Wetaskiwin wins gold medal in Atom ‘A’ tourney

The Wetaskiwin Sobey’s Blazers took the gold medal and the banner in the Hockey Alberta Atom “A” Provincial Tournament on March 9. The Drayton Valley All Stars took the silver medal.

Mac Olsen
South Peace News

The Wetaskiwin Sobey’s Blazers are a very competitive team, as their 8-4 win against the Drayton Valley All Stars in the Hockey Alberta Atom “A” Provincial Tournament on March 9 demonstrated. The High Prairie True Value Atom Thrashers hosted the tournament on the weekend of March 7-9. The other teams were the Peace River Best Canadian Motor Inn Mustangs, St. Paul Canadiens, Taber Chiefs, Kneehill Atom A Chiefs and Camrose Ford Lamb Rangers. The teams were divided into two divisions, with round robin play on March 7 and 8, and the semi-finals and championship game on the 9th. The opening ceremony was held in the Sports Palace in the evening of March 7. Taneille Crooks sang “O Canada,” and several members of the High Prairie Skating Club – Kate Ochran, Rhiane Jamieson, Shelby Thunder and Kennedi Strebchuk – were the flag bearers. The team captains exchanged small gifts, and Mayor Rick Dumont was among the dignitaries to wish the teams good luck. Then Rod Berg dropped the puck for Blazers captain Gordie Ballhorn and Thrashers captain Darian Lewis during the ceremonial face-off. The Blazers and All Stars started out evenly matched in the first period of the championship game. Matt Fonteyne put the Blazers on the board 58 seconds in, with assistance by Matt Oliver. The All Stars answered back seven minutes later. Darien Garrett slipped the puck in on approach to the net, and Drew Joslin assisted. Less than two minutes later, Joslin took the puck to the Blazers’ net by himself and slipped it in. This was also a short-handed goal for the All Stars. However, the Blazers had the final word in the first period. At 17:21, Declan Buckle made a wraparound of the net and slipped the puck in on the short side. He was unassisted on the play. The score was 2-2 at the end of the first period. The Blazers had a power play opportunity three minutes into the second period. Matt Oliver fired a shot into the net, and Zachary Ayotte assisted The Blazers held the All Stars at bay for the next 12 minutes. The only chance for the All Stars came near the 15-minute mark, when Austin Pickford took the puck on a breakaway opportunity. Pickford fired a shot at the short side as he approached the net, but the goalie stopped it. Then the Blazers took the offensive with three more goals. Cory Nicholson scored first, and Taylor McCallum assisted. Matt Fonteyne flicked the puck into the net just over a minute later, and Matt Oliver and Gordie Ballhorn assisted. With less than 30 seconds remaining in the second period, Cody Hodgson took a couple of shots on the All Stars’ net, and the puck went in on the second try. Zachary Ayotte assisted on this play. The Blazers were ahead 6-2 at the end of the second period. The All Stars regained some momentum when Jake Belyea scored at 2:03 in the third period. Darien Garrett and Austin Pickford assisted. The Blazers answered back at 6:11, when Matt Oliver flicked the puck into the net, and Matt Fonteyne assisted. However, the All Stars kept going, and Tyson Gruninger slipped the puck in after a scramble in front of the net. Austin Pickford and Adam McCourt were in on the assist. Play seesawed until 16:31, when Lane Zablocki of the Blazers slipped the puck in on the short side. Chance Longjohn was there to assist. This was the final goal of the game, giving the Blazers an 8-4 win. The team members piled onto their goalie in celebration, and then shook hands with the All Stars. Then the teams then lined up on the blue lines to receive their medals. Members of the Thrashers presented the silver medals to the All Stars first, and then they presented the gold medals to the Blazers. In addition, Matt Oliver was the MVP for the Blazers, and Austin Pickford was the MVP for the All Stars. The Thrashers were out of the running for the championship game after losing back-to-back games on March 7. They lost 13-1 to the Canadiens in their first game that afternoon, and by the same score to the Blazers that evening. However, the Thra- shers won 8-4 against Kneehill on March 8. The end of this tournament also marks the end of the regular season for the Thrashers, although they may play some exhibition games later this month.

Copyright © 1999-2005 South Peace News. All Rights Reserved.
No part may be reproduced without written permission.

View our Privacy Statement.
Send website suggestions to the Webmaster