With visiting teams coming from as far away as Yellowknife, last weekend’s peewee tournament dominated minor hockey excitement in town with two of Stettler’s three teams making it to the finals, but finishing without gold medals.
In the AA division, Stettler Storm overpowered the Wolfpack of Yellowknife with a score of 11-0. In their second game AA Storm lost 3-1 to Sherwood Park Knights , but kept their focus to beat McKnight Mustangs 7-3 in the next game, securing their place in the final game.
A very well-coached and fast skating McKnight Warriors team prevailed 2-0 in final game leaving the local team with a silver medal.
In the A division, Stettler Storm lost the opening game 5-4 to St. Albert, but won the second game against Smoky Lake with a resounding score of 12-5. They won again in their third game against Sylvan Lake Lakers with a 4-1 score, but dropped their last game against St. Albert 5-0.
Stettler B Storm lost 6-3 in the opening game to a powerful Castor and then were edged by Rockyford 4-2, reducing their chances to make a showing in the final of their division. A 4-4 tie with Sherwood Park did not help the B Storm, either.
In other minor hockey news, Stettler midget B Storm beat Sylvan Lake B1 Lakers in Sylvan 8-2, out-shooting them 65-18 on Saturday, Feb. 5.
The next day, they had a much tougher opponent in Hughenden in the first round of provincial play downs.
“This was a much faster and more skilled team than we have been used to,” said coach Steven Leacock.
Midgets suffered a 5-1 loss.
“Considering that they play at a tier 1 level in their league, I thought we played well,” Leacock said.
“But to get a win we will have to find the next level which I think that we are capable of if we put our minds to it and play our game.”
As for atom AA Elks, they won their provincial series against Strathcona Provincial on Friday Feb. 4 with an aggregate score of 8-5. They now play Wainwright in the final series.
“Regardless of the outcome, we are going to the provincial tournament in Wainwright on March 17-20,” said team manager Paulette Hamelin.
In their away league game on Sunday, Feb. 6, the Elks beat Kneehill Chiefs 11-3.
Elks remain still undefeated in league play.