PLAMONDON - While the Plamondon U15 hockey team won their league pennant and hosted the recent provincial championships on home ice, there was another Plamondon minor hockey team finishing at the top of their league this year.
The U-11 Plamondon Cougars finished their Tier 4 Northeastern Alberta Hockey League season in top spot, wrapping up their 35-game season with a record of 27 wins, six losses and a tie. The team's biggest win of the season was the recent championship game against the Provost Blades in front of a home crowd.
The U11's beat the Blades 9-2, to win the title. The Cougars were leading the March 19 game 4-0 early in the second period on goals from Gleb Chaschin, Logan Sorotsky and two from Dominyk Gadwa. The Blades scored their only two goals of the game at the midway point of the period, back-to-back efforts just 30 seconds apart . The two quick scores were two of just 13 shots the Blades managed on Cougars' goalie Cole Tredger. After the blip, the Cougars rebounded with goals from Kirik Dixon, two more from Gadwa, another from Chaschin and the final goal by Sebastian Ambanoudis.
"There was lots of fans and lots of cheering in the arena," said team helper Christine Tredger. "They've had such a great season, and it was awesome to see them earn the title."
Making the 2022--23 winning season that much more special for the young team, was the fact that most of the skaters hadn't been playing together for at least two years, due to the COVID pandemic.
"This was the first U11 team in two years — so they did really well," said Tredger.
The NEAHL Tier 3 U11 league is made up of eight teams, including the Bonnyville Pontiacs, St. Paul Canadiens, KItscoty Knights, Boyle Blazers, Pradise Valley Jets and the Vegreville Wranglers.