Muckers and Grinders

Glendon Comets beat the Sherwood Park Grizzlies in the Peewee tournament final. 

Tales From the Timebox, December 17

It’s a good thing we have a big parking lot at the arena. It was packed all weekend long. It felt  just like Christmas shopping at the mall when you have to walk a mile. I don’t care what anyone says, the Elk Point Minor Hockey parents sure know how to put on a tournament.

Last week, the Atom tournament was top notch. This past weekend the Peewee tournament was fantastic as well with six teams competing for the championship. St Albert, Sherwood Park, St. Paul, Glendon and Bonnyville all travelled here to play in it.

Peewee Avalanche

The Peewee Avalanche first game was Friday night against Glendon. This game was not only a tournament game, but also used as a league game as well. Glendon is the top team in the Tier two Peewee league but the Avalanche were up for the challenge. The Avalanche have a ton of talent and are a treat to watch. ‘Top Gunner’ Crawford opened up the scoring three minutes into the game assisted by his wingers ‘Bo Diddley’ Fontaine and Ella ‘Stellar’ Ballas.

My old buddy Don Cherry will tell you don’t try and be cute with the puck when you’re the last man back. Fire it up off the glass and out across the blue line. Even some of the best players can get their pocket picked sometimes. It happened on Friday night right after Top Gunner scored the first goal of the game, he had his pocket picked and Glendon scored to tie the game at one. Top Gunner made up for his mistake though. Twice over, in fact, scoring two more goals to give him a hat trick. One of the goals was scored shorthanded to tie the game up a three all. And the last one he scored was the game-winner on the power play. Kaysen ‘Dynamite’ DeMossiac was the other goal scorer, his tally assisted by Top Gunner. ‘Bo Diddley’ Fontaine was going full tilt on the forecheck with two assists in the game. Brendon ‘Blue Line’ Haesch and Raif ‘Rug Rat’ Evans Anderson with the other assists.

The Avalanche celebrated knocking off the top undefeated team in their division. Glendon would go on to win the tournament in the end over Sherwood Park.

The Avalanche second game Saturday afternoon against Sherwood Park turned into a nasty rough penalty-filled affair and the outcome was not as good as hoped for by the Avalanche, who dropped this one 6-2. ‘Bo Diddley’ and ‘Dynamite’ the goal scorers, ‘Rug Rat’, ‘Top Gunner’, ‘Blue Line’ and Kaleb ‘Formula One’ Flamand with the helpers.

In their third game on Sunday against St Albert, the Avalanche got back on track winning 6-3. Top Gunner the sniper with another hat trick and adding an assist. Formula One with two goals, both of them scored shorthanded and he added an assist. Bo Diddley not fiddling around, finding the twine with one. The rushing defenseman Gavin ‘Green Light’ Kadutski with three assists. Rug Rat and Madden ‘Mad Dog’ Flamand with one assist each. Hats off to the parents and coaching staff. Great job on the tournament guys!

Atom Avalanche

The Atom Avalanche travelled south to Hughenden on Saturday coming home with a single point in a six all tie with the Jets. Getting the green light, defenseman Braylee ‘Free Willy’ Lesyk went coast to coast a number of times scoring a hat trick. Kale ‘the Hawk’ Ockerman with a goal and two assists. ‘Smitty’ Jaxon Smith with a goal, ‘Boe Dog’ St. George with a blast from the point-scoring one. Boe Dog also assisted on one too. Sneaky set up man ‘Without a Trace’ Morgan with three assists. Too many times the unsung heroes don’t get enough recognition. All the grinders and muckers are just as important as the goal scorers. It takes a whole team to be successful. Without the grinders and muckers, the goal scorers never get to the net to fire any shots. And the Dmen save the goalies butts all the time too but never get the credit they deserve.

Bantam Avalanche

The Bantam Avalanche are a perfect example of this. They have been on a roll all season long and many of the boys don’t get their names in the paper with goals or assist very often. But the coaches and fans know you guys are doing a great job all the same. Friday night, the Bantam Avalanche travelled to Cold Lake winning 6-1. Four goals and an assist for ‘ Mick Jagger’ Fontaine. Dean ‘the Machine’ Ockerman with a goal and an assist. Cea Jay ‘Quick Draw’ Quinney with a goal and two assists. Ryan ‘Ram Rod’ Cameron with an assist. On Sunday, the Bantams travelled to Kitscoty coming home with another big 7-2 win. A hat trick and an assist for Mick Jager. ‘Kid Kade’ Fontaine with a goal and an assist. Wyatt ‘Wildman’ Pavoll with a goal and an assist Dean ‘the Machine’ and Brady ‘Bionic Man’ Hymanyk each with a goal.

Out of town action

In out of town action this past weekend, the Camrose Viking Atom Tier Two team came in second overall losing the A final to Saskatoon in a tournament held in Lloydminster at the Servus Center. One unsung hero I happen to know fairly well, but don’t often get to watch him play is my grandson, a defenseman. Bode ‘the Hound’ Bassett scored a goal in the first game against Lloydminster and received the Heart and Hustle award in the semi final game against Macklin. He plays a lot like his daddy did. Takes no prisoners!

 

And now for the K. A. Campbell quote of the week.

‘Anytime you’ve played in a place and you get a win against your old team, it feels good.’ – Curtis Joseph