By Laurence Heinen /
A pair of teams from the Calgary Royals Hockey Association won AA city titles to advance to provincials.
After finishing first in the Calgary Midget AA Hockey League, the Royals Blue earned a bye through the first round of playoffs.
They Royals then beat the Stamps 6-3 and the Blazers 5-2 to advance to the city championships. The Blazers managed to come up from the bottom end of the draw and earn a rematch against the Royals Blue in the final but came up short, losing a close 6-5 decision.
At the Midget AA Provincial Championships, the Royals in Okotoks—the Royals Blue—tarted off with a convincing 12-1 win over the Brooks Storm on March 13.
After a 9-0 whitewashing of the Fort McMurray Barons, Calgary suffered a 6-3 setback to the Lethbridge Hockey Hounds before finishing off the preliminary round with a 10-4 triumph over the Sylvan Lake Lakers.
Unfortunately for the Royals, their season came to an end with a 4-3 loss in the semifinals to the Edmonton Southside Athletic Club, which went on to lose 4-0 to Lethbridge in the finals.
Liam Norris led the Royals Blue squad with four goals and seven assists in five games at the provincials, while Owen Minerson scored six goals and added four helpers. Mark Strachan and Paul Bedard each had three goals and seven assists during the tourney.
Bantam AA
Although they were upset by the Calgary Rangers in the final of the Esso Minor Hockey Week Tournament in January, the Calgary Royals White prevailed when it counted even more.
After finishing first in the Calgary Bantam AA Hockey League, the Royals blanked the Rangers 3-0 in their opening game before thumping the Blackhawks 7-3 in the semifinals.
The Blackhawks managed to claw their way back into the finals, only to be beaten by the Royals White squad once again, this time by a score of 5-4.
With the win, the Royals White qualified for the Bantam AA Provincial Championships in Fort Saskatchewan from March 27 to 30. |
