SPORTSHOUND: Back by Popular Demand… Elk Point Avalanche

Tales from the Timebox for October 24, 2023

 

U15 Avalanche

Back by popular demand. Rock’em- sock’em hockey! The U15 were feeling their oats here at the A.G. Ross Arena on Sunday afternoon when they took on the Provost Blades. The Blades have some pretty big, rugged players in their lineup and are not afraid to use their weight. But the Avalanche team didn’t seem intimate, even though our team appeared smaller overall.  Great goaltending by the tandem of Owen ‘Ollie the Goalie’ Grykuliak for half of the game and Thesson McRorie for the second half. No doubt there’s a lot of talent on this team. The second-year players won the gold medal at provincials last year and the first-year players had won their division in the North East league.  Braylee ‘Free Willy’ Lesyk with four goals and an assist. Alexandre Naistus with two goals. Rylan Quinney with a goal and an assist. Brendan ‘Buzz Saw’ Kadutski with a goal. Two assists for Liam ‘Sledgehammer’ Swedgen. Remington ‘Steel’ Reynolds and Jaxon ‘Smitty’ Smith with one assist each. Holding her own on the team, the sole female, Kestyn ‘Crocodile’ Quinney.

U18 Avalanche

The U18 team played in Marwayne/Dewberry on Thursday night, coming home with a four-all tie. Kaleb ‘Formula One’ Flamand with a couple of goals and an assist. ‘Kid Kade’ Fontaine and Evett ‘Snoop Dog’ Smereka with one goal each. ‘Top Gunner’ Crawford with a couple of apples. 

On Sunday at home, it was no contest for our Avalanche against the Smokey Lake North Stars. Still, some tiering is to be done, of course. Our guys winning nine to zip. Snoop Dog with a hatty, Gavin ‘Greenlight’ Kadutski with a couple, ‘Hawk Eye’ Cardinal, ‘Saint Nick’ Penner, Seth ‘Motorman’ Morton and Kaysen ‘Dynamite’ DeMossiac with one goal each. 

 

U7 Avalanche

You gotta love hockey to get up this early on a Saturday morning. Or perhaps it’s your son’s or daughter’s very first hockey game ever, so there’s no way you’re going to miss it. And, of course, grandparents are always up early anyway, looking for someplace to go for coffee.  Coached by one of our finest former minor hockey Avalanche players, who went on to play hockey at college in New York City, Zach ‘Clear the Track’ MacKinnon. It is so nice to see him giving back what he has learned. Hard to hold a few of these second-year players back.  ‘Hard Knox’ Mudryk and Aksel ‘Lightning’ Aarbo both lighting up the scoreboard with multiple goals. Gunner ‘the Roadrunner’ Kelly with a couple of goals. Rosaleight ‘Rosie’ Nepoose-Gadwa with at least one goal. Great fore-checking by William ‘Tell All’ Farrel, Jaxtyn ‘Jackhammer’ Krankowsky and Ryker ‘Mini-Moose’ Ockerman. First-time players Busy ‘Bumblebee’ Bowman,  Cayson Younghans,  Eli Botstein, Axton MacKinnon and ‘Motley Krew’ Mudryk all showing great potential in their very first game. 

 

U9 Avalanche

Up next, on Saturday morning, the U9s hit the ice. A couple of years can make a huge difference in the speed of the game. These guys can fly. Still play half-ice but they change on the fly every two minutes. And the goalie is dressed with the big pads. Tytus ‘Titan’ Gadwa in net for the Avalanche was outstanding, coming up with huge saves. The Bruise Brothers Cohen ‘Big Horn’ Brousseau with a fistful of goals, his little underaged brother, Gavin ‘the Badger’ with at least one goal and some assists. Landon ‘Lights Out’ St. Arnault going coast to coast to score more than a few. Taber ‘the Tiger’ Gadwa with a couple of goals for sure, and ‘Awesome Lawson’ Moneta set up a couple of goals and missed by inches on a few.  ‘Bye Bye Birdi’ Bowman is doing some great backchecking. Brand new to hockey this year, Jasper Hymanyk just missed on a break-away. Blake Fontaine and Jacob Botstein, each with an assist or two. 

 

U11 Avalanche

This is still the preseason, so there’s still some tweaking to be done in the tiering of teams in the league. The U11 team played at home against Onion Lake on Saturday afternoon, losing 8 to 4. ‘General Lee’ Barstad, in net for this one, stood tall, coming up with some very big saves. Jase ‘the Jackal’ Malo with two goals and an assist. Grayson ‘Big Bang’ Koppang banging one home on a rebound. Stetson ‘Shack’ Reynolds with one. 

On Sunday, the U11s travelled to Irma to take on the Aces, losing this one as well. ‘Benny Boy’ Saddleback strapping on the big pads for this one was very busy and keeping the game within reach. Shack with a couple of goals and an assist, the Jackal and Aspyn ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly with one goal each.  

 

U13 Avalanche

The U13s had a great team effort in Mallaig Saturday night, winning 7 to 4.  ‘Major Tom’ Melnyk between the pipes in this one. Hudson ‘the Bull’ Brousseau and ‘Jesse James’ Penner with two goals and one assist each. ‘Billy Bob’ William Ballas and Jaxon ‘Magic’ Marcoux with a goal and an assist each. Brody ‘the Thrasher’ with a goal, Ryder ‘Rhino’ Malo and ‘Fearless Frank’ Killiam both with a helper.   

On Sunday, they met up against the top team from Cold Lake, losing to the ice 8 to 4. Lots of rubber in this one. 52 shots on net for goalie Theo ‘Long Horn’ Loughran-Quinney. Jesse James Penner with two goals and an assist. The Thrasher and Rhino find the twine with one each. The Bull and Billy Bob with assists. Centerman Hunter ‘Hardrock’ Pankiw won most of the faceoffs and the battles in the corners. D -Men Hudson ‘the Hammer’ Krankowsky and Lennox ‘All Out’ St. Arnault don’t see very much glory scoring goals, but their work ethic in the trenches does not go unnoticed by the coaches,  spectators… and especially myself, the timekeeper.