SPORTSHOUND: On Frozen Pond

Tales from the Timebox for January 16, 2024

And you thought he forgot about us. Not so. Old man winter finally appeared late last week with a vengeance, Shutting down school buses, canceling flights, and closing a number of businesses for Thursday, Friday, and the rest of the weekend. Police warning to travel only if necessary. Some people worked from home, and some just stayed home, taking a personal day.  Hockey, for the most part, was rescheduled for this past weekend. 

U13 Avalanche

But some brave soles did venture out and played their games. Here in Elk Point, the U13 Avalanche team hosted the Provost Blades Friday night. Still in daylight when the Blades traveled here and only about minus 30-35, but the temperature after the game was minus 40 for sure and dropping. The game ended in a three-all tie. Team captain William ‘ Billy Bob’ Ballas with a goal and an assist.    Birthday boy Ryder ‘Rhino’ Malo, who became a teenager on Friday, turning 13, added a candle to his cake with a goal. Rookie ‘ Fearless Frank’ Killiam with a goal. Unsung hero on defense, Hudson  ‘the Hammer’ Krankowski with two assists. And another rugged blueliner with no glory,  Brody ‘Thrasher’ Tratch also with an assist. Goaltender Theo ‘Long Horn’ Loughran-Quinney holding down the fort. 

It was not surprising that four of our home games were rescheduled on Saturday. The U7s, the U13s, the U15s, and the U18s all canceled due to the bitter minus-40 temperature.

But not the brave U9s Avalanche who hosted the St Paul Canadiens Saturday morning at the A.G. Ross Arena. No stats to report in this one but both teams should get points for showing up. 

U11 Avalanche

The U11s also played two home games this past weekend. These games were scheduled in the middle of the day so the travel both ways would have been in the daylight. Which is much better than driving after dark at forty below.   Both of the games were very one-sided. The Avalanche buried both teams winning by double digits on Saturday and again on Sunday. In all fairness, Cold Lake Ice showed up with only eight skaters and a goalie in the lineup. Their goalie faced 45 shots. Most likely, the rest of the Ice team couldn’t get their cars going or decided it was too cold to travel even if two points were on the line.  

On Sunday the visiting Saddle Lake Warriors only had ten skaters and a goalie in the lineup, the results much the same.  Aspyn ‘ Machine Gun’ Kelly, Jace ‘the Jackal’ Malo, Stetson ‘Shack’ Reynolds, Mikey ‘the Beast’ L’Heureux, Grayson ‘Big Bang’ Koppang, Kael Large, Teraleigh Napoose Gadwa, Christian ‘Bone 2.0’ Yaremkevich, ‘Jumbo Jay’ Large and Jadyn’ the Shark’ Sakowski all scoring multiple goals on the weekend. ‘ Dax my Boy’ Bowman, Thomas’ the Tank’ Morris, Rylan ‘ Freight Train’ Kryzanowski and Charlie ‘ Chickadee’ Davis contributed with assists. ‘Benny Boy’ Saddleback and ‘General Lee’ Barstad shared the goaltending duties.

U15 Avalanche

Sunday afternoon, the league-leading, undefeated U15 Avalanche traveled to Bonnyville, coming home with another victory. The Avalanche won 4 to 2 over the Pontiacs. ‘Without a Trace’ Morgan with a goal and an assist. Braylee ‘Free Willy’ Lesyk with a goal and an assist. Tristan ‘ the Bobcat’ Brousseau and Alexander Naistus added one goal each. Brendan ‘ Buzz Saw’ Kadutski with a couple of apples. Goalie Thesson ‘ McGoalie’ McRorie, between the pipes, had a solid game facing 23 shots.