All good things must come to an end eventually. A great season for the U11 Avalanche came to an end this past weekend at the North East Alberta final tournament to determine the league champion. After last weekend’s huge win, when the U11 Avalanche team won the North Division title, they qualified to enter the entire league finals tournament hosted by Thorhild.

The Avalanche’s first game started last Friday night at 7 pm. The Avalanche dropped a close one to the Redwater Rush 4–3 the final score. Cohen “Big Horn” Brousseau scoring two goals in this one. Maximus “To the Max” Laliberte scoring a goal and adding an assist. Mason “Mini Wheels” Weir and Winston “Sir Winston” Ung also helping out with one assist each.

In their second game on Saturday morning the Avalanche rallied to a 10–9 win over the Edgerton/Chavin Avalanche. A big game for Big Horn who scored eight goals and added an assist. To the Max with the other two goals. D-man Damian “Fog Horn” Ockerman with a helper as well as patrolling the blue line helping stop the opposition before they reached his goaltender Tydis Whiskeyjack Cardinal who faced 33 shots.

In the third and final game on Saturday against the host Thorhild Titans the Avalanche battled hard losing this one 11–7. Big Horn scoring four goals. To the Max adding two goals and an assist. Rayen Quinney also scoring in this one. Fog Horn with an assist. Tydis Whiskeyjack Cardinal facing another 33 shots.

Overall, a very successful year for our U11 squad who competed hard every game of the season. The Avalanche won some and lost some but always had lots of fun and made it to the finals. A huge thank you going out to head coach Josh Weir and his assistants Daniel Brousseau and Ryan Mudryk. They brought the team a long way from the start of the season. Also a special thanks to the hard work of the first-time team manager Nikki Marsh organizing all the games, officials on and off the ice, etc.

U18 Avalanche

So close, yet so far away. The U18 Avalanche came so close to going to the provincials, only to lose by one goal in the final four minutes of the final game against Smoky Lake. Apparently the North Stars were a higher ranked team in the league so they had venue and would have the first and last game, if necessary, played in their barn.

Game one of the final round was played in Smoky Lake on Friday night. The Avalanche boys seemed a little bit off their game coming out a bit sluggish, getting down by a few goals early and never able to battle back, losing this one 5–1. Braylee “Free Willy” Lesyk scoring the only goal late in the game for the Avalanche assisted by Brendan “Buzzsaw” Kadutski and Kaysen “Dynamite” DeMossiac.

The second game played in Elk Point on Saturday night was a whole different story. The A.G. Ross Arena was packed to the rafters with fans, noise makers and horns. The Avalanche were determined not to be eliminated or embarrassed at home in our house. It was a tough back-and-forth battle but the Avalanche came out on top winning this one 5–3.

A sensational five-point night for the affiliate player William “Billy Bob” Ballas who scored the first goal of the night to get the Avalanche fired up, then added another goal later in the game, plus assisted on all three of the Avalanche’s other goals that night. Two of them by his linemate Wild Wyatt Fontaine, who also had a terrific four-point night — two goals and two assists. Defenceman Anton “A-Bomb” Braithwaite sending a torpedo in from the point scoring the other Avalanche goal. Great puck movement by the other D-men Morris Amyotte, Cade Sayers and Dynamite DeMossiac who all had assists in this one. Goalie Drayden “The Wall” Skakun shut the door on the North Stars.

Sunday the last game of the series was back in Smoky Lake. The North Stars and the Avalanche would battle back and forth, neither team taking more than a one-goal lead at any time during the game. Buzzsaw Kadutski with two goals and an assist. Free Willy Lesyk with a goal and two assists. Wild Wyatt adding a goal. Odin St. Arnault, Billy Bob Ballas and Dominique “Domi” Krankowsky all adding a helper.

The game was tied four all for most of the third period until the North Stars would score to take the 5–4 lead with only four minutes left in regulation time to win the banner.

It’s always sad to say goodbye to the third-year players who have played in their final minor hockey game. Guaranteed to bring a few tears to the parents who have spent the last 10 or 12 years at the rink watching them develop. But the memories will always be there and one day they all come back to watch their grandkids play.

Best of luck in the future for these graduating players: Timmy “The Tank” Cardinal, Kaysen “Dynamite” DeMossiac and Bronsen “Bronko” Riley-Brock. As for Evett “Snoop Dog” Smereka, who is also in his third year and suffered a back injury and wasn’t able to play in the playoffs, Snoop Dog is hoping to come back and play next year as an overage since he will still be in high school. He is one of those late-in-the-year birthdays.

A huge thank you going out to head coach Shane Smith for his time, knowledge and commitment. Smitty didn’t have a player on the team because his son played on the Lakeland U16 AA Panthers this year. But he committed to coaching early on before the AA tryouts and stayed with the boys.

Great teamwork by all his assistants: John Grykuliak, Jacque DeMossiac, Colton McLean and of course the most important person on the team, team manager Brittany Brousseau.

And as we Maple Leaf fans always say — there’s always next year!