SPORTSHOUND: Back to My Happy Place

Today’s story is dedicated to the memory of Don Woytkiw who passed away this past Thursday night. Don was our caretaker, icemaker at the A. G. Ross Arena for many years. He also was the only one I trusted to sharpen my skates. Always perfect. He made the best ice anywhere. Hard as a rock and smooth as glass. And along with his wife Sandy they kept the place spotless. 

It was hockey, hockey, hockey at the A.G. Ross Arena this past weekend. And I was happy, happy, happy. Because I’m back in my happy place working the time clock and writing about our hometown present and future hockey stars. With only one or two practises under their belt the teams were asked to play two games each this past weekend, so the league can get a better read on placing teams in the proper tier .

U15 Avalanche

Nothing is better than starting off the first game of the season at home with a win and doing it with a shut out is icing on the cake. The U15 hosted the Lac La Biche Clippers on Friday night winning 5-0.

Alex ‘Plywood’ Patterson was awesome between the pipes, boarding up the house allowing nothing to squeak through, and the goal scoring  was spread out amongst the team. Brendon ‘Blueline’ Haesch, Gavin ‘Greenlight’ Kadutski, Madden ‘Mad Dog’ Flamand, Kaleb ‘Formula One’ Flamand and Tray Thomas- Calliou with one goal each.

‘Bo Diddley’ Fontaine, Kaysen ‘Dynamite’ DeMoissac, Raif ‘Rug Rat’ Evans-Anderson, Timmy ‘the Tank’ Cardinal, Logan Swedgan all picking up assists.

On Saturday the U15 didn’t fair as well against the big monster team coming out of St. Paul, losing this one 8-3. But this is why we have the tiering system. Tray Thomas-Calliou, Kaleb ‘F1’ Flamand and ‘Top Gunner’ Crawford with a goal each. Two assists for F1 and the Mad Dog, ‘op Gunner and Quinton Quinney -Dumont all with an assist.

U11 Avalanche

The U 11 travelled to Cold Lake on Friday night losing their first  game, but still playing extremely well. Willaim ‘Billy Bob’ Ballas with two goals, Derrace Kitchemokaman and Theo ‘Longhorn’ Loughran-Quinney adding one goal each. Ave ‘the Red Baron’ Rawlake with an assist.

For some of these players this is the first time playing with full ice and offsides so it takes some adjusting to get used to skating the full length of the rink and staying on side.

On Saturday here at home goaltender ‘Major Tom’  Melnyk shut the door on the visiting team from Mallaig, the Avalanche he winning 6-1. Rookie  Hudson ‘the Bull’ Brousseau getting the hang of the full ice with a hat trick. His second one on a really sweet deke. The Bull also picking up an assist  on a one timer by veteran Billy Bob.  Billy Bob on a roll also scored a hat trick. Three assists for the set up man Theo the ‘Longhorn’ . Some aggressive forechecking and back checking by the two rookies the Red Baron and  Hudson ‘the Hammer’ Krankowski who both added an assist.

U13 Avalanche

The U13 travelled to Bonnyville Friday night playing to a 3 all tie. ‘Wild Wyatt’ Fontaine with two goals and an assist. Brendan ‘Buzzsaw’ Kadutski with a goal, Remington ‘Steel’ Reynolds adding a helper.

On Saturday at home the U13 outshot Mallaig 55 to 18 the final score 4 to zip for the Avalanche. The score would have surely have been much more if not for the outstanding play by the little Mallaig goaltender. Tristan ‘Bobcat’ Broussseau opening the scoring with a nice one timer. Bobcat was  set up by ‘Wild Wyatt and Kale’ the Hawk’ Ockerman. ‘Without a Trace’ Morgan sneaking in and slipping one in the back door for the second goal of the game, Wild Wyatt setting him up nicely. Buzzsaw with one on a wrap- around, his assisted by the Bobcat. and then Wild Wyatt finishing it off with a wicked slap shot, assisted by the Hawk.’

U18 Avalanche

The U18 played here a home on Saturday night against the Lloydminster Blazers winning 7-0. I forgot how rough the U18 games can be. You really need to keep your head up to survive in the jungle.

A hat trick, one assist and some nasty hits by ‘Kid Kade’ Fontaine. Brother ‘Mick Jagger’ Fontaine hasn’t forgot how to dance. He scored two goals and set up four others with his smooth skating and slick stickhandling. Rugged Sam ‘Spiderman’ Rogal with a goal and an assist . ‘Saint Nic’ Penner blasting one into the webbing.

With Mallaig and Glendon not able to ice a team this year we have some  new talented players in the line up this year. The all look like they have played this game at a competitive level and really put out a good effort in this first game. One of them  goaltender Trent Chartrand wasn’t as busy as the Blazers goalie, only facing 21 shots , but came up big when call upon to respond.

On Sunday the U 18 travelled to Wainwright winning this one easily 12 to 1. Obviously our Avalanche team should be in a higher  tier than the Bisons. Spiderman and Kid Kde with four goals each. Dean ‘the Machine’ Ockerman, Mick Jagger, Seth ‘ Motorman’ Morton and Brady ‘Bionic Man’ Hymanyk with one goal each. A couple of assists for Ceajay ‘Quickdraw’ Quinney. New comers  Logan Lemay and  Jordy Feland also with helpers. Vanden ‘Super Mario’ Moroziuk getting the call with the goaltending duties.