Going out a Winner
Tales from the Timebox: February 26th, 2018
That’s it I’m done ! Over and out….see you all in the fall. At this time of year some parents and kids of the younger groups are ready to pack it in for the season. A few weeks from now when it’s still crappy out, the kids are bored and driving them crazy the parents would be happy to get them out on the ice again.
Such was the case this past weekend when a few of our teams played their last games of the season. One of them was the little grasshoppers the Micro Novice Avalanche team who finished the year on a winning note over the Frog Lake T Birds. A fantastic job by the coaching staff. These guys have come a long way since October when some of them had to hold on to a chair to skate. They still fall down a lot , but they jump right back up and get going all on their own. William ‘Billy Bob’ Ballas with a hat trick and three assists, ‘Jesse James’ Penner with a hat trick and three assists, Ryder ‘Rhino’ Malo with a hat trick and two assists, ‘Major Tom’ Melnyk with two goals and three assists, Theo ‘Long Horn’ Loughran with one goal and five assists, Jaxon ‘Magic’ Marcoux with two goals and an assist, and four year old Lennox ‘All Out’ St. Arnault with a goal.
The Novice Avalanche are not quite ready to shut down their season yet. They still have some games lined up and a possible playoff tournament. They played right after the Micro Novice on Saturday and had a huge win over Cold Lake 9 to 4. Kale ‘the Hawk’ Ockerman swooping in for the hat trick, Brendan ‘Buzz Saw’ Kadutski with two goals and an assist . ‘Without a Trace’ Morgan sneaking under the radar with two goals, Wyatt ‘Earp’ Fontaine with one goal and one assist, and first year player Rhyey ‘the Road Runner’ Kozicky with one goal.
Only two assists listed on the game sheet but I know there were more than that for sure. The young referees are doing the best they can and will get better as they gain more experience. In these younger groups when I do the time box I always add an assist if I see it.
Next up on Saturday was, the Atoms who actually finished playing in their tier four league last weekend, but decided they still wanted one more game before they shut down. They played St Paul in an exhibition game. This St. Paul team was actually playing one tier higher but the Avalanche were not push overs and the play of the game was still very close. Especially with Avalanche goalie ‘Good Time Charlie’ He saw more rubber than a dead skunk on the middle of the highway 401 going through Toronto at rush hour. The first goal on him was a bit soft, going through the five hole, but after that he was rock solid and faced 68 shots in total . Our guys did a good job putting 32 shots on the Canadiens goaltender which is about normal for a atom game. Smooth skating Charlotte ‘Web Mail ‘ Henderson scoring the first one for the Avalanche on a break away, assisted by a nice pass from the rugged defense woman ‘ Goldilocks’ Spencer Machowski.. Breaking his chain and on the run again, Evett ‘ Snoopy’ Smereka with the second one, his assisted by hard work in the corner from Raif ‘Rug Rat’ Evans Anderson. Winding up going coast to coast ‘ Cyclone Cole’ Pierce getting one all alone, then assisting on one by Braylee ‘Little Willy’ Lesyk. The final 9 to 4 for St Paul.
The Peewee # 4 team played their last league home game on Saturday against Mannville. The last time they played in Mannville they had lost to them, but this was a different team playing today for sure. These guys came out to play and wanted it more. Sometimes the desire to win is greater than talent . The Avalanche dominated for most of the game out shooting them 37 to 27. The final score two all. Big defenseman Dean ‘the Machine’ Ockerman sending a wrist shot from the point, going through the crowd it found the twine for the first one. Kaleb ‘Formula One’ Flamand scoring one from the slot, his too was a nice quick snap shot. Assisted by Kaylee Radcliffe, the first year player who has made tremendous strides this year and really has come a long way and battles the boys hard . She holds the line well and keeps the puck in, as she did on this one. Brendon ‘Blue Line’ Haesch -Baker also with an assist , he is a stay at home guy who always come to the rescue of his buddy, the competitive goaltender who hates to lose ‘Kid Kade’ Fontaine. Losing is alright as long as you don’t like losing, which he doesn’t!
The Midget Avalanche have their hands full with Marwayne in the final round of provincial round robin. They traveled there on Thursday night losing a close one 5 to 4. Brody ‘the Big O’ Odgaard with two goals, Chad ‘Pickpocket’ Poitras and team captain ‘ Awesome Alex’ Hunter with one each. Nick ‘ Sparky ‘ Anderson and Cyle ‘Grinder’ Graus with assists. After winning the series, the Avalanche are headed to Rimbey for the provincial finals in late March.
The Bantam Avalanche are not only hosting but have won the zone 2 banner after defeating Redwater 4 to 3 this past Thursday night. And the Peewee Avalanche tier one team is facing off against Bonnyville in their final round this coming Wednesday night. The winner of that series will also go to the provincial final tournament.
And now for the K. a. Campbell quote of the week. ‘ You have to want to win and expect that you are going to win.’ Martina Navratilova
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