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CALGARY, Alberta - As a guest program in two Canadian Sport School Hockey League events this year, the Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy's 14-and-under team gets limited chances to prove itself on the CSSHL stage. The rare chances it's gotten, though, it's tended to take advantage of.

The Wenatchee 14U team went unbeaten in four games at the Edge School Showcase last weekend, cruising to three of the four wins it earned in the league's U15 Varsity division. Akira Ota opened the weekend with two goals, and the penalty kill turned away all nine power plays, in a 5-1 win over Delta Hockey Academy on Thursday before notching a hat trick in a 6-1 victory over North Shore Academy the following day. Anderson Carter hit the back of the net for an overtime winner Saturday in a 6-5 triumph over Northern Alberta Xtreme, but Wenatchee charged late for a 6-1 win on the final day of the weekend against Burnaby Winter Club.

"We definitely needed some good mojo (on the final day). We couldn't score the first three games, but we found our touch and ended up winning the last game," said Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy director Troy Mick. "That was our game plan, knowing that we needed some positive vibes going into our first playoff game with the Seattle Jr. Kraken on Wednesday. We could have been a little bit better, but we'll take that win and move forward."

The U17 team battled to get on the board early in their weekend at the Delta Showcase, but finished strong with a huge win over North Shore Academy. RINK Hockey Academy of Winnipeg and South Alberta Hockey Academy picked up 6-0 and 5-0 wins over Wenatchee, followed by OHA Edmonton's 4-0 finish on Saturday. However, the Wild roared through Sunday's game for a 6-2 win over North Shore, including four goals in the third period. Dominic Deery, Braden Boman and Nick Roy each notched two goals in the game, and Wenatchee rolled to the win without the benefit of a power play in the contest.

"They've been playing really good hockey," said Mick. "They went in and beat a really good team in NAX, and the guys are playing really well. They're undefeated in the varsity division in two showcases and they're .500 when they played in the prep division up there. It's obviously good for the Western Hockey League and it's good exposure for our 14s that they know we have a team here, and the U.S. players are pretty good as well."

The push to the USA Hockey Pacific District tournament still has yet to get underway for the U17 group, though - Wenatchee's home game against the Seattle Jr. Kraken on Tuesday was postponed due to travel difficulties.

The schedule for the Wenatchee CSSHL teams will get significantly busier in the final stretch to the Pacific District tournament and the CSSHL playoffs, starting with the U18 team's showcase at Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, British Columbia this weekend.