Cold Lake Ice look to Climb the Standings

With the Christmas break over, the first half of the season behind them and the January 10th roster deadline fast approaching, the Cold Lake Jr B Ice are looking to climb a few positions in the standings to finish strong in the Northeast Alberta Jr B Hockey League (NEAJBHL). Head Coach of the Ice, Scott Hood says he’s team is ready to work hard to advance in the league.

The squad took to the ice at Imperial Oil Place Tuesday and Wednesday evening, “we gotta get back at ‘er. We told them to push as hard as they could and just go for it. We’ll be ready for the weekend.” The Ice travel to Saddle Lake to meet the Warriors, whom they’ve beaten once this season and fell short in overtime, in the only other meeting. “We haven’t played since the 17th (December), which is almost three weeks. We’ll give them a little bit of leeway, but we still have to show up and play. It’s the last two or three months of hockey; hopefully we can put a streak together.”

“No different than any other team in this league, we gotta show up to play. They want to beat us, this is going to be a good test and a good way to start the new year.” It’s about going forward and making the most out of the games ahead, says Hood, “we have 14 games left, 10 or 11 of those games are against teams that are lower or equal to us in the standings. It can make or break where we finish the year.”

The roster deadline is January 10th, Hood says the team has brought out a few player to skate with the club and will be making final decisions over the next week or so. “We found a couple kids, who have been skating with us, from local. If you count the numbers, we’re 17 local kids within the hour of Cold Lake,” always nice for the team (and their fans) to be able to dress the hometown kids.

The Ice are 6th in the standings with 22 points and a 9-9-2-2 record. The club takes on Saddle Lake on Friday and Onion Lake Saturday, both games on the road. They’ll return to Imperial Oil Place Saturday, January 14th for the City of Cold Lake’s youth night – all youths 17 years and under will get free admission. LCN can help you out if you’re over 18 and want to WIN your way in!