and Dagan Benner also had solid games as they each assisted on a pair of goals. Michael Gray and Brandon Kohuch added solo helpers.
Against Surrey, the Blues were in trouble right from the start and never seemed to get on track.
Graham, McLennan and Brandon scored goals, while Dagan and Michael Ondzik each assisted on two. Graham also added one assist.
The Blues hit the road this weekend with stops in Coquitlam and Cloverdale.
Midget BluesThe Sunshine Coast Midget Blues also started league play last week and, much like their Bantam cousins, split two games.
The Blues lost 5-2 at home on Saturday and hit the road on Sunday playing much better, picking up a 3-1 win over Coquitlam.
Peewees win twoThe Peewee A Blues scored a pair of well-deserved wins last weekend, 5-1 over Port Moody and 5-4 over Maple Ridge.
On Saturday, the Blues headed to Vancouver to play Port Moody at Eight Rinks and went down 1-0 early.
The Blues managed to tie the game up on a nice give and go play from Mitchell Lightfoot to Grant Mayers back to Mitchell.
The Port Moody defenceman didn't know who to cover and was beaten cleanly by a burst of speed, followed by a good move on the goalie by Mitchell.
The Blues then proceeded to open the floodgates with three unanswered goals by Matt Brown for the natural hat trick.
Mitchell rounded out the scoring in the third with his second goal of the game. Good, steady positional play by defenceman Ryan Patton, Timo Antilla and Connor Mathew-Smith helped to keep the scoring opportunities to a minimum.
On Sunday, the Blues faced Ridge Meadows at home.
The line of Grant, Matt and Mitchell wrecked havoc again scoring all five goals.
Grant led the way with a hat trick. Hard work by Jeremy Dempster and Reece Nelson mucking in the corners, using their size to their advantage, helped keep the Ridge Meadows defenders tied up in their own end. The Blues also managed to keep their tempers in check when the Ridge Meadows team tried to take their frustrations out on them.
Next home game for the Blues is Sunday, Dec. 5, against Semiahmoo.
