Three valley clubs will be competing for their league championships this weekend.
“We had a bit of a slow January and slow February, but the team has really turned around and worked hard. They continue to show us new levels of effort and skill in every game,” said assistant coach Paul Salvatore. The Atom Raptors have been successful against Strathmore this season, and Salvatore says their chances of winning league are good.
“It’ll be a close series, and bottom line, it comes down to the amount of effort the kids will put on the ice in any of those three games,” said Salvatore.
The Greene Construction Peewees lost their playoff match against Indus over the weekend, losing two games in the best of three series. The peewees were up 3-1 heading into the third, but Indus managed to tie it and win 4-3.
“They played well all year,” said head coach Doug Hodge. “My team’s not a big team, but we score. They’ve developed well – skated better, passed the puck better.”
Their season isn’t over yet, as they automatically qualify for the peewee provincials in the last weekend of March.
The Hi-way 9 Peewee Raptors will be heading into their league finals against Brooks, after a strong weekend against High River winning 5-3 in the third game.
“We outplayed them quite a bit, the team played awesome,” says head coach Bryce Jensen.
“They’ve been playing so good, it’s been a really good year. As long as they keep executing, we’re going to win.”
The team will be off to a fun tournament in Sylvan Lake this weekend.
The CNRL Bantam Raptors won their series against Brooks on Sunday, winning 7-5. Game one of the series was late February, with the boys losing 7-3 at home after missing two players and playing much of the game shorthanded as they took a lot of penalties, said manager Shallyn Schinnour.
The bantams regrouped for a win on Saturday in Brooks, winning 8-5 with a five point game from Justin Schinnour. Brady Jacques got four points in the game with a hattrick and assist, while Thomas Ahner got two goals. Colby Morgan and Landon Brown each notched a point too.
Game three of the best of three series was a back and forth battle. Tied heading into the third, the bantams scored just seconds into the third period, with Brooks tieing it back up quickly. Brooks pulled their goalie and the Raptors managed an empty netter. With two minutes left, they secured up the win with a goal to make the final score 7-5.
The bantams will be playing Cochrane in a best of three series for the league banner, with game one set for this Saturday at the Memorial Arena at 2 p.m. Game two will follow on Sunday in Cochrane.