Goalie Hobie Hedquist has recorded a hat trick. Of sorts.
The Heron Lake native was named the Number One Star in three straight games in an extended weekend for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Junior A Hockey Club in the British Columbia Hockey League.
In the final game of that stretch on Monday, Hedquist stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced in Alberni Valley’s 3-1 win over the Nanaimo Clippers. The victory was the Bulldogs eighth straight win on home ice, and improved their record to 14-1-1-0 since the Christmas break.
On Saturday he stopped 39 of 40 shots in a 5-1 win over the Powell River Kings.
That included an eye-popping save in the third period as he got the paddle of his stick on rebound chance before scrambling to retrieve the puck off the goal line and freeze the puck for a whistle.
The weekend started Friday with 30 stops on 31 saves in a 3-1 road win over Nanaimo.
In the three games, Hedquist had a 969 save percentage and goals-against average of 1.0.
For the season, Hedquist has played 1,947 minutes in 33 games, has a 21-10-2 record including two shutouts with a save percentage of .912 and goals against average of 2.83.
He ranks third in the BCHL in wins, fourth in minutes, fifth in games played, sixth in shutouts, seventh in GAA, and ninth in save percentage.
Hedquist has 49 wins in his Bulldogs career, four shy of the franchise record. There are 10 regular-season games remaining with playoffs to follow.
Next for Alberni is a Friday home game vs. the Surrey Eagles. The Bulldogs trails the Eagles by five points for second place in the BCHL’s Coastal Conference standings.
Alberni then hosts the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Satutday.