The St. Paul Stahl Peterbilt Atom A Canadiens hosted a five-team hockey tournament over the weekend, and came away victorious in the gold medal matchup.
The home team’s first task of the tournament was to take on the team from Lloydminster Fort Garry. The teams were tied at one goal apiece after the first, but Lloydminster was able to pile up three goals to the Canadiens’ one in the second, earning them a comfortable lead. The teams traded goals in the third, but the Lloydminster team ended up victorious to the tune of a 5-3 win.
After the game, a number of young Canadiens’ players were able to provide some insight into what transpired on the ice, and what it would take to be successful as the tournament progressed.
“We have to play the body more,” commented Owen Boucher.
“It wasn’t our best game, but the third period was pretty good,” added teammate Jayden Joly.
Boucher, Joly, and Liam Boyko were the goal scorers for the Canadiens in the tournament’s first game.
The host team’s second contest was against the Vegreville Wranglers. An explosion of offence allowed the Canadiens to skate away with an 11-2 victory in the game.
Joly and Damian Langevin-Whitford each netted four goals apiece in the matchup, while Nicolas Beaudoin added two, and Boyko added another.
When asked about their goals for the tournament, Beaudoin said that they were hoping to “just have fun,” and that they would be able to achieve success through “communication, and a total team effort.”
Boyko was able to elaborate on the point, stating that the team was hoping to “do lots of passing and keep our feet moving”.
Next on the docket were the Meadow Lake Broncos, another matchup that the home team was able to run away with.
Joly had another big game with four more goals in the contest. Beaudoin, Boyko and Jacob Leroux were each credited with a score, which all added up to a 7-4 win for St. Paul.
The Canadiens kept rolling in their final round robin matchup, which had them taking on the Camrose Rangers. Joly continued his scoring ways with a hat trick in the contest. Boyko found the back of the net twice, while Langevin-Whitford, Beaudoin, and Boucher each had a goal. The 8-0 win helped the Canadiens punch their ticket to the tournament’s championship game.
The final game pitted the Canadiens against the team from Lloydminster, the only squad to have bested St. Paul during round robin play. In the rematch, however, it was St. Paul who ended up victorious with a 3-1 win. Joly had a pair of goals in the game, while Beaudoin added another. The victory marked St. Paul as the gold medal winners of their home tournament.
“It feels different than playing in an away tournament,” Joly said of the privilege of playing at home. “It feels good.”
He went on to add that the Atom A Canadiens has a trio of goals that they are looking to achieve this season.
“Our first goal is to play as a team, our second goal is to play as a unit, and our third goal is a total team effort,” he said.
The way the scores ended up over the weekend, the team was surely working towards those goals during their home ice tournament – enough, at least, to earn them the tournament crown.
