PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – Heron Lake native Hobie Hedquist was the winning goaltender for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Saturday and finished the regular season first in wins in the British Columbia Hockey League in wins. The BCHL is considered one of the top junior hockey leagues in North America.
Hedquist made 26 saves and picked up third star honors for the Bulldogs in a 4-1 win over the Langley Rivermen. He had 24 stops Friday in a 5-3 loss to the Coquitlam Express.
For the season, Hedquist has 28 wins to move into sole possession of first place in that category.
The University of North Dakota commit finished the regular season with a record of 28-9-4 and had five shutouts to tie the franchise record.
Hedquist came within just over four minutes from breaking the mark set by Brian Stewart back in 2005-2006 as Max Bulawka broke his shutout bid at 15:53 of the third.
He was also second in the league in shutouts (5), seventh in goals against average (2.53) and 10th in save percentage (.909).
Alberni Valley will play Game One of the Coastal Conference quarterfinals on Friday, April 1.