Submitted by:
Craig Zamzow |
On Nov. 25-27, 2016 the Swan Valley Atom “A” Stampeders hosted the Atkinson’s Sports Excellence/Pizza Place Atom Tourney.
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Friday afternoon the tourney kicked off with the Taylor School Choir doing a great job singing O Canada, followed by our VIP Ray Atkinson (above) dropping the puck at the ceremonial face off.
The Stampeders and Dauphin Kings played a scoreless first period before a loud and energizing group of 130 Taylor School students. 5 minutes into the second period Eli Betcher won an offensive zone face off directly to Tucker Thompson who one-timed a wrister low blocker side to give the Stamps a 1-0 lead. Brady Burghart sandwiched a Dauphin goal between two of his own late in the second providing Stamps with a 3-1 lead into the 2nd intermission. Burghart completed the hat trick 2 minutes into the third, then Jackson Badowski and Kai Gorchynski added insurance markers for a 6-1 final.
Friday night the Stamps faced the Flin Flon Bombers. The Stamps came out firing as Burghart scored two before Betcher connected in a remarkable mid-air baseball swing from the slot to give the hosts a 3-0 lead 10 minutes in. However, the Bombers didn’t flinch and scored three of their own before the end of the first period. Sixteen seconds into period two the Bombers took the lead. The floodgates opened as Badowski would tie the game at 4-4 and then again at 5-5 at the midpoint of the second period. Andrew Pidskalny and Thompson added two more for a 7-5 Stamps lead after two periods. Thirteen seconds into the third the Bombers Wyatt Stinton scored his 4th to cut the deficit to one. A couple key saves by Stamps netminder Owen Martyniuk preserved the slim lead, before Badowski provided some insurance with 8 minutes remaining. Betcher and Tavyn Boychuk scored in the last two minutes for a 10-6 victory. Defender Grace Kirk was rock solid chipping in three assists.
Game 3 saw the Thompson King Miners open the score six minutes in before Samantha Jo Moshenko tied the game at one. The Miners would score again to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission before extending the lead to 3-1 early in the second. Burghart scored to pull the Stamps within one. The Miners found the back of the net again before Betcher scored late in the second cutting the deficit to 4-3 at second intermission. The Miners jumped out to another two-goal lead four minutes into the third. With just under five minutes remaining Burghart scored to setup a thrilling finish. The Stamps pulled their goalie with 90 seconds remaining, had sustained pressure, but were unable to beat Rydell Monias to tie the score, falling by a score of 5-4.
Next up was the McCreary Mustangs on Saturday night. The Mustangs opened the score on a great display of hand-eye coordination by Aidyn Law as he intercepted a pass out of mid air and rifled home the opening goal. The Stamps showed resiliency as they got 4 goals in two minutes from Boychuk, Badowski, Moshenko, and Burghart providing a 4-1 lead six minutes into the game. In the last two minutes of the first period Burghart and Betcher sandwiched another Law goal give the Stamps a 6-2 lead after one period. The teams exchanged goals in the second with Comrie Quill scoring for the home side. Martyniuk and the Stamps shut down the Mustang offence in the third and Thompson added one more for a 8-3 final.
On a Sunday afternoon, the Stamps faced the unbeaten (4-0) The Pas Huskies with a chance to finish in a 3-way tie for first place at 4-1. The Stamps came out flying, controlling the play early and were rewarded with a power play 10 minutes in. 12 seconds into the PP Moshenko corralled a rebound in the crease and jammed home the game’s opening goal. Five minutes into the second period Burghart doubled the lead. The Stamps had a couple other glorious chances, but couldn’t convert. With 2 minutes left in the second period an opportunistic Huskies forward deposited a rebound to cut the lead in half headed to the second intermission. The Stamps killed an early 3rd period penalty before earning a power play with 10 minutes remaining. After a goal mouth scramble, a puck squirted from the slot towards the blue line. An alert Pidskalny pounced and ripped a wrist shot low blocker side to beat the screened Huskies netminder. A minute later Badowski converted on a wraparound (think of Curt Kielbach on the call) to extend the lead. The Stamps had a couple key shot blocks in final ten minutes from Boychuk and Crystal Zamzow. Wingers Maddix Eisner, Thompson, and Christian Hart made some crucial defensive zone clears alleviating prolonged pressure as Martyniuk impersonated a 4×6 sheet of LP OSB. The Stamps held on for a 4-1 victory to cap off a successful weekend.
The club heads to the Dauphin tourney in 2 weeks and will open up with a rematch against the same The Pas Huskies.
Back Row: Coaches Rick Betcher, Craig Zamzow, Daniel Martyniuk
Middle Row: Kai Gorchynski, Samantha Jo Moshenko, Jackson Badowski, Crystal Zamzow, Tavyn Boychuk, Maddix Eisner, Brady Burghart,
Comrie Quill, Tucker Thompson
Front Row: Christian Hart, Grace Kirk, Owen Martyniuk, Andrew Pidskalny, Eli Betcher