Front Row: Dayson Martin, Dade Werbicki, Easten Eggie, Scott Tibbett, Caleb Rooks, Payton Thompson, Matt Zamzow, Sam Lacasse
Middle Row: Lincoln Staniland, Griffin Klatt, Alex Campbell, Trace Langan, Ben Poole, Damien Leask
Back Row: Coaches Blaine Campbell, Sean Eggie, and Chris Zamzow
During the weekend of November 23-25, 2018 the Swan Valley Atom A Stampeders hosted the annual Atkinson Sports Excellence/Pizza Place Atom tournament. The home town Stampeders played host to teams from Thompson, Flin Flon, and The Pas.
The tournament began on Friday afternoon when the hometown Atom A Stampeders faced off against the The Pas Huskies. Buoyed by a boisterous crowd of Taylor School students, the Stamps eked out a 3-2 victory. Damien Leask (assisted by Lincoln Staniland) opened the scoring in the first period. The Pas tied the game early in the 2nd period before Dayson Martin (Caleb Rooks) and Leask opened up a 2 goal lead for the Stamps. The 3rd period saw the Huskies apply pressure and pull to within one goal. Goalie Scott Tibbett shut the door late in the game to preserve the 3-2 victory.
Later that evening, the Stampeders played their second game of the day against the Flin Flon Bombers. A slow start by the Stamps led to an early goal by the Bombers. Slowly the Stampeders began to take control and at the 10 minute mark of the 1st period, the flood gates opened up. Within a span of 4 minutes the Stampeders scored four goals coming off the sticks of Leask, Alex Campbell, Payton Thompson (Martin), and Trace Langan (Rooks). In the 2nd period, Flin Flon got one back before the Stamps scored two more by Campbell. In the 3rd period, the Stampeders continued their domination and scored four more times by Langan, Rooks (Easten Eggie), Dade Werbicki (Martin), and Campbell. Final score 10-2 for the Stamps.
The third and final round robin game pitted the Stampeders against Thompson King Miners.
A face-paced back and forth game saw plenty of action and plenty of saves from Stampeder netminder Scott Tibbett. The game star turned away many shots especially in the 3rd period when the Stamps got into penalty trouble. The Stampeders opened the scoring in the 1st period when Payton Thompson rifled a wrist shot in from the top of the right circle (Staniland, Campbell). The King Miners scored to tie it up before Alex Campbell (both assisted by Werbicki) scored two late goals to put the home team ahead by two heading into the second period. The 2nd period was scoreless setting up a very exciting 3rd period. The King Miners pressed in the 3rd and were finally rewarded with a late goal to bring them to within one. The comeback was short- lived though as Matt Zamzow put every ounce of strength in his 75lb frame into a 200 foot empty net goal to seal a 4-2 victory.
An undefeated round robin placed the Stampeders in the semi-finals against Flin Flon. The Stampeders dominated the play and the scoreboard and the result was a 11-0 victory. The offence was led by Campbell with 4 goals and 4 assists. Ben Poole chipped in with a hat trick. Singles came off the sticks of Thompson, Zamzow, Rooks, and Sam Lacasse. Martin and Langan chipped in with 2 assists while Zamzow added one of his own.
The victory propelled the Stampeders into the A-final and a rematch with the Thompson King Miners. What a game this turned out to be!! The King Miners came out hungry to avenge the earlier round robin defeat to the Stamps and scored two goals in the 1st period for a 2-0 lead. The second period was more of the same as the King Miners pushed the play and were rewarded with another goal. Score after 2 periods was 3-0. After a much needed break, the Stampeders came out in the 3rd period looking to find their game. Five minutes into the 3rd period, the Stampeders got their break when P. Thompson scored on a pretty pass from Ben Poole. The goal seemed to change the momentum of the game. With 5 minutes left, Alex Campbell made the score 3-2 on a rocket from the left corner. The Stampeders continued to push the play and were rewarded with 1:53 remaining when Ben Poole tied the game with help from Caleb Rooks. Regulation time ended in a 3-3 tie and forced a 10 minute sudden-victory overtime. The play went back and forth with the King Miners nearly ending it if it were not for a sprawling save by Dade Werbicki. The overtime solved nothing so the game would be decided with a shoot out. In the shoot out Stampeders scored 3 times off the sticks of Campbell, Leask, and Zamzow. The King Miners scored twice and needed a goal to extend the shoot out but Stampeders goalie Scott Tibbett made the final save and end an epic battle. Final score 4-3 Stampeders in a shoot out. Big thanks to our tournament sponsors – Atkinson Sports Excellence and Pizza Place along with our game award sponsors, organizing committee, and parents, relatives, and fans for their support.