The Fort Saskatchewan Hawks are in the quarterfinals of the CJHL playoffs.
After defeating the Leduc Co-op Riggers in the qualifying round, the Hawks are now up against the Beaumont Chiefs, with their first win coming on Friday (Feb. 24), 3-1.
Paul Garbiar, president of the Hawks, says that they'd lost to Beaumont in last season's playoffs.
"All throughout the course of the year we were fighting with Beaumont for second place," Garbiar said. "We've been working hard, and our team is playing consistently, so I feel we'll be a valued opponent this year."
Despite a number of rookie players and a new head coach, Garbiar said that the Hawks have consistency.
"They come with the right attitude, they're hard-working individuals, and they're serious about hockey," Garbiar said. "This is the most cohesive dressing room I've seen in a long time."
However, Garbiar does understand that taking on Beaumont will be quite the challenge.
"We can't take a lot of penalties and we need to stay disciplined to beat this team. If we do both of those things, it will really reflect in the way the Hawks play."
The series is a best of five games.
Daniel Kozakewhich leads the team with six goals so far in the team’s four playoff games — both Blake Hammel and Spencer Florchuk have five assists.
Josh Nix has been spectacular in net thus far going 3-1 and posting a .928 save percentage.
The Hawks’ next home game against Beaumont is on Sunday, 8 p.m., at the Jubilee Recreation Centre.