Darren Naylor's patience helped paved the way for his team's opening round playoff series win over the North Vancouver Wolf Pack.
Harris Pearce netted the equalizer with just 1:28 remaining, setting the stage for Jordan Deyrmenjian's overtime heroics as the Delta Ice Hawks finished off the Wolf Pack in five games with a 3-2 win on Friday.
The result sends the Hawks onto the Pacific Junior Hockey League's Tom Shaw Conference finals against the Grandview Steelers. The best-of-seven series opens tonight (8:15 p.m.) at the Ladner Leisure Centre.
Pearce began the season with Langley of the B.C. Junior Hockey League and was eventually sidelined with a leg injury. Naylor wasted no time putting him on his roster, hoping he would be back up to full speed before the playoffs.
The 17-year-old was given a regular shift among the top nine forwards for the final four regular season games and managed one assist. Now, the 6-foot-3 185-pounder is rounding into form - managing four points in the opening round, including three goals.
"That was a big goal he got," said Naylor of the game five equalizer. "It was looking like it was going to be one of those frustrating games for us where we generated a lot of chances but couldn't bury them. "You can see Pearce is an effective player with the talent to be a high end guy."
Deyrmenjian is another Ice Hawk who spent some time in the junior "A" ranks this season and has the ability to dominate. He factored in on all three goals Friday, scoring a pair, and finished the series with eight points.
The Hawks dropped the opening game, then won the next four against an opponent that finished 26 points behind them in the regular season.
"Some of our younger guys had to learn how you have to play in the playoffs and we saw a bit of that in the first couple of games," said Naylor. "That first game was a wake-up call that we needed and we got better as the series went on."
Holding off Grandview for top spot not only gave Delta home ice advantage but a much easier first round path.
The Steelers had their hands full in a gruelling opening round series with the third place Richmond Sockeyes that went the distance, including three straight in overtime. Grandview prevailed 3-2 in game seven on Sunday afternoon.
"We pushed hard for that at the end," added Naylor of the first place finish. "It's going to be a good series. We are a pretty explosive team and are going to keep playing uptempo hockey. We are going to make the odd mistake (playing that way) but if we can get them to open up we will be okay."
Game two of the series goes on Sunday (4 p.m.) at the Burnaby Winter Club.
