Liam Visram thrives on plenty of ice time and that’s a good thing these days for the Delta Ice Hawks.
The 18-year-old logged at least 25 minutes in the Hawks’ 5-2 victory over the Grandview Steelers on Tuesday night in Ladner. It also happened to be his fifth game in as many days after being called-up by the BC Hockey League’s Nanaimo Clippers for their three-game road trip in the interior on the weekend and also suiting up in Monday’s Pacific Junior Hockey League All-Star Game in Maple Ridge.
Under different circumstances, Ice Hawks’ GM and head coach Steve Robinson might have eased the workload for his best defenceman. But not when he only had five available for the Grandview game.
Last Thursday’s roster deadline came and went with Robinson not making any additions. However, he did lose South Delta product Jesse Conroy to the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles. That leaves the club with just Callum MacDonald, Nick Marsh, Ryan Bayley, Jake Dowell and Visram as available d-man for the balance of the season.
“(Conroy going to Surrey) happened about 90 minutes before the deadline,” said Robinson. “I was spending a good chunk of the day kind of monitoring the wire and trying to pick up d-man then at 2:30 I get that call. Now I need two of them and now everyone in the league knows it at that point.
“Visram has become this year’s version of (2017-18 standout Aiden Hansen-Bukuta). He is just a keener.”
Forward Mark Epshtein, who is third on the team with 18 goals, took a regular shift on the blueline Tuesday. Rookie forward Dillon Maher is also capable playing at the back.
Long term, Tsawwassen’s Thomas Garey, a regular a year ago, is available for two more games as an AP and could join the club full-time once his juvenile season is over in early February with South Delta.
Robinson is also working on some other potential late additions but for now is looking ahead to key weekend road games with the Abbotsford Pilots (Friday) and Grandview (Sunday). The Hawks (24-7-2-3) sit tied with Richmond (25-7-2-1) for second overall in the league standings — just four points back of first place North Van (28-8-01) while the Pilots (23-10-1-1) lurk five points back of them.
With regular top six forward Jordin Kojima serving a one-game suspension, Jihwan Kim was inserted into a prominent role alongside veterans Jordan Deyrmenjian and Daniel Rubin. The 17-year-old rookie made the most of the opportunity with a hat trick. He entered Tuesday’s game with two goals in 24 games.
“We felt like it was bound to come with him. We watch him in practice and you see his skill and figure he is just got to get a bounce. A lot of it is confidence,” added Robinson. “When he sees the line-up card it’s got to get you a little excited. Hopefully it springboards him back to being what he thought he was going to be. I think (tonight) it will do a ton for confidence.”
