SPORTSHOUND: An Avalanche over the League

Tales from the Timebox for March 19, 2024

Good news: This past weekend was good in Elk Point for hockey. Not just one, but two Elk Point Avalanche teams will be going to the provincial finals after winning their respective leagues. The U15 Avalanche team won their tier #3 league banner two weeks ago and will travel to Delburne this weekend. Last year, the U15 won the provincial gold medal in Tofield. Let’s make it two! 

U18 Avalanche

This past weekend, the U18 Avalanche punched their ticket to the Provincial Tier #3 finals, which will be held in Mallaig. They defeated the Westlock Warriors in the best of three games, winning here at home on Friday night 8 to 2 and then up in Westlock on Saturday night 5 to 2. 

 

Friday night ‘Kamikaze Kade’ Fontaine was a one man wrecking machine, scoring five goals and assisting on one. This will be his final year of minor hockey, and he plans to go out with a bang. Quinton ‘Rampage’ Quinney and Seth ‘Motorman’ Morton both added a goal and an assist. ‘Cyclone Cole’ Pierce also found the twine with one goal. Gavin ‘Green Light’ Kadutski, ‘Top Gunner’ Crawford and Evett ‘Snoop Dog’ Smereka with two assists each. Everett Quinney and Kaleb’ Formula One’ Flamand each with an apple. Goalie Alex’ Mr. Plywood’ Patterson facing 33 shots. 

 

Saturday night in Westlock, the boys ran into a bit of a roadblock and had to work a lot harder for the win. The game was tied at two all after forty minutes, but the Avalanche put it into overdrive in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals. Kamikaze Kid and Green Light both scored two goals and added an assist. Motorman added a single goal. Everett Quinney, Formula One, and ‘Bo Diddley’ Fontaine all added a helper.

U11 Avalanche

Maybe the U11 Avalanche didn’t win the league championship this past weekend, but we are sure proud of them for putting up a gallant effort and making it to the finals. There were twenty-one teams in the U11 tier 5 league this year, and after the dust cleared, the Avalanche was one of the three left. The Avalanche is the East Division winner, CNN is the Central Division winner, and Drayton Valley is the West Division winner. 

 

The format would be a double knockout. Each team would play each other once, and then the winners of the round robin would have to be defeated twice. The Avalanche won the round robin quite easily, defeating CNN 6 to 1 on Friday night and Drayton Valley 9 to 1 on Saturday morning, sending them to the final on Sunday morning. 

 

Jase’ the Jackal’ Malo did most of the damage on Friday night when he scored five of the goals. Stetson ‘Shack’ Reynolds with a goal and two assists. Grayson ‘Big Bang’ Koppang, Aspyn’ Machine Gun Kelly’ and Mikey’ the Beast’ L’Heureux with assists.  

 

Saturday morning it was Shack’s turn to shine, he scored a hat trick. The Jackal added two goals. The Beast, Christian ‘Bones 2.0’ Yaremkevich and ‘Jumbo Jay’ Large scored one goal each. Teraleigh ‘ Tear Bear’ Napoose-Gadwa, Big Bang, Machine Gun Kelly and ‘Dax My Boy’ Bowman with the assists. 

 

But the luck of the Irish wasn’t with the Avalanche on this St Patrick’s Day Sunday morning. Quite the opposite, it would seem. Every time the Avalanche got on a breakaway, the Spurs would stop them at the blue line. When the Avalanche did manage to penetrate the defense and get a shot they would miss shooting over the net or wide. CNN Spurs would win the first game 7 to 1 and the second game 6 to 2. 

 

The Jackal scored in the first game with the assistance of Bones. Big Bang and Machine Gun Kelly scored in the second game. The Beast with the assist.  Goalie ‘General Lee’ Barstad stood on his head in both games, facing 40 shots in the first one and 39 shots in the second game. 

 

Maybe it was the hometown jitters or overconfidence since the Avalanche had easily won the game Friday night. But don’t forget these are just 9 and 10 year old kids. And give CNN Spurs credit, as they played really well and deserved to win. They defeated the Avalanche not just once on Sunday but twice to take the league banner. 

 

A big shout out to the tournament committee, coaches, and parents for going the extra mile in hosting the final. The raffle table, chuck a puck at each game, treats for the kids, runs the concession and puts on one of the best league finals I have ever attended.