Submitted by:
Blaine Campbell |
The Swan River Centennial Arena was the place to be over the weekend of January 27-29, 2017 when the host novice teams hosted 8 other teams in the annual Swan River Legion Branch #39 Novice Tournament.
Pictured above (Click picture for a larger version):
Front Row: Dade Werbicki
Middle Row (L-R): Damien Leask, Lily Nemetchek, Hallie Genaille, Trace Langan, Seth Clouson, Walker Atkinson.
Back Row (L/R): Alex Campbell, Sam Lacasse, Dayson Martin, Kennedy Baskier, Nicholas Puchailo, Matt Atkinson, Parker Hulme, Ashton Cochrane, Logan Gray
Coaches: Blaine Campbell, Derek Werbicki, Andy Puchailo
A total of 10 (2 local and 8 out-of-town) teams competed energetically to claim this year’s championship. In the end, a local squad, the Swan River Novice Colts, emerged victorious to claim the A-Side Championship in their own back yard.
The Colts first game was Friday afternoon at 1:45 vs The Pas Huskies. Encouraged loudly by a fan base made up of a large group of Taylor School classmates, the Colts came out like they were shot from a cannon. 1:23 into the game, Damien Leask scored the first of his three goals to get the home team off to a great start. The remainder of the 1st period was dominated by the Colts but after 1 period, the score still remained 1-0 Colts. Early in the 2nd period, Leask made the score 2-0 Colts on a superb individual effort. Mid way through the 2nd period Alex Campbell recorded three straight goals and a natural hat trick to put the Colts up 5-0. Late in the 2nd period, Leask (assisted by Matt Zamzow & Seth Clouson) finished off his hat trick followed shortly by a goal by Trace Langan to make the score 7-0 for the Colts after 2 periods. The Huskies managed to get one by Dade Werbicki in the third period, but other than that, Werbicki was solid in goal to help the Colts win game 1 by a final score of 7-1.
Next up for the Colts was an early Saturday morning battle with the Thompson Ice Miners. This game proved to be a very entertaining, well-played game. The Colts opened the scoring 3 minutes in the first period on a goal by Leask. Shortly after, the Ice Miners tied the game at 1, and that is where the score remained for the rest of the 1st period. In the second period, the Ice Miners outscored the Colts by a margin of 3-1 to end the 2nd period with a score of 4-2. Swan River Colts lone goal in the 2nd period was scored by Campbell. The Colts came out firing in the 3rd period and finally were able to reduce the deficit to 4-3 on a low, hard shot by Logan Gray (assisted by Werbicki). With 6:51 left in the 3rd period, the Colts tied the game at 4 on a goal by Trace Langan. Momentum for the Colts was dashed when the Ice Miners took the lead 5-4 minutes later. With the home town crowd on pins and needles, and with 2 minutes left in the game, Campbell (assisted by Dayson Martin) tied the game 5-5. Only moments later, on a spectacular end-to-end rush and with 1:11 remaining, Campbell recorded his hat trick and also the game winning goal to give the Colts a 6-5 victory. Matt Zamzow made several acrobatic saves in goal to help the Colts to victory.
Game 3 of the round robin would also prove to be a very entertaining, intense hockey game as the Colts took on the Hudson Bay Hunters. The game was filled with end-to-end action, tight checking, and superb goaltending. In the 1st period, the Colts managed to score the only goal of the period off the stick of Campbell (Leask). 1:27 into the 2nd period, Campbell got his second of the game to get the score to 2-0 Colts only to see the lead go back to one on a goal from the Hunters. Later in the period, Trace Langan scored 2 short-handed goals in a span of 58 seconds to give the Colts a 4-1 lead. The Hunters closed the gap to 4-2 with 4:49 remaining in the 2nd period. The Colts got into their defensive shell in the 3rd period and held off the Hunters attacks on many occasions. Seth Clouson did his part in goal to help maintain the lead for the Colts, but with 2:15 seconds remaining in the 3rd period, the Hunters got a goal to reduce the lead to 4-3. The last two minutes of play was as exciting as novice hockey can get and with the help of a boisterous home crowd, the Colts managed to hold off the Hunters and win the game.
A record of 3-0 in the round robin put the Colts into the A-Side Championship game Sunday afternoon against the only other undefeated team in the tournament – the Preeceville Pats. Half way through the first period, the Pats opened the scoring for a 1-0 lead. Dade Werbicki held off the Pats on many more occasions in the first period. With 2:07 remaining in the 1st period, Leask (assisted by Hallie Genaille) would tie the score for the Colts. With 0:57 left in the first period the Colts would get their first lead of the game on a goal by Campbell (assisted by Kennedy Baskier) and take that lead into the 2nd period. The 2nd period was very tight checking and highlighted by some key saves by Werbicki to maintain the one-goal lead for the Colts. With 5 minutes left in the 2nd period, the crowd was brought to their feet on a perfect tip in by Hallie Genaille (Campbell/Leask) to give the Colts a 3-1 lead heading into the 3rd period. A tight checking 3rd period saw only one goal scored when at the 6:52 mark, Campbell (Baskier) sealed the victory for the Colts. As the final seconds ticked down, and the buzzer rang, the Colts emerged victorious with a final score of 4-1. The players jumped for joy as they soon realized that they had captured the A-Side Championship in their home tournament. Coaches were extremely proud of how well these kids played all weekend and how well they represented the Swan River Valley.