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WENATCHEE, Wash. - Wenatchee's Under-17 Canadian Sport School Hockey League program is starting to reach its cruising altitude ahead of the holidays, after getting a look at Coeur d'Alene Academy this past weekend, while the Wild U18 team is making sure strides despite taking a pair of losses last weekend to a perennial CSSHL power.

The U17s used two first-period goals and four second-period markers to cruise to a 7-1 win on Saturday at Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee, taking advantage of eight power play chances in the game. Brayden Barker had two goals and an assist, and Dylan Johnson wrapped up the day with a goal and two assists. The U18 team battled to a pair of losses to Okanagan Hockey Academy, with goals from Seth Banner and Sheldon Wilson in a 7-2 contest on Saturday, while Mikhail Levianuk scored Wenatchee's only goal in a 6-1 affair on Sunday.

"Our U17 program is starting to click and starting to figure it out," said Wild Hockey Academy director Troy Mick. "I was really happy with the way that they played on Saturday. It was a game where we executed our systems and we rolled the lines. Everybody worked hard, and everybody contributed - it wasn't one guy or two guys. We had very good goaltending by Anthony Ganoung, and good things happen when most of the guys are on the bus ready to play."

The Academy's CSSHL teams are off this weekend, with the U18 group set to travel to Seattle to face the Jr. Kraken on Monday with a chance to clinch home-ice advantage in their upcoming Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association playoff. The program's 2008 team will play at a U18 tournament in West Kelowna, but the big item on this weekend's schedule features a visit to the Pat Quinn Invitational in Burnaby, British Columbia for the 14U team.

The U15 Elite Invitational division is just one part of a larger tournament, most of which is held in Burnaby during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. The first game of the weekend is already out of the way for Wenatchee, with the Wild 14U program earning a 4-4 tie against the Pacific Coast Hockey Academy.

"This is good exposure. Our Director of Scouting for the Wild will be up there, and this is a really big tournament for our 14U guys," said Mick. "Every Western Hockey League team will be there - I don't want to say this is the pinnacle tournament of the year, but if not, it's right at the top. The guys are really jacked up to go up to Vancouver this weekend and compete against the best."

The Wild 14U team plays two games on Friday before the start of knockout play Saturday, while the opening draw for Wenatchee's U18 visit to Seattle is set for 5:15 p.m. Monday at the Kraken Community Iceplex in Seattle. The U17 team will enjoy some time off from competition, before facing North Shore Hockey Academy on December 2 and 3.