The Maple Ridge-based Vancouver North East Chiefs continued their ascent up the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League standings with a pair of convincing wins over the visiting Kootenay Ice last weekend at Planet Ice in Maple Ridge.

The Chiefs have won six straight games and now sit in second-place with a record of 9-2-1. Their 19 points puts them one point behind the Cariboo Cougars for the top spot in the league, with two games in-hand.

Key to the Chiefs success this season has been the balanced attack of the team’s forwards. The team has four players averaging over a point per game, more than any other team: Justin Georgeson (7-8-15), Dustin Lebrun (6-8-14), Regan Soquila (5-9-14), and Connor Sanvido (9-4-13). Meanwhile, goaltenders Matt Hewitt and James Davison have allowed a league-low 26 goals against in 12 games this year.

The Chiefs came out strong in Game 1 of their two-game series with the Kootenay Ice Saturday night, potting four unanswered goals in the first period to take a 4-0 lead into the first intermission. Soquila had a pair of goals while Lebrun and Mitchell Deacon scored one each in the period. Twenty seconds into the second period, Georgeson gave the Chiefs a 5-0 lead. The Ice would get onto the scoresheet early in the third, only to have Taylor Young of the Chiefs answer right back with a goal of his own. Hewitt got the 6-1 win in net.

Sunday saw a goaltenders duel between Davison and James Barr of the Kootenay Ice. After a scoreless opening frame the Chief’s Justin Georgeson scored to give the Chiefs the lead at the 14:30 mark of the second period. Georgeson struck again in the third to ensure a 2-0 Chiefs win.

Game time

The Vancouver North East Chiefs will travel to Port Alberni next weekend to take on the North Island Silvertips. Their next home game is Saturday, November 21, against the Thompson Blazers. Game time is 4 p.m.