Submitted by:
Blaine Campbell |

The Swan River Novice Colts traveled to Flin Flon during the weekend of December 4-6, 2015 to compete in the annual Mel Pearson Memorial Novice hockey tournament.


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After 3 round robin games and a final game, the Swan River squad emerged victorious with the A-Side Championship.

Pictured above:
Back Row (Coaches; L-R): Jason Eisner, Derek Werbicki, Blaine Campbell
Back Row (Players; L-R): Carter Chartrand, Matt Zamzow, Lane Lacasse, Carson Chartrand, Kai Gorchynski, Austin Eisner
Middle Row (L-R): Dade Werbicki, Christian Hart, Maddix Eisner, Alex Campbell, Ashton Cochrane, Lincoln Staniland
Front: Porter Atkinson

Game 1 saw the team face-off against the Thompson Wild. Swan River jumped out to a 3-0 lead with all three goals by Kai Gorchynski. Ahead 3-0, Matt Zamzow scooped up the puck after getting out of the penalty box and made it 4-0. Thompson added 1 goal, before Lane Lacasse scored two consecutive goals to give Swan River the 6-2 victory. Porter Atkinson recorded the victory in net for Swan River.

Game 1 was followed by a pizza shoot-out. For many of the players, this was their first experience with the shoot-out, and all enjoyed the fast paced action. Swan River shooters managed 3 goals in the shootout, and were left waiting to see if their goaltender, Porter Atkinson could backstop the team to everlasting pizza glory. In the end, SR won the shoot-out with a 3-2 victory.

Game 2 saw the Colts battle the Flin Flon Firemen. 4 first period goals by Swan River had the team up 4-2 after one period. First period goals were scored by Gorchynski with 2 and Alex Campbell with 2. Campbell finished off his hat trick with the lone goal in the 2nd period to make it 5-2 Swan River after two periods. Third period goals for Swan River were scored by Gorchynski, Zamzow, and Christian Hart, making the final score 8-2 for Swan River. Atkinson again, came up big in net for the victory.

The last game of the round robin saw Swan River compete against the Flin Flon Reliance Rhinos. The offence continued to roll for the Colts as they lead with period scores of 5-1 and 8-2 before finishing the game with an 11-2 victory. Atkinson again was victorious in net for the Colts. Scoring was led by Gorchynski and Campbell with 3 each, but it was the duo of Carter and Carson Chartrand who also kicked in some offence with 2 goals apiece. Singles were added by Lacasse and Austin Eisner with his first of the season.

Three consecutive victories propelled the Novice Colts into the A-Side final against The Pas Huskies. The Pas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but Swan River answered back with two goals from Gorchynski to lead 2-1 after one period. Carter Chartrand made the score 3-1 Swan River after two periods. Each team managed one more goal each in the third period to make the final 4-2 Swan River. Strong defensive play by Lincoln Staniland and Ashton Cochrane, along with the strong defensive tandems of Maddix Eisner/Matt Zamzow and Christian Hart/Dade Werbicki kept The Pas out of our zone for the majority of the game. Atkinson once again got the victory in net.

Congratulations to all for a great weekend of hockey.