The Cold Lake Bantam Freeze have their sights set on a provincial championship.
The Freeze defeated Bonnyville and Marwayne in the Zone 2 playdowns in February to capture the regional title and gain a berth in provincials. Both series were two game playoffs with the winner determined by the total number of goals scored. The Freeze defeated Bonnyville 6-5 and 6-2 to win the series 12-7 and advance directly to the league final against Marwayne. They slipped past Marwayne with a pair of two goal victories winning 4-2 and 8-6.
“The team played really well,” said head coach Bob Fraser. “ We defeated a really strong, underrated Marwayne team in the finals.”
Cold Lake had been in the top of the regional standings for most of the season, which didn't surprise Fraser, as he pegged the Tier I Bantam squad as provincial contenders right from the start.
“Back at the beginning of the year I thought we had a good chance of making it to provincials,” said Fraser, whose belief in the possible playoff run grew after a victory over Vermilion in January.
“We pulled out a win in a tight game against Vermilion, that's when I knew we had a pretty good team. It was a good, hard, physical game where the boys dominated and shower perseverance.”
The group will have a new test come March 17 when they head down to Drumheller to take on some of the top bantam teams in the province. Cold Lake will open their tournament on March 18 at 9 a.m. against Coaldale, before a 2:45 p.m. game against Chestermere. On March 19 they will finish up round robin play with a 9:15 a.m. game against Devon and a 3:15 p.m. game against Bow Valley. The semi-finals will run on the morning of March 20, with the final following in the evening.
“In hockey most players don't get to experience provincials. It is a special time and something to be very proud of,” said Fraser, who believes his team has a shot at winning it all.
“The kids are really looking forward to it. We will be having some strong practices over the next few weeks to prepare.”
